District 1 5A girls: Bishop Shanahan tops Villa Maria for first-ever district title

Less than a minute after Bishop Shanahan girls’ basketball secured the District 1 Class 5A championship — the first district title in program history — Eagles coach Jim Powers motioned to Faith Ambrose, Sam Blumenthal, and Abbey Wolfe.

While their team was still jumping around in celebration all around them, Powers hugged the three seniors, sharing a special moment together. He wanted to make sure they knew the one emotion flooding through him — something basic, but meaningful.

“I can be proud of them all day, every day, because of what they are and how they carry themselves, how much they work since they’ve [arrived at Shanahan], that’s easy,” Powers said. “But I was just so happy for them to get this.

“They had a shot two years ago, didn’t work,” the fifth-year coach added. “Got bounced in the semis last year, didn’t work. So for them to get another opportunity and not let it get through their hands, I was really happy.”

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The final score was 53-43 over Villa Maria, with Shanahan getting a measure of revenge on the program that beat it in the 2022 District 1-5A championship and in last year’s semifinals.

Shanahan’s on-court celebration seemed to never stop, the girls first celebrating with each other, then with the sizable Eagles student section that turned out to support them, then with their parents. Then back with the students, then with each other, the coaches, and their siblings.

It was especially special for the three seniors, who’ve been teammates since eighth grade with the AAU Delco Goats, playing hoops together year-round for five years.

“It means so much to us,” Wolfe said. “As soon as we got to Shanahan, we were all talking about it and were like, ‘This is what we want.’”

The title was the culmination of a late-season turnaround for Shanahan (14-11), which had lost its last four regular-season games entering the postseason and didn’t even qualify for the Ches-Mont playoffs.

Despite being the No. 9 seed in the District 1-5A field, the Eagles went on the road and knocked off No. 8-seed Upper Moreland, top-seeded Gwynedd Mercy, and last year’s champ West Chester Rustin. Then, they took down No. 6 Villa (17-9) and head coach Kathy McCartney, a Shanahan alumna who just passed the 700-win mark.

Every member of Shanahan’s starting five provided a major contribution, sophomore wing Lauren Foster leading the way with 18 points and Wolfe, Blumenthal, Faith Ambrose, and younger sister Carmel Ambrose all chipping in plenty as none of them left the court for the entire game.

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“Our best games are played when everybody’s scoring, one through five,” said Blumenthal, the 5-foot-10 forward and Catholic University commit who’s the only one of the seniors set to play college hoops. “When our shooters are making their shots, it opens it up for drives [...] when I’m able to get to the basket or draw fouls, it opens up for the shooters outside. We have a very versatile team, so we work well together.”

While Shanahan won comfortably at the end, it was a closely contested game all the way through. Villa led 13-12 after one quarter as sophomore Sophia Tray (11 points, six rebounds) hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer, but Shanahan went 5-of-8 from the floor in the second quarter while holding Villa to four points to take a 23-17 halftime lead.

The third and fourth quarters saw the Eagles hold the lead. New Hampshire commit Carly Catania scored seven of her 15 points in the third quarter for Villa, but Wolfe answered with a three-pointer and Blumenthal made a couple inside buckets.

When Villa got a technical foul with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining and Shanahan combined to go 3 of 4 from the line, making it a 48-38 lead, the Eagles could taste it. Foster added a pair on the ensuing possession to push the advantage to 12 with 2:15 left, and the outcome came even more into focus.

When Powers called timeout with 79 seconds left and an 11-point lead, it was clear enough that the smiles on the Shanahan reserves as they came out to greet those on the court were well-deserved.

“The last minute was when I finally felt it,” Faith Ambrose said. “Jumping on the court was the best feeling.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.