C.R. North girls rebound, top Daniel Boone in first round

One of the big questions in Friday night's opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA girls' basketball playoffs was whether Council Rock North would bounce back after a shocking, 22-point loss to Mount St. Joseph in the District 1 Class AAAA final last week.

The Indians had entered the district championship game as the top seed but suffered through a first half in which they scored just four points and were never able to get into the game. They had to play without standout guard Lauren Gold, done for the season after suffering a knee injury in an earlier playoff game.

After a slow start against Daniel Boone on Friday, the revamped Indians eventually pulled away for a 46-33 win at Council Rock South.

The victory puts them in a second-round matchup with Cardinal O'Hara, the third-place team from District 12, Tuesday night at a time and place to be determined.

To help his team against the Blazers (20-9), the sixth-place team from District 3, Council Rock North coach Lou Palkovics made some big changes on both offense and defense.

"We moved Alyssa [DuMont] into the point, and I gave her only two offensive sets for the first half and two for the second half," Palkovics said. "We used a trap play that we hadn't used all year. The girls did a great job of disguising our looks."

Despite the Indians' dramatic changes, the Blazers, who moved up to Class AAAA this year, managed to stay with them until a decisive fourth quarter,

The Blazers, who have never won a PIAA playoff game in 11 years, pulled to within 26-25 with a minute go in the third quarter and had a chance to take the lead, but Erin Hughes missed two free throws with 31 seconds left and DuMont went down the court and scored on a shot at the buzzer.

"Alyssa's basket was big," said Helena Gemmell, who led the Indians with 13 points. "We worked hard and weren't going to lose this one. We were very confident if everyone did their job."

"Against Mount St. Josephs, we were focused too much on Lauren being out," added Lauren's older sister Devin. "We weren't going to let that happen tonight. Everyone knew they had to step up."

Devin Gold finished with 12 points and Emily Grundman added 11.

Devin Gold and Gemmell hit 4 of 6 from foul line in the final 1 minute, 41 seconds to seal it for North.

Senior guard Samantha Baro (10 points) was the lone player in double figures for Boone.

"Layups and finishing were our big problems tonight," Boone coach Chad Walters said. "I was proud of the way we played.

"North's 26-2, but I told the girls before the game to go out and give it their all. What did they have to lose?"

Daniel Boone   5 11 9 8 – 33

Council Rock North   10 10 8 18 – 46

DB: Samantha Baro 10, Amanda York 2, Nicole Baro 2, Alana Green 5, Erin Hughes 9, Kaitlyn Hampton 5.

CRN: Devin Gold 12, Megan Cunningham 2, Helena Gemmell 13, Alyssa Dumont 8, Emily Grundman 11.