City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The Athletic Association of Catholic Academies doesn’t have the largest selection of teams, but the league will have two really good ones going against each other on Tuesday night.

Top seed Villa Maria and Gwynedd Mercy face off for the second straight years despite both sides having to replace some big pieces. Gwynedd won the title in 2022 before Villa broke an 11-year title drought with a 55-32 win last season.

Expect a much tighter championship game at *Wednesday at Merion Mercy at 7 p.m.* Here’s a quick breakdown of the matchup"

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Boys: No. 1 Villa Maria (15-7) vs. No. 2 Gwynedd Mercy (19-4)  

Previous Meeting(s)
Villa Maria 49, Gwynedd Mercy 44 (Dec. 12 @ Villa Maria)
Gwynedd Mercy 38, Villa Maria (Jan. 26 @ Gwynedd Mercy)

Projected Starters
Villa Maria: G Sophia Tray, G Emma O’Hara, G Abby Ferry, G Liz Sharp, W/F Carly Catania

Gwynedd Mercy: G Bailey Balkir, G/W Cara Lapp, G/W Emilia Coleman, F Megan McDonnell, F Allison Kaltenbacher

Biggest strength
The Hurricanes have a determined senior leading the charge in Catania, a New Hampshire commit, she’s a terrific rebounder who is naturally a guard but plays big at the high school level on a Villa team without much size. The Hurricanes didn’t bring a ton of experience into this season, even Catania came off the bench a year ago, but they have three seniors in the starting lineup. That seems to matter sometimes this time of year.

Gwynedd gets steady guard play from Balkir and Lapp but the Monarchs’ team length stands out as its defining trait. McDonnell, Kaltenbacher and Coleman — and even to a degree Lapp — can fill up passing lanes and block shots on the defensive end and be a threat to haul in some offensive boards. Senior 6-foot forward Dylan Burker returned not too long ago to add  to that group. Coleman, 5-11, pairs her wiry frame with sharpshooting and scoring ability as well that could give Villa problems.

Keep an eye on
Coleman and Catania both have 20-point outings in the season series and their squads have lost both those games. Catania had 17 in the first win when the Hurricanes won as they also got 17 from Sophia Tray and 10 from Emma O’Hare. Coleman had 14 when her squad won the second meeting as five others scored multiple buckets, including Burke who could be the difference maker after not playing in the Dec. 12 matchup.