District 1 6A girls’ semifinal: Spring-Ford reaches third title game in four years; top-seeded Perk Valley advances

No. 6 Spring-Ford controlled most of its District 1 Class 6A girls basketball semifinal against Conestoga on Wednesday, dispatching the No. 2 Pioneers 55-41 to reach Saturday’s district championship against top seed and division rival Perkiomen Valley at 5 p.m. at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

“Really our effort and attitude,” Spring-Ford senior guard Anna Azzara said. “We have to be going for 50-50 balls, we have to be running up and down the court. Effort and attitude and just playing as a team really helps us.”

Spring-Ford’s seniors played their 15th career district playoff game Wednesday, winning their 13th.

The win booked the third District 1 title game trip in four seasons for Rams seniors Azzara, Mac Pettinelli and Katie Tiffan, who all played on the 2021 title championship team. They’re the first class in District 1 to accomplish that feat since Spring-Ford appeared in three straight district championships from 2012-14.

Cheltenham, which reached the title game in four straight years from 1999 to 2002, is the only other program to have a senior group accomplish that feat in the 2000s.

Azzara led the Rams with 16 points, with junior Kareena Preuss and senior Aaliyah Solliday adding 12. Pettinelli had eight points and six assists. Tiffan scored seven and led the defensive effort on Conestoga sophomore Ryann Jennings, who scored 11 points after coming off back-to-back 20-point outings.

“You can’t understate the way they approach and their approach to each day to be successful,” Spring-Ford coach Mickey McDaniel said. “That comes back to the character and quality of those players. They’re rooting for each other and playing as one.”

Junior forward Janie Preston scored 16 for the Conestoga, which was making its first District 1 semifinal appearance in 45 years.

Perk Valley wasn’t interested in leaving anything to chance.

Sure, the Vikings were a popular pick all season to get back to the District 1 6A title game they won a year ago and for good reason.

PV earned its shot to defend its title, with the Vikings taking apart No. 5 North Penn 67-36 in their semifinal game Wednesday night.

“It gave us motivation,” junior center Quinn Boettinger said. “We know we can get there because we know we’ve been there. It let us hold ourselves accountable to that standard, work hard every practice and although we won last year, not take it for granted.”

Boettinger had 20 points and 11 rebounds and junior Grace Galbavy had 18 points and five assists in leading PV back to the Liacouras Center.

The Knights were playing in their first district semifinal since they went on to win the old 4A title in 2013-14 when current head coach Bri Cullen was still playing on the team.

“Intensity, for sure,” junior Grace Miley summarized PV’s approach from the opening tip. “We couldn’t afford to come out slow and just think we were going to win, we had to play hard to get there.”

Awaiting PV on Saturday will be a familiar foe in Spring-Ford. The teams will meet for a fourth time this season.

PV won the first three against the Rams this season and six in a row since an early-season loss in 2022-23, but Spring-Ford also has experience playing at Temple and there’s probably no team that has played the Vikings tougher than their PAC rivals.

“We’re playing the best of that side of the bracket, so we have to bring our best,” Boettinger said.

“Spring-Ford’s definitely going to bring theirs,” Galbavy said.

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.