Bishop Guilfoyle Lady Marauders: Welcome

Bishop Guilfoyle defeated Northern Cambria 49-29 Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center to claim the PIAA Class A girls basketball championship.

Following was our live in-game blog:

The Mirror crew is courtside at tbe Bryce Jordan Center for the PIAA Class A girls basketball championship between defending champ Bishop Guilfoyle and Northern Cambria.

And the wireless is working!

The teams have just taken the floor for their final warmups. The music's blaring, and the officials -- a District 6 trio led by Leiwstown's Tona Williams, the lead referee -- are out.

Williams is joined by Sue Kovensky and Chuck Glasser.

We'll provide frequent updates over the next 90 minutes ...

FIRST QUARTER

Dunchack controls the tip ... BG in straight man to man as NC spreads floor and Ariel Rocco opens the scoring with a corner shot.

(Note to devouts: This won't be total play-by-play but just wanted to get started).

BG empty on first two trips.

Alli Williams gets the Lady Marauders on the board with a layoff from the post.

Kelsey Livoti nails a 3-pointer for BG and then follows with a runner to give BG a 7-4 lead and then Williams gets away with a walk -- and a possible charge -- and will be at the line for a three-play play attempt. as BG builds a 9-4 lead with 3:28 left in the quarter.

NC coach Eric Thomas, upset with the call, gets a timeout.

Williams misses the free throw, but NC turns it over. BG quickly pounds it into Williams, who scores and looks pretty unstoppable so far. She has six of BG's points.

Janae Dunchack makes a free throw to pull NC within 11-5.

Guilfoyle's balance is now showing as freshman Halee Adams buries a 3-pointer for a 14-7 lead. Livoti gets loose for another layup and BG leads after one quarter 16-7.

SECOND QUARTER

The game is taking shape, and it's not pretty for Northern Cambria.

Elyssa Ehredt -- another BG freshman -- scores off an inbounds pass, putting BG up 22-7 with 6:28 left in the half. All five starters have now scored for BG.

Wiliams scores again -- she's hit five of seven from the field -- and it's more than clear BG, which is getting every loose ball, is the more physical team.

Northern Cambria can't get the ball in and has to use a timeout, its second.

Quick stat recap: BG has hit 11 of 20 from the floor, NC is 4 of 14 and has committed eight turnovers so far. Dunchack, so far a Colt bright spot, makes her third field goal and her seventh of NC's 10 points.

BG tries to melt the last 1:10 of the and turns the ball over with 15 seconds left -- the only mistake, seemingly, the Lady Marauders have made all half. But NC rushes up, gives up a steal and Guilfoyle hits Adams at the other end for a layup that beats the buzzer.

That pretty much sums up the first half as BG goes into the locker room up 28-11 and 16 minutes from its fourth state title and third in three years.

Four BG starters have at least two buckets each, headed by Williams' 10 points. Only Dunchack has more than one field goal for Northern Cambria.

The rout appears on and the Lady Colts, who played BG to overtime in the Distict 6 final, will need to make some adjustments quickly.

THIRD QUARTER

Guilfoyle comes out and appears content to be patient, understandable with a now 30-13 lead with four minutes and change to go in the quarter.

Northern Cambria is shooting 20 percent (5-25) while BG is hitting 48 percent (13-27).

The Lady Colts are showing some life and Dunchack gets two offensive rebounds, is fouled and makes a free throw, cutting BG's lead to 31-18 with 2:08 left in the period -- and now Ariel Rocco coaxes in a 15-footer, pulling Northern within 31-20, the closest its been since the first quarter.

BG, though, calmly keeps its poise and executes a Floyd-to-Adams give and go to push it back to 33-20.

Guilfoyle has the ball back and is working for the last shot, trying to burn the last 35 seconds -- and it does as Adams scores again down low and now has nine points.

BG leads 35-20 and you can be sure it will be spread out in the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

NC continues to play with character as Rocco hits a bucket and two free throws, pulling the Colts within 35-24 before Williams cleans up a miss for her first points since early and a 37-22 lead with 6:08 left.

Dunchack scores and BG is spread with 5:10 left, content to weave.

Williams hits a couple of free throws and now has a double-double with 14 points and a dozen rebounds. I find myself with her ballhandling, ability to face the hoop and her physicality and curious where she'll fit into the Division I level at St. Francis. Power forward? Probably, but she can really dribble and break pressure, too, which will be an asset.

Some frustration may be setting in for the Colts as Brianna Kochinsky is called for an intentional foul on Adams, who makes the free throws for a 42-26 lead at 3:30. NC's top scorer, Kochinsky remains without a field goal.

I'm starting to anticipate when Mark Moschella will remove Alli Williams to what should be a desevedly loud curtain call.

BG fans can smell it. They're clapping with the Lady Marauders in their spread and 1:43 left.

Ehredt, the granddaughter of Tom Irwin, makes a pair of free throws and it's 45-26. No movement from Moschella on Williams, though.

Moschella insets three subs but leaves seniors Williams and Floyd out there. Meanwhile, Thomas removes Dunchack, Kochinsky and Rocco to a police ovation.

No curtain for Alli, who's still out there are the clock runs out.

Final: BG 49, Northern Cambria 29.

The Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic and Northern Cambria girls basketball teams won't be traveling too far for their last trip before a potential rematch in the PIAA Class A championship game at Penn State.

In fact, both will be remaining within District 6 for their respective state semifinal games on Wednesday night, the PIAA announced today.

The undefeated District 6 champion and defending state gold medalist Lady Marauders will be heading back to Indiana University's Memorial Field House to play District 7 champion Vincentian at 7 p.m. Bishop Guilfoyle, who defeated Rochester at IUP in the second round, is 28-0 and hasn't lost since last year's Laurel Highlands Conference championship game. Vincentian is 20-7.

Northern Cambria, the team BG defeated in overtime for the 6-A crown, will take a 23-5 mark into its clash with District 11 winner Tri-Valley at Bellefonte Area High School, also at 7 p.m. The game is a rematch from last year's second round, when the Lady Colts outlasted Tri-Valley at Big Spring High School, 48-44.

Both teams trying to derail an all-District 6 final present sizeable obstacles. Vincentian can start three players 5-foot-11 or taller on its front line, while Tri-Valley features a 6-4 freshman center.

The Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic girls and Hollidaysburg Area boys will be paired up again when the PIAA high school basketball tournament continues with its second round this week.

The Lady Marauders and Golden Tigers - both of whom won Saturday playing back to back at the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse - will return to action Wednesday night as part of a doubleheader at Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Memorial Field House, the PIAA announced Sunday afternoon.

BG will open the twinbill against Rochester of District 7 at 6 p.m. The District 6 and defending PIAA Class A champion Lady Marauders will put a 26-0 record on the line against the fifth-place team out of the WPIAL. Then Hollidaysburg, also District 6 champs, will attempt to avenge a regular-season loss to WPIAL runner-up Gateway in a Class AAAA game scheduled for 7:30.

Northern Cambria, which lost to Guilfoyle in the 6-A championship game in overtime, will go up against Nativity BVM, the team BG beat in last year's PIAA final, that same night at Lewistown Area High School. Tipoff there is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, the District 5 Class A champion Tussey Mountain girls won't have to go far Wednesday when the Lady Titans face District 6 consolation game winner Conemaugh Valley at Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School at 6 p.m.

The Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School girls basketball team will begin its trek to a possible second straight PIAA Class A championship where it started the last one - the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse - and the District 6 Class AAAA champion Hollidaysburg boys team will be joining the Lady Marauders there.

From Mirror reports

The undefeated and defending PIAA champion Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic girls, as expected, were unveiled as the top seed in Class A for the District 6 basketball playoffs, which are scheduled to begin Feb. 22, but the Lady Marauders aren't alone in the catbird seats in the bracket for teams from the Mirror coverage area.

Mirror-area squads garnered the top three places in the 6-A girls bracket, which was released along with the pairings for boys and girls from Class AAA through Class A Monday by District 6 basketball chairman T.J. Kakabar on Monday.

Sites, dates and times for the early-round games of the tournament, as well as the seedings and pairing for Class AAAA, will be announced later.

While Guilfoyle got the top seed in 6-A girls, two old rivals aren't far behind the Lady Marauders. Williamsburg, which had a big rivalry with BG for 6-A and state girls supremacy in the early 1990s, is seeded second. Northern Cambria, the team Guilfoyle defeated in last year's district final, is seeded third.

Two other area teams are part of the single-A girls field. Bishop Carroll, which qualified for the state tournament last year, is seeded seventh and could play Williamsburg in the quarterfinals if the Lady Huskies can win their first-round game. Juniata Valley also entered and is seeded ninth.

Name: Halee Adams

School: Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic

Age: 15

Grade: Freshman

Sport: Basketball

Athlete of week achievement: Adams scored 21 points in a 70-45 victory over Central Cambria and 32 in a 60-39 win over Forest Hills.

Season update: Adams is averaging 14 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Coach Mark Moschella's quote: "Halee just got off to a great start this year, and I think now she's starting to feel a lot more comfortable at the varsity level. She just did an outstanding job."

Favorite teacher: Senora Garner

Favorite subject: Math

Favorite movie: "Coach Carter"

Favorite food: Lobster

Favorite song: "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly

Outside interests: Hang out with friends and go to movies

Favorite pro team: Boston Celtics

Favorite college team: Tennessee

Pro athlete most admired: No preference

Best athlete I ever played with: Alli Williams

Best athlete I ever competed against: Delone Catholic's Sierra Moore

Most influential person on my athletic career: My dad, Gene

Proudest athletic achievement: Winning the Lady Marauder Classic and the Jim Ellis Tournament

How I got my start in basketball: I started in third grade at Blair Rec

Future goal: To win a state championship

John Frederick, who coached the Lady Marauders to Class AA girls basketball championships in both 1984 and 1991, remembers the unity of the 1984 squad 25 years later.

"They were a very unselfish group, a very team-oriented group,' Frederick said of the 1983-84 BG squad. "They were not preoccupied with individual accomplishments. There were things that each of the players on that team did particularly well, and that was the key to that team's success.'

A quarter-century after the BG girls locked up the Lady Marauders' first-ever state title by defeating Pine Grove, 64-63 in the championship game at the HersheyPark Arena, Frederick vividly recalled the special talents of each member of that Lady Marauders team, which will collectively be inducted into the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame later this year.

The Blair Hall's 2010 induction dinner is set for Saturday, April 10 at the Blair County Convention Center.

There was the shooting prowess, defensive smarts, and leadership presence provided by all-state shooting guard Chris (O'Connor) Lum, and the uncanny passing ability and pressure defense supplied by senior forward Diane (Carey) Stief. Senior center Jodi Cox was a force in the post, giving BG a rebounding edge and working to get open when she didn't have the basketball.

The team's two other starters, both juniors, were guards Lisa (Lightner) Georgiana, an outstanding shooter and defensive dean who often guarded the opposition's best scorer, and Kris (Bumann) Etter, who Frederick termed as the "consummate point guard' - a heads-up floor general who could both direct the game and put the ball in the basket.

But the starters weren't the whole show that year for BG - far from it.

"We had a great supporting cast on that team, and I think that was the thing that helped us to become such a great team and win the state championship,' Frederick said.

Steady contributors off the bench for BG that year included junior Chris "Doc" Wessner - who would go on to become an all-state player herself the following season - as well as sophomore Ann (Aigner) Wilson, sophomore Tracy (O'Brian) Chaney, and freshman Tricia Riley. Other freshmen joining Riley on the varsity roster that year were Kathy (Crouse) Hammer, Kellie (Consiglio) Hurd, and Julie (Leipold) Della. Then there was the solid work ethic provided by senior Sheila (Sullivan) Ramsey and junior Maryann (Winkler) Weber.

Yes, the 1983-84 Lady Marauders were truly a team with a capital "T.'

"I would say that discipline was the key to the success of that team,' said Georgiana, who operates her own public relations organization and lives in Hollidaysburg with her husband, John, and two children. "Everybody on that team knew exactly what their role was, and what they were supposed to do.'

Lum led the team in scoring average with 14.5 points per game, while Cox and Stief both averaged between 10 and 11 per game. Georgiana checked in with a nine-point average, and Etters averaged 7.5 points per game.

Four players - Lum (East Carolina), Stief (St. Francis), Wessner (Virginia Commonwealth) and Riley (Massachusetts) - went on to play Division I basketball.

"I just think we were so unselfish as a team,' said Lum, who now works as a customer service representative for a company in Advance, N.C., where she lives with her husband, Phillip, and their two sons. "All our scoring averages were very similar. And we had great team chemistry - we were all friends.'

Back in the early 1980s, several area high school girls basketball teams, including BG, were playing a season schedule that began in September, ran through November, and, after a couple of months off in December and January, resumed in February and March.

Now, all boys and girls basketball teams play their seasons continually through the winter months of December through February.

Frederick wasn't a fan of the split schedule.

"It was rough,' he said. "It took us awhile to get our feet [after resuming play] in the spring again. But once we got into the playoffs, we really put things together.'

After defeating archrival Bishop McCort, 54-50, in the District 6-AA championship game, BG upended District 7 power Mount Alvernia, 59-43 in the western final to punch its ticket to Hershey.

"That was a landmark game, a really big win,' Frederick said. "[Mount Alvernia] was ranked 11th in the country by USA Today at the time. We just tried to instill in our kids the idea that we were the better team, and we played great defense and smart basketball that night.'

That paved the way for the state championship game in Hershey, and BG's thrilling victory over a Pine Grove team that battled back from a 14-point second-half deficit.

Wessner lives today in Richmond, Va., where she works as a product manager for a medical supply distributor and is also a yoga instructor and fitness trainer. Wessner led the Lady Marauders with 15 points in the 1984 state title game and believes that sharing in the success of BG's 1984 state championship team helped to shape her life.

Name: Alli Williams

School: Bishop Guilfoyle

Age: 18

Grade: 12

Sport: Basketball

Athlete of week achievement: Williams led BG to the Lady Marauder Classic championship with two wins. She had a triple-double against Penns Valley and was named tournament MVP.

Season update: Williams has 38 points, 20 rebounds and 17 steals in two games.

Coach Mark Moschella's quote: "Alli did a great job this week, not only playing well but also preparing her teammates for the season. The team will really look to Alli for leadership as the season goes on."

Favorite teacher: Mr. Sutton

Favorite subject: English

Favorite movie: "Wedding Crashers"

Favorite food: Pizza

Favorite song: "Do You Remember" by Jay Sean

Outside interests: Hanging out with my friends

Favorite pro team: Pittsburgh Steelers

Favorite college team: St. Francis

Pro athlete most admired: No preference

Best athlete I ever played with: Dani Williams

Best athlete I ever competed against: Northern Cambria's Janae Dunchack

Most influential person on my athletic career: My mom and dad

Proudest athletic achievement: Winning two state championships

How I got my start in basketball: Park and Rec

Future goal: Play college basketball at St. Francis and work on getting a career