Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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SPRINGFIELD — Last year’s district championship run was an underdog one for Villa Maria, the Hurricanes winning it all as the No. 10 seed, an unexpected ending after a sub.-500 season.
This season, Villa won’t be making any such under-the-radar run. A 57-29 win over Episcopal Academy on Thursday, the day after a 19-point win over Archbishop Carroll, moved Kathy McCartney’s group to 9-0 on the season, one shy of their regular-season win total from a year ago.
Marah McHugh (above) and Villa Maria are now 9-0 on the season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
“It’s crazy, insane,” senior forward Marah McHugh said after Thursday’s win, played at Cardinal O’Hara as part of a tripleheader. “We’re putting in a lot of hard work and it’s really showing off.”
It’s certainly momentum that’s spilled over from last year, four straight wins in the district tournament that ended with a win over Bishop Shanahan; even though they lost in the first round of states to West York, there was a lot to look forward to with almost the entire rotation returning.
They started off the year winning at Henderson by two points, then at Shanahan by seven; after beating Lower Moreland and Archmere Academy (Del.), the Hurricanes won their first two AACA games at Villa Joe (58-27) and against Mount St. Joe’s (57-45).
The biggest eye-opener of the season came on Wednesday, when they took the lead on Carroll in the second quarter and pulled away down the stretch for a 55-36 win. The Hurricanes keep it simple — pass and cut, don’t try to do too much, take a shot when you’re open, and most importantly give everything defensively every possession. They forced 19 turnovers against Episcopal, coming away with 14 steals, the full-court pressure swarming all game long.
“Defense is our focus right now, we’re really working on our defense because defense wins games,” McHugh said.
McCartney, who’s seen and done plenty in her 34 seasons on the Villa sidelines, had an idea in the offseason that they would improve significantly upon a 10-11 season a year ago.
“We played in a shootout in the early fall and I could see that they were different,” she said. “Sometimes coaching smart kids is not an easy thing, they think too much [...] now they’re not thinking as much, it’s a little more [natural], and that’s what I saw this summer, that it was coming a little more naturally, they’re not robotically running plays, so that’s making us more successful.”
The pieces were there for the Hurricanes to be good, with a deep, experienced group with good size up and down the roster giving a long-successful coach plenty to work with.
McHugh, a Gettysburg commit, is one of four returning starters from last year’s run, only point guard Elaina Guerzon making the move from reserve to starter following the graduation of Mary Grace Murphy. Guerzon and McHugh go back to before their Villa days to CYO ball at Saints Philip & James in Exton, where they were rivals with a St. Max’s (West Chester) squad that featured current classmates Ella Iacone and Ava Irvine. Clare Cronley, another senior, rounds out the starting lineup.
All five played well against EA in the minutes they had: McHugh had 10 points, four rebounds and three steals; Guerzon had 8 points; Irvine 7 points, with 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists; Iacone 6 points with two rebounds and two assists; Cronley with 4 points and 2 steals.
But it’s not just that five that’s been clicking for the Hurricanes.
Kathy McCartney (above, right) talks to her players before a substitution during the game against Episcopal Academy. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
A bench that typically goes at least five deep but had seven reserves see minutes on Thursday scored 22 points and saw contributions from all over against Episcopal. Junior wing Carly Catania, who started last season but is coming off the bench as she recovers from an early-season injury, chipped in five points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals; junior Emma O’Hare added six points and three rebounds; junior Alice Nash, a transfer from EA, added 7 points and two rebounds against her former teammates.
“One team’s not going to focus on one player, because we all have something to contribute to the team,” Guerzon said. “Having five on the court that are capable of doing a lot of things, makes it easier for us as a team to be able to be comfortable playing against stronger opponents.”
That depth does mean the starters don’t see as much time as other team’s, McCartney keeping the rotation moving, getting players in and out, taking advantage of the quality depth at her disposal.
“These kids have totally accepted ‘this kid’s coming in for me,’ and it’s not like you’re buried on the bench, you’re going back, and they know that, so they’re really good about it,” she said. “We have no egos right now, which is why we’re 9-0.”
The win over EA moved Villa Maria into the top spot in the unofficial District 1 5A power rankings, just ahead of AACA rival Gwynedd Mercy (6-0) and Upper Moreland (8-0), both also unbeaten. The big prize on everybody’s mind is the AACA title, which Villa Maria hasn’t won since 2013, losing to now-closed St. Basil in the final in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and then in the semifinals to Basil’s in 2020, then to Villa Joseph Marie in last year’s semifinals.
They've also been trying to get back to the state title game for the first time since '07, to win it for the first time ever -- but that's a ways down the road. A defense of the district title, which would be McCartney's 13th, would of course come first.
All of that serves as a reminder to this year’s Villa squad that while they’re off to a great start, that doesn’t guarantee them anything when it comes to the postseason, other than perhaps a little bit of a target on their backs. Though they won’t mind if they stay a little under-the-radar.
“[I like being the] underdog,” Guerzon said. “It’s always fun beating someone when people don’t think that you’ll beat them.”
By Quarter
Villa Maria: 17 | 14 | 17 | 9 || 57
Episcopal: 11 | 8 | 4 | 6 || 29
Shooting
Villa Maria: 21-49 FG (8-22 3PT), 7-10 FT
Episcopal: 11-33 FG (5-11 3PT), 2-10 FT
Scoring
Villa Maria: McHugh 10, Guerzon 8, Irvine 7, Nash 7, Iacone 6, O’Hare 6, Catania 5, Cronley 4, Tray 2, Sharp 2
Episcopal: T. Hammond 8, Notaro 6, Thibodeau 4, Kehl 3, Dennis 3, Maloney 3, Leake 2
Tag(s): Home Josh Verlin High School Girls HS AACA Villa Maria Inter-Ac (G) Episcopal Academy