Tues. Pa. girls’ roundup: Mount St. Joseph moves on

So far, Mount St. Joseph's formula for winning in the basketball postseason has been defense and free-throw shooting.

The Magic tweaked the ingredients a bit on Tuesday, adding unexpected three-point shooting, in a 52-37 PIAA State Class AAAA second-round win over Cheltenham at Wissahickon.

The Magic (28-3) made 12 of their 14 free throws and clamped down on defense in the third quarter when they turned a 41-34 lead into a comfortable win.

One of the keys came when Cheltenham, overplaying Mount St. Joseph's big two of Steph Smith and Mary Jo Horgan, left junior guard Maddie Kohler open, who made all four of her three-point shots.

"She made four threes in the first half and that really gave our team confidence seeing her knock down those open threes," Mount St. Joseph head coach John Miller said.

The fourth quarter was a product of the Magic turning up the intensity of their man-to-man defense, according to Miller.

"We played man-to-man defense the entire season," Miller said. "This has been a great run, and to beat both Downingtown East and Cheltenham during the run is really an accomplishment for our kids. Those are two of the premier programs in District 1."

Smith had 14 rebounds to go with her 16 points.

The Magic advance to a quarterfinal date against Boyertown on Friday night at a site to be determined.

In another second-round game also at Wissahickon, Boyertown earned its quarterfinal spot with a 54-30 win over Central, getting 18 points from Jess Schlesman and 11 from Kaitlyn Eisenhard.

Central finished its season at 17-9 and was led by Philadelphia University-bound Najah Jacobs, who scored 13 points.

At Coatesville, Wilson West Lawn nipped Upper Dublin, 26-21, in the first game of a doubleheader. Wilson West Lawn scored the game's final five points.

Lower Merion outlasted Red Lion, 44-38, in the second game. The Aces have now held both their state playoff foes under 40 points. They defeated Bethlehem Liberty, 38-24, on Friday night.

At Norristown, District 12 third-place finisher Cardinal O'Hara jumped out to a 22-7 halftime lead and coasted to a 40-21 win over District 1 runner-up Council Rock North. It was just the third loss of the season for the Indians (25-3).

State Class AA. Dunmore needed a comeback to beat Engineering and Science, 64-61.

The Engineers led by 13 points in the second half before the Bucks made their comeback.

Ashley Murray did most of the damage for the Bucks (23-5), hitting five second-half three-pointers. She scored 22 points in the second half alone for a career-high 34 points.

Murray got a hot hand at the right time, hitting the first of those three-pointers with 1 minute, 49 seconds left in the third quarter. In the next 61 seconds, she hit three more long-range shots to close the game to 47-44 with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.

Murray's final three-pointer came with 4:12 left in the game to cut the Engineering and Science lead to 53-52.

It would be the last lead for the District 12 champion Engineers (18-8) this season, as Corina Palko knocked down a shot for a 57-55 lead and the Bucks went to the free throw line to close the game out.

Engineering and Science was led by DePaul recruit Brittany Hrynko, who had 27 points and nine rebounds.

At Coatesville, York Catholic ended the season of Springfield (Montgomery County), 61-30.

The Terriers led, 49-24, in the third quarter and emptied the bench after that.

The Spartans finished with a 20-10 record and made it to the second round with a 40-35 upset win over a 22-3 Lake-Lehman team in the first round on Friday night.