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PIAA Class 6A: Spring-Ford's youngsters pass first states test

03/09/2022, 12:15am EST
By Zak Wolf

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)

It was almost like déjà vu for Spring-Ford. Facing off against Nazareth for the second straight season in the state playoffs on their home floor, the Rams once again took care of business, defeating Nazareth 43-32 in the opening round of states as they try to make their way back to the state championship game. 

Last season, the two battled it out in the state semi-final, with Spring-Ford scraping out a three-point win. The rematch wasn’t as tight, but Nazareth still put up a good fight on Spring-Ford’s home floor. 

Coming off a slightly surprising appearance in the District 1 6A championship, where they lost to an undefeated Plymouth Whitemarsh team, the Rams wanted to get back on track with a win. 

“This early, you don’t want to go home and you don’t want any slip ups to happen,” sophomore point guard Anna Azzara said. “We pulled through, worked as a team and got the win.”


Anna Azzara (above) put her state experience to good use in Spring-Ford's win. (Photo: Zak Wolf/CoBL)

Azzara led all scorers with 11 points on the night, including dishing out a couple of assists to her teammates. 

The point guard is the lone starter left from the district champion team from last season. Azzara started as a freshman with four other seniors including Lucy Olsen (Villanova), who averaged 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Abby Boyer (Immaculata), Hailey Hudak (Bloomsburg), Emily Tiffan and Mac Maloney were also key pieces on what was a successful team, who fell just short of a state title, losing to North Allegheny 55-40 in the final. 

Azzara has been steady all season for Spring-Ford, using the experience she gained from last year to lead her team this season along with fellow sophomore Mac Pettinelli, who was also a contributor from last season, coming off the bench.

“Both of our experiences definitely have helped us a lot,” Azzara said, “We now have bigger roles, but our experience from the past is definitely playing a big part now.”

After losing almost 70 percent of their scoring from last season, the Rams were left with a young team that needed to grow up fast. Going from four seniors in the starting lineup to four sophomores could prove difficult for many programs, but the culture Spring-Ford has built helped them not miss a beat.

“This group has come into the gym from day one working hard. They understand the tradition that’s here at Spring-Ford,” head coach Mickey McDaniel said. “I know it’s an old cliché, but you do play for those who came before you, but you also have to play for those coming after you so you can keep building upon that ladder of success.”

“I don’t know how many people thought we’d be where we are today, winning the league championship, being in the district championship, and now in the second round of states after what we lost in the sense of personal. But that’s just what this program does, I’m just really proud.”

A big reason for Spring-Ford's success despite being a young team, is the fact that many of the girls have been playing basketball together for a long time. Azzara and Pettinelli play on the same AAU team together, but they’ve also been playing travel basketball with Katie TiffanAaliyah Solliday and Sophia Allocca since 4th grade as well. 

This group has played a ton of basketball together and it shows out on the court, whether it’s their crisp ball movement or their communication on defense. Their chemistry is strong, which allow them to play together, something McDaniel tries to instill into all of his teams, 

“Our main mantra is ‘five fingers, one fist,’” McDaniel said.  “We’re always one fist together because five fingers going in five different directions makes it tough to win. When you put them all together it makes you a solid team.”

The Rams had to stay solid at the start of the fourth quarter when Nazareth started to make a run. After leading by nine at halftime and holding that advantage for most of the third quarter, Sam Baker hit a three to cut the lead down to just three. Baker finished the game with nine points while senior Kelly Leszcynski had 10 for Nazareth.

Sienna Miller, who finished with nine points, hit her third three of the game which sparked a 7-0 Spring-Ford run to make it a 38-28 game with 3:45 left. After that Spring-Ford was able to keep Nazareth at arm’s length and hold on for the win.  

“They don’t panic,” McDaniel said. “They believe in themselves so much that if that situation occurs, they know they can bounce out of it. For the lack of experience and lack of age on this team and the way they don’t panic is really a good attribute.”

Spring-Ford advances to face Central York in the second round of states. What was an inexperienced team to start the year has gotten better and better as the year has gone on, but the Rams still know there’s more work to be done. 

“We have to keep playing together as a team and keep our energy up and if we do that, we should have a lot of success.” Azzara said. 

By Quarter
Spring-Ford:  12  |   9   |   8   |  15  ||  43
Nazareth:      11  |   0   |  11  |  10  ||  32 

Scoring
Spring-Ford: Azzara 11, Solliday 10, Miller 9, Pettinelli 7, Pufko 6

Nazareth: Leszcynski 10, Baker 9, Bender 6, Wells 5, Falzone 2


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