O'Hara beats Downingtown East to advance to state title game

Downingtown East frustrated most opponents this season with a deliberate, Princeton-style offense that produced countless back-door baskets and key three-pointers.

Last night, Cardinal O'Hara, seeking its first appearance in the PIAA Class AAAA state championship game, emphatically shut down that normally productive offense. Buoyed by an extra-focused defensive effort, the Lions downed the Cougars, 47-36, in a semifinal before 1,500 at Spring-Ford High.

"We went over defense all week in practice, watched film and discussed strategy," Alysha Womack, O'Hara's senior guard, said. "It really paid off for us. And our offense came right from our defense."

A 10-2 spurt at the beginning of the third quarter, highlighted by two quick baskets from Stephanie Holzer, gave the Lions a 27-20 advantage and put the District 12 champions on their way to halting East's 19-game winning streak. East finished at 28-3.

"I think we were a little out of sync on offense in the first half," O'Hara coach Linus McGinty said. "We were able to get on a roll there in the third quarter."

The Lions (27-2) will take on District 7 champion Mount Lebanon (30-0) for the state title on Friday at 6 p.m. at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Mount Lebanon knocked off Cheltenham, 59-45, last night in Shippensburg.

Holzer, slowed by a right ankle injury for the last month and a half, recovered from a slow start and finished with a game-high 17 points, 14 rebounds (four on offense), four blocks and two assists in 27 minutes.

En route to 13 points, Womack shot 6 for 10 from the field. The Monmouth recruit added three steals, two rebounds and one block while soon-to-be coach Stephanie Gaitley watched from the bleachers.

Cardinal O'Hara 10 7 13 17 - 47

Downingtown East 8 10 7 11 - 36

CO: Danielle Callahan 8, Alysha Womack 13, Stephanie Holzer 17, Alicia Manning 4, Natasha Cloud 5.

DE: Meghan Kerrigan 5, Kristen Blye 7, Ro Gentry 3, Kelli Joran 11, Biz Matta 9, Amber Yacenda 1.