Pa. Girls: Pottsgrove tops Perkiomen Valley in semifinal

Pottsgrove wore out a path to the free-throw line and, in the end, wore down Perkiomen Valley in a Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinal basketball game yesterday.

The Falcons shot 34 of 44 from the line to beat the Liberty Division-champion Vikings, 67-61, at Spring-Ford.

Kari Ludy and Stephanie Schultz each finished with 21 points to lead the Frontier Division runner-up Falcons, who will now play for the overall title Wednesday night (7 p.m.) against St. Pius X.

The Vikings, who were led by Megan Finn's 25 points, actually shot a better percentage at the line (12 of 13), fell far short in the quantity of the attempts.

St. Pius X earned its spot with a 66-63 win over Liberty Division runner-up Methacton, making the title game an all-Frontier Division matchup.

The Winged Lions were led by Melissa Mansur's 18 points, Kelly Sorber's 17 and 11 points apiece from Emily Pufnock and Jordan Pasik. Pufnock added 10 rebounds and three assists. Lauren Ruhl's 27 points paced the Warriors.

Catholic Academies.

Tara Barr, a 5-10 forward, replaced the injured Elle Hagedorn and had a career-high 14 points in leading unbeaten Mount St. Joseph past Nazareth Academy, 40-28, in a league semifinal at Gwynedd-Mercy College. Hagedorn was injured in the Magic's final game of the regular season.

Steph Smith added 13 points for the Magic (23-0), who will face Villa Maria on Tuesday night (7 p.m.), also at Gwynedd-Mercy College, for the title.

Catholic.

Kennedy-Kenrick went on a 21-5 run in the second quarter to earn a 44-36 win over West Catholic in a special one-game play-in to determine the final playoff berth.

Angela Sortino scored six of her 16 points in that second quarter and that run turned an 8-7 deficit into a 28-13 lead.

West Catholic, which was led by Bianca Arnett's 10 points, fought its way back into the game with an 11-3 run in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 31-24.

The win was doubly important for the Wolverines (6-16 overall, 4-11 league). It both earned them a spot in the Catholic League playoffs and the league's only Class AA spot in the District 12 playoffs.

Bicentennial.

Kahlea Cooper had 16 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for Girard College in a 46-27 win at Bristol.

Suburban One Continental.

Pennridge won at Souderton, 42-33, for coach Brooke Martin's 100th career win. Shannon Zickler led the Rams with 12 points.

Nonleague.

Villanova-bound guard Devon Kane scored 10 of her game-high 19 points in the first quarter to get host Notre Dame off to a good start in a 46-19 win over visiting Archbishop Prendergast. Junior guard Meghan McCullough had nine steals.

Del-Val League champion Chester coasted to a 58-48 win over visiting Oxford behind Malika Staples, who had 20 points and seven steals.

Archbishop Carroll handed visiting Seton Keough (Md.) a 49-42 loss, only the second loss of the season for the Maryland school (20-2) as Kerri Shields knocked down four three-pointers and finished with 21 points. Shields added six rebounds and four steals for the Patriots (21-1).

Sophomore Aleesha Powell had 18 points and 10 steals for Penn Charter in a 54-38 win at Hill School.

Ana White, a 5-foot-10 junior forward, had a triple-double for host Strath Haven in a 59-45 win over West Chester East. White had 14 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for the Panthers (10-12).

Jessica Ginayrd scored 13 points for host Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in a 33-29 win over New Jersey School for the Deaf.

At Lehigh University, Chester's Rayiana Johnson took two individual events in the Pennsylvania Track Coaches Association Carnival. Johnson won the 60 meters (7.67) and the 200 (25.22).

Another highlight was provided by Council Rock South pole-vaulter Tory Worthen, whose vault of 12 feet, 61/2 inches broke a meet record set by two North Penn athletes, Stephanie McDougal and Abby Schaffer.