City of Basketball Love

Tom Robinson (@tomjrobinson)
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BETHLEHEM – Unionville made the most of its inside advantage and took away the Dallas outside threats while making advancement into Friday’s PIAA Class 5A boys basketball quarterfinals look easy.

Ryan Brown scored 23 points, James Anderson added 17 and inside force Nick Diehl did not miss a shot while scoring 16 Tuesday night when the Longhorns pounded the Mountaineers 74-36 in a second-round game at Liberty High School.

Unionville used offensive rebounds, Diehl’s powerful post-ups, precision passing and sharp cuts through the lane to produce the type of shots that made it possible to go 22-for-28 (78.6) inside the arc. The Longhorns made 11 of their first 12 two-point attempts and, counting free throws earned there, outscored the Mountaineers 52-22 on points produced from inside the paint.

“We emphasize rebounding a lot,” Unionville coach Chris Cowles said. ”We had a size advantage, particularly when Nick was in the game.”

Unionville led 13-4 on the boards in the first quarter, 25-11 in the first half and 43-27 for the game.

Diehl missed six minutes of the first half, largely to protect him from potential foul issues. He still had time to earn a double-double. Diehl made all eight of his shots and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Anderson missed his three 3-point attempts, but otherwise was 7-for-8 from the floor.

“Coach Cowles does a great job preparing us,” Diehl said, “making sure we know the other team’s strengths and weaknesses.”

Dallas had no one who could physically match up with the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Diehl, who is committed to play Division I baseball at Tulane.

While the Longhorns were playing to their strength, they took away the approach that got Dallas into the second round of state play after trailing by 13 in the first round.

Dallas, which hit 13 shots from 3-point range in less than three quarters against West Philadelphia Friday, was behind by 26 before it hit its only 3-pointer of the night early in the third quarter.

“We’ve been playing well since the start of our districts,” Brown said. “We’ve just been playing super well defensively and that’s what’s creating so many opportunities for 30-point wins like this.”

The Longhorns have won by an average of almost 30 points per game over their last four games – District 1 semifinals and final plus first two PIAA games.

Brown got his points three at a time Tuesday. He was 4-for-8 on 3-pointers, plus he hit all three attempts two different times when he was fouled on a 3-point tries. The second of those was with three-tenths of a second left in the first half, giving Unionville a 41-18 halftime lead.

Charlie Kammeier added nine rebounds while Brown had seven. Anderson had six assists while Brown had five. Nick Williams led Dallas, the District 2 runner-up, with 15 points and seven rebounds. The Mountaineers had won 13 of their previous 14 games.

Williams had two baskets in the first 4:19 to keep the Mountaineers within 12-10. Unionville scored the last nine of the first quarter and the first six of the second for a 27-10 lead. Anderson and Diehl each had six points during the 15-0 run.

The Longhorns topped that by scoring the game’s last 17 points, two of them to end the third quarter before shutting out Dallas in the fourth. Unionville faces District 12 runner-up Archbishop Ryan Friday.

By Quarter
Dallas 10 | 8 | 18 | 0 || 36
Unionville 21 | 20 | 18 | 15 || 74

Scoring
Dallas: Nick Williams 15, Jude Nocito 6, Zach Paczewski 5, Mikey Cumbo 4, Nick Farrell 3, Jack Dale 2, Pat Flanagan 1.

Unionville: Ryan Brown 23, James Anderson 17, Nick Diehl 16, James Brenner 9, Charlie Kammeier 3 Jack Robbins 2, Mick Levendis 2, Zach Dolce 2.

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Cardinal O'Hara 55, Hazleton 46

BETHLEHEM – Molly Rullo sat the last five minutes, 46 seconds of the first half with three fouls. Rullo missed four of the five shots she took in the third quarter.

But, when it came time to finish off Hazleton Area for good, the Cardinal O’Hara junior and Drexel University commit was ready.

Rullo hit two 3-pointers during a 10-point streak and had 10 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter of a 55-46 victory in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A girls basketball tournament Tuesday at Liberty High School. 

O’Hara (23-4), the District 12 runner-up, faces District 1 champion Perkiomen Valley (29-1) — a 64-50 winner over Haverford — in Friday’s state quarterfinals. 

Greta Miller opened the Cardinal O’Hara scoring with a 3-pointer and Megan Rullo added another for a 9-1 lead as the Lions forced six turnovers in the first 2:51. Hazleton Area (24-5) then settled in. The Lady Cougars closed to within a point twice in the second quarter and got within two in both the third and fourth quarters.

That’s when Rullo stepped forward.

Two Rullo 3-pointers and two baskets by Carly Coleman, one off a steal she took coast-to-coast, created a 10-0 burst in less than 90 seconds for the game’s biggest lead, 49-37, with 5:35 left. The the closest Hazleton Area got the rest of the way was nine.

“We make a habit of switching screens,” Lions coach Chrissie Doogan said. “We switch all of our screens on defense and we weren’t.

“They made three open shots in the third quarter because we weren’t talking. You can’t play defense silent. I just felt like we really stopped talking. I really wanted them to dig in and play O’Hara defense and I think they did.”

Joanie Quinn (La Salle), who had three first-quarter steals, and Coleman, who blocked two shots, each contributed offensively with 13 points. Megan Rullo had seven points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Hazleton Area was led by freshman Kaitlyn Bindas, who went 3-for-8 on 3-pointers while scoring 12 points. Alexis Reimold had 11 points and three steals. Sophia Shults had 10 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists. Freshman Sophia Benzo pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

Hazleton was without a senior in the starting lineup and played three freshmen in the game compared to the Lions, who started three seniors, a junior and a sophomore with experience back from last season's state semifinal run.

Experience won out Tuesday night as Cardinal O’Hara’s veteran backcourt handled a usually disruptive Hazleton Area full-court press, committing just nine turnovers, compared to 20 by the Cougars. 

“They’re going to be very good in the next couple years,” Rullo said. “They’re very fast-paced. They run. They’re tough. They share the ball very well.”

By Quarter
Hazleton: 6 | 17 | 12 | 11 || 46
Cardinal O’Hara: 14 | 14 | 11 | 16 || 55

Scoring
Hazleton: Kailtyn Bindas 12, Alexis Reimold 11, Sophia Shults 10, Kayla Lagowy 6, Sophia Benyo 5, Olivia Williams 2

Cardinal O’Hara: Molly Rullo 17, Joanie Quinn 13, Carly Coleman 13, Megan Rullo 7, Great Miller 5

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PIAA 5A Boys (local games)

First Round (Fri., March 8)
12-1 Imhotep Charter 64, 1-6 Pottstown 46
12-2 Archbishop Ryan 67, 1-4 Sun Valley 43
1-1 Unionville 56, 3-8 Manheim Central 31
2-2 Dallas 71, 12-3 West Philadelphia 61
2-1 Abington Heights 91, 12-4 Bonner-Prendergast 64
11-2 Whitehall 62, 1-3 Phoenixville 46
3-5 Exeter Township 67, 1-2 Upper Dublin 60
1-5 Radnor 63, 11-1 Pocono Mt. West 44

Second Round (Tue., March 12)
1-1 Unionville 74, 2-2 Dallas 36
12-2 Archbishop Ryan 66, 1-5 Radnor 46
12-1 Imhotep Charter 83, 3-5 Exeter Township 40

Quarterfinals (Fri., March 15)
1-1 Unionville vs. 12-2 Archbishop Ryan
2-1 Abington Heights vs. 12-1 Imhotep Charter

~~~

PIAA 6A Girls (local games)

First Round (Fri., March 8)
1-5 Haverford 66, 12-3 Dobbins Tech 28
12-2 Cardinal O’Hara 49, 1-8 Upper Dublin 17
12-1 Archbishop Carroll 58, 1-11 West Chester Henderson 37
1-1 Perkiomen Valley 78, 3-6 Manheim Township 33
2-1 Hazleton Area 63, 1-9 Pennsbury 48
11-1 Parkland 41, 1-10 Downingtown East 34
3-2 Dallastown 43, 1-7 Central Bucks East 36
1-3 Conestoga 45, 3-4 Wilson 29
3-1 Central Dauphin 41, 1-12 Kennett 23
1-6 Garnet Valley 58, 11-2 Easton 50 (OT)
1-4 North Penn 48, 11-3 Emmaus 34
1-2 Spring-Ford 71, 3-5 Northeastern 37

Second Round (Tue., March 12)
1-1 Perkiomen Valley 64, 1-5 Haverford 50
12-2 Cardinal O’Hara 55, 2-1 Hazleton Area 46
12-1 Archbishop Carroll 37, 1-3 Conestoga 33 (OT)
1-6 Garnet Valley 52, 3-1 Central Dauphin 46
1-4 North Penn 56, 7-2 North Allegheny 54 (OT)
1-2 Spring-Ford 74, 7-3 Peters Township 53

Quarterfinals (Fri., March 15)
1-1 Perkiomen Valley vs. 12-2 Cardinal O’Hara
11-1 Parkland vs. 12-1 Archbishop Carroll
1-6 Garnet Valley vs. 1-4 North Penn
1-2 Spring-Ford vs. 7-1 Norwin