City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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WEST CHESTER — Sam Blumenthal just believed.

It wasn’t always the easiest thing to do while not much was going right for Bishop Shanahan this winter, but the senior forward maintained a notion the Eagles could make a run. Faith Ambrose and Abbey Wolfe felt it too, Shanahan’s other seniors believing the best was to come.

No. 9 Bishop Shanahan continued its postseason run Friday, downing No. 4 West Chester Rustin 49-39 to reach the District 1 5A title game.

“We knew we had this in us the whole time,” Blumenthal said. “We had a rough patch there, but this isn’t a surprise to us.”

For those not in the Eagles gym all season, it looks like nothing but a surprise. A 10-11 regular season record left Shanahan out of the Ches-Mont playoffs, looking at 11-day break between games and all road games should they keep winning.

They’ve kept going on the road and they’ve kept winning, so far knocking off No. 8 Upper Moreland, top seed Gwynedd Mercy Academy and on Friday, a little closer to home, the fourth seeded Golden Knights. As the seniors tell it, it was those 11 days between games that actually made the difference.

“The energy changed,” Wolfe said. “When we go out there, we’re more intense.”

“Getting some time off, we all realized how important the playoffs were to us,” Ambrose added. “Especially as seniors, it’s our last run but all the underclassmen want to win too. Once we all realized that, we’ve been doing a lot as a team after practices and it’s helped us to click on the court.”

Two years ago, Ambrose, Wolfe and Blumenthal were there as Shanahan made a run to the 5A final only to lose to Villa Maria Academy. Last year, the Eagles set a goal to get back but despite their 19-3 regular season record, it was the Hurricanes denying them in the semifinals.

Carmel Ambrose, Faith’s younger sister, led Shanahan with 15 points on Friday. The team’s other 34 points all came from the three senior starters, who put it on themselves to book a spot in the championship game.

“After the season we’ve had, this definitely feels like a bigger accomplishment,” Faith Ambrose said. “Last year, it was amazing going 19-3 but we knew what to expect. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs but now, we’re finally getting on that good run.”

“It was almost like a need,” Wolfe said. “We needed to get this one.”

There was plenty of familiarity in Friday’s matchup. Blumenthal, Ambrose and Wolfe all played for Rustin coach Lauren Stackhouse’s Delco Goats travel team where they were teammates with Riley Stackhouse. Wolfe guarded Riley most of the game, helping hold Rustin’s leading scorer to just seven points while chipping in eight of her 12 points in the first quarter.

Blumenthal, who tallied 13 points, said despite how close they are with the Stackhouses, both sides are able to tune it out for 32 minutes when they compete. To that point, the Shanahan forward wasn’t holding anything back once she got rolling in a second quarter that saw the Catholic University recruit score eight points and assist on a Carmel Ambrose three.

The forward, who added nine rebounds, two assists and took a charge, used her footwork very well in the post and played relentlessly with six of her boards on the offensive end.

“Honestly, I’ve been having a rough time with it lately but I’ve also been trying to keep believing in myself,” Blumenthal said. “I feel like that’s what happened.”

Lauren Foster didn’t score on Friday, but she had a huge game in the opening round. Faith Ambrose had nine Friday, following her 20-point outburst against Gwynedd Mercy Academy and while it was a little bit more spread out against Rustin, the three seniors agreed it’s been the growth in the underclassmen that’s spurring this run.

The three of them can go out and play as hard as possible, but they knew they would need help in some capacity. It may have taken a little longer than planned, but the Eagles are now in formation when it matters the most.

“We needed them believing in themselves,” Blumenthal said. “We believe in them but it’s a big thing we’ve been working on where, something happens in a game, just get it back. No one is upset when something goes wrong, we’re at the point where we all believe in each other.”

The Eagles will face a familiar foe in Villa Maria Academy next week in the title game. Rustin had their number in the Ches-Mont the last few years, while it’s been the Hurricanes thwarting them in districts.

It’s not a matchup many would have pegged as a likely district final, but Shanahan believed it could get there and that proved to be enough.

“We have a different dynamic this year, but we finally found a way to make it work,” Wolfe said.

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By Quarter
Shanahan: 11 | 14 | 15 | 9 || 49
WC Rustin: 14 | 4 | 13 | 8 || 39

Scoring
Shanahan: Carmel Ambrose 15, Sam Blumenthal 13, Abby Wolfe 12, Faith Ambrose 9

WC Rustin: Jenna Kraft 13, Gia DeMichele 8, Sara Betchyk 7, Riley Stackhouse 7, Ella Battersby 2, Kailey Berry 2

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District 1 5A Girls

Semifinals (Fri., Feb. 23)
9) Bishop Shanahan 49, 4) West Chester Rustin 39
6) Villa Maria 47, 2) West Chester East 40

Playbacks (Fri-Sat., Feb. 23-24)
1) Gwynedd Mercy vs. 5) Lower Moreland (Sat.)
3) Radnor 66, 7) Phoenixville 57

Championship (Wed., Feb. 28)
6) Villa Maria vs. 9) Bishop Shanahan 

Third-place game (Tue., Feb. 27)
2) West Chester East vs. 4) West Chester Rustin

Fifth-place game (Tue., Feb. 27)
3) Radnor vs. TBA