City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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All the local participants in the girls’ 2A and 3A state playoff brackets have been eliminated — but the 6A field is more than picking up the slack. 

Six of the eight state quarterfinalists are from the Philly ‘burbs, including four teams from District 1 — Perkiomen Valley, Spring-Ford, North Penn and Garnet Valley — and two from District 12, Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara. That means each of the four quarterfinals feature at least one local squad, including two all-local matchups.

Here’s a close look at all four:

Girls 6A: 1-1 Perkiomen Valley vs. 12-2 Cardinal O’Hara (6 PM, Norristown)

This year’s 6A bracket is a little strange: typically Catholic League squads wouldn’t be both the first and second seed out of District 12 6A; the District 12 championship game is usually Catholic League vs. Public League, but a forfeit by Northeast High bumped O’Hara up from the 12-3 spot into 12-2, Dobbins sliding up to take the final spot in the state tournament. So instead of a PV/O’Hara matchup taking place in the second round, it comes in the quarterfinals, PV having beaten Manheim Township and then Haverford High to advance a round further than it did a year ago.

To get back to the 6A state quarterfinals for the second year in a row — after winning the 5A crown in 2022 — O’Hara (23-4) first beat Upper Dublin 49-17 before dispatching District 2 champs Hazleton Area 55-46 in the second round. Chrissie Doogan’s squad leans on talented junior wing Molly Rullo, the Drexel commit a big-time threat out of the high point and beyond the arc, as well as senior guard Joanie Quinn, the La Salle commit going from a shooter to a combo guard. Senior guard Greta Miller (5-6), senior wing forward Carly Coleman (5-11) and sophomore Megan Rullo (5-8), Coleman giving them a good inside presence on both ends, scoring 13 points with a couple blocks against Hazleton. 

The Lions are going to need every bit of inside effort against a Vikings squad that’s one of the biggest teams in the state. That starts up front with Quinn Boettinger, Perk Valley’s 6-3, Navy-bound post, who leads a group of five juniors that start for head coach John Russo. She’s joined by 6-1 Grace Galbavy — an athletic, slashing wing with all sorts of Division I offers — as the biggest problems up front for opponents on both ends of the floor. That junior group continues with point guard Bella Bacani (5-5), shooting guard Julia Smith (5-8) and wings Grace Miley (5-10) and Lena Stein (5-9), whose sister Anna Stein (5-9) is the only senior in the rotation.

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Girls 6A: 12-1 Archbishop Carroll vs. 11-1 Parkland (7:30 PM, Pottstown HS)
Carroll is the defending state champion but needed overtime to escape District 1’s Conestoga in the second round — the Patriots’ second straight season with an OT win in the second round. Parkland’s on a first-time-in-along-time run, reaching the PIAA quarters for the program for the first time since the program won the state championship in 2006. That’s the last District 11 team to hoist the PIAA in the largest classification.

Carroll (19-9), the PCL runner-up, is led by Philadelphia Catholic League MVP Brooke Wilson, an Army commit. Sophomore guard Alexis Eberz, another Division I target, is one of the other key pieces from last season’s run. Senior Felicity McFillin (Air Force) and junior Maddie McFillin along with younger sister Maddie McFillin, trying to extend their first and only season all playing together. Juniors Bridget Archbold and Olivia Nardi both had big moments in the second-round win.

Parkland’s (28-2) led by senior 5-7 guard Talia Zurinskas (Lafayette) and senior 6-foot forward Madison Siggins (East Stroudsburg), who are both 1,000-point scorers. The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champions have wins over Downingtown East (41-34) and Dallastown (35-31) in the state tournament, bringing their streak to 11 victories in a row. Junior Delaney Chilcote and sophomore Aneri McGalla and Isabella Hallal have played alongside Zurinskas and Siggins in all 30 games this season.

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Girls 6A: 1-4 North Penn vs. 1-6 Garnet Valley (7 PM, Bensalem HS)

The bottom half of the 6A bracket is 75% District 1, including these two teams that can confidently say they’ve already had strong seasons, but both would love to keep going. North Penn comes in 25-5, Garnet Valley 24-6, both losing in their respective league semifinals and falling short in the distinct playoffs but both with terrific regular seasons putting them in the top six in District 1. They haven’t played each other this year, but there are a few common opponents — including Haverford High, which beat Garnet Valley three times this season (by four, 14 and seven) but lost both of its games to North Penn, by a total of six points.

North Penn had one of the best wins of the second round, Caleigh Sperling’s banked-in shot at the buzzer lifting the Knights past North Allegheny and into the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2017, when they lost to Cardinal O’Hara in this round. Sperling, a senior guard and Jefferson commit, has been coach Brianna Cullen’s featured piece the last two years, capable of getting a bucket in clutch situations. She’s gotten plenty of help this year from junior guard Cam Crowley, who had 13 in the second-round win, freshman wing Lily Brown, senior point guard Liv Stone and junior wing Leah Mikulski. It’s a group with good size overall in Brown, Sperling and Stone, all 5-10, and they like to work the ball inside.

Garnet Valley, on the other hand, loves to bomb away from deep, a model that’s worked well for coach Joe Woods’ group this year. They’re led by 6-0 junior guard and Division I prospect Haylie Adamski, one of the top scorers in the area, who will pull up from all over the court. So will her classmate and backcourt mate Kylie Mulholland (5-5) — and her younger sisters, freshmen Addie and Kylie, who’ve been chipping in more and more as the season’s gone on. Senior Emily Olsen (5-11), who led the way with 17 points in the second round, has been great up front, and fellow seniors Jordan Daubenberger (5-9) and Layne Zeppelin (5-7) plus junior Savannah Saunders (5-5) all factor into the mix.

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Girls 6A: 1-2 Spring-Ford vs. 7-1 Norwin (6:30 PM, State College HS)
Out in the Western half of the bracket, Spring-Ford is working its way back East, though the Rams will still have to play one more out in the middle of the state; if they win, they’ll be guaranteed a more local semifinal with either Garnet Valley or North Penn waiting next Monday. Mickey McDaniel’s group has done a good job bouncing back from a disappointing defeat in the District 1 championship game, and they want nothing more than one final shot at Perkiomen Valley — which would have to happen in Hershey, if it happens at all. And now they have good reason to feel solid about this one: the Rams already beat the Knights 51-46, at State College, back on Dec. 8.

Norwin, the District 7 (WPIAL) champs for the first time since back-to-back titles in 2015-16, are coming off a state semifinal appearance. Their 14th win in a row didn’t come easy, the Knights needed to rally from down at halftime to beat Chartiers Valley 56-47 in the second round. Head coach Brian Brozeski, in his 13th season, has a balanced team without a typical leading scorer, though they run through 6-1 senior and Holy Cross commit Lauren Palangio, who had 16 points in their win over CV. She leads a starting group that also includes 5-2 senior point guard Bailey Snowberger, 5-10 junior guard Kendall Berger, 6-0 senior guard Ava Kobus, 5-8 sophomore guard Ava Christopher, with 5-11 junior wing Averi Brozeski and 5-7 junior guard Bella Furno the top reserves.

McDaniel has a couple stars to rely on in senior guards Anna Azzara (5-8) and Mac Pettinelli (5-9), but they showed in their second round they’re much more than just the pair of Division I commits. Senior sharpshooter Aaliyah Solliday led the way with 25 points in their second-round win over Peters Township, with senior wing Katie Tiffan (Lynn University) adding 21 and junior wing Kareena Preuss going for 13 more. That’s a great sign for the Rams and a terrible one for defenders, who still have to worry primarily about the Wright State-bound Azzara’s driving and the St. Bonaventure-bound Pettinelli’s playmaking. If McDaniel can get that kind of production out of that group, they’ll be a huge threat to win it all.

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