City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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CHAMBERSBURG >> Aubrey Mobley has found herself in a different role of late for Lansdale Catholic.

The junior guard, the first player off the Crusaders’ bench all season, has instead been a fixture in the starting lineup for the last three games as LC has driven here, there and everywhere on its path through the PIAA 4A bracket. Two years ago as a freshman, she was mostly a spectator as LC won its first state championship but this year, she’s a willing and active participant.

Mobley provided a lift on both ends Saturday as LC rolled North Catholic 54-16 in the 4A semifinals at Chambersburg Area High School.

“The last few games, it’s just kind of been energy,” Mobley said. “Experiencing this my freshman year and watching from the sideline and knowing how much everyone else wanted it, I wanted to be on the court then but you know, I was a freshman so I wasn’t upset about it.

“But going through this whole season and seeing how much we’ve overcome together as a team, knowing we didn’t make PCL but we could still do this, that’s what pushed me to push everyone else.”

Mobley scored nine points, the guard a little more assertive looking for her offense than she sometimes is while adding four assists. It was her work on the defensive end however that really stood out, Mobley playing aggressive and airtight defense on North Catholic’s terrific senior point guard Sarah Loughry.

Loughry, who had a triple-double in the Trojanettes quarterfinal win, went scoreless on Saturday as Mobley and Sanyiah Littlejohn led another outstanding LC defensive effort in the state tournament. After defeating Lancaster Catholic 52-48 in the first round of states, LC has allowed a total of 70 points in the last three games.

“A lot of teams, giving up 48 points, they’d say they’d played great defense but we don’t believe that,” LC coach Tom Lonergan said. “They’re locked in, they know where we’re at and they know what the opportunity is. Sanyiah and Nadia (Yemola) had an opportunity to experience this, Aubrey as well and the more and more we got deeper into the tournament, the more and more they were just focused.”

Littlejohn was outstanding for LC, the George Mason recruit slashing her way through North Catholic’s defense to the tune of 24 points while also helping out plenty on the defensive end.

When he took over the program in October, one of the first things Lonergan told the team was that by the end of the year, they’d be one of the best defensive teams in the state. LC can throw a multitude of looks at opponents and to North Catholic’s credit, the Trojanettes did well handling some of LC’s traps and extended zones.

So, the Crusaders adjusted and leaned on their athletes, length and aggression to fluster North Catholic man-to-man.

“Last game, our defense was on fire too so I knew I could depend on my help so I could be more aggressive,” Mobley said. “We studied (Loughry), we knew she wasn’t going to pull up every time and their other shooters were very good so she was going to try and drive it and attack me. I knew how to play that, a little bit from AAU and that fast pace but also from having to guard Sanyiah at practice.”

Stopping Loughry was paramount but so was keeping Brady Wehner and Sam Weir – North Catholic’s two standout underclassmen – quiet on the perimeter. Lonergan made sure to point out the efforts Yemola put in defensively too, the senior sniper bound for Kutztown helping hold Wehmer to just three points.

North Catholic’s first nine points all came on three-pointers and when Anna Lazzara scored with 6:30 left in the second frame, the Trojanettes only trailed 12-11. The WPIAL third-place finisher would only make two more baskets and score five more points the rest of the way as LC turned up the defense.

LC closed the first half on a 16-0 run then added the first six of the third quarter to turn what had been a close game into a 20-point advantage. Littlejohn shot 11-of-14 and didn’t take a jumper, the guard continually working her way to the rim to keep the pressure on.

“They hit threes on us early in the game, so we wanted to cut that out and we knew they were going to play aggressive man, so that would open the floor for a lot of isolations,” Littlejohn said. “That’s when I took the floor space they gave me and went downhill on them.”

Grace McDonough owned the backboard, the JMU recruit grabbing 15 rebounds for LC to go along with her eight points with Littlejohn adding seven boards and three assists for the Crusaders. Yemola added seven points to go with her terrific defense.

After their loss to Cardinal O’Hara in the PCL quarterfinals, the Crusaders had a long layoff before they got back to work. Lonergan gave the team four days off then once they got back into the gym, that’s when he felt like everything started to come together.

With him coming in late in the offseason, Lonergan continued to laud the players for being open and receptive to changing what they knew and adapting to his style of play. It’s been a two-way exchange, the players also a lot more comfortable in what they’re doing with Mobley saying she felt confident looking for her shot more on Saturday than she might have been earlier in the season.

“It’s trusting my coaching staff and trusting my teammates to know what I can do and me knowing what they can do,” Mobley said. “I’ve noticed the last couple games, the defenses have been sagging off me and that’s because I don’t primarily shoot so they’re going to help on Nadia, Sanyiah and Grace.

“If people are going to leave me open, I have to attack.”

Saturday was the latest in what’s been a long string of road trips for LC in the state tournament, the Crusaders already logging a little bit more than 1,100 miles on the road this month. The team has actually enjoyed it, they came out to Chambersburg on Friday night and stayed over and the group is making the most of their extra time together.

Lansdale Catholic will face Neumann-Goretti in an all-PCL state final next Saturday in Hershey, the Saints downing Audenried 61-52 in the other semifinal.

“We’re familiar with this run but we’re not satisfied yet,” Littlejohn said. “We didn’t come all this way just to lose next weekend. We’re not satisfied until we get that one.”

By Quarter

LANSDALE CATHOLIC 10 | 18 | 14 | 12 || 54

NORTH CATHOLIC 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 || 16

Scoring

LC: Sanyiah Littlejohn 24, Aubrey Mobley 9, Grace McDonough 8, Nadia Yemola 7, Ali Kaltenbacher 4

NC: Sam Weir 10, Brady Wehner 3, Anna Lazzara 2, Kate Vislosky 1