Spring-Ford easily wins PAC-10 title

A night after the boys' team lost in heartbreaking fashion to the same opponent, the Spring-Ford girls' basketball team delivered a most emphatic championship trophy.

Balanced scoring. Hot shooting. Smothering defense. If a game ever embodied true dominance - in a league title game, no less - Spring-Ford's exhibition Wednesday night in its home gym surely fit the bill.

The Rams extended their school-record winning streak to 18 games by routing Methacton, 62-33, in the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship game.

Eleven of 12 Rams scored, led by Mariah Traywick's game-high 13 points. The team shot 51.2 percent from the field, 87.5 percent from the foul line, and 44.4 percent from three-point land. They held the Warriors without a field goal for nearly 12 minutes, forcing 14 first-quarter turnovers en route to the program's first league title since 2008.

"That's something that's just a rarity," Rams coach Jeff Rinehimer said. "[Methacton coach Craig Kaminski] is a great coach and his team is very good. It can get away from you sometimes."

The league title is the Rams' - and Rinehimer's - fourth overall. Spring-Ford won three in a row from 2006-08 and sits at 22-2 entering the District 1 Class AAAA tournament as the No. 3 seed.

"I couldn't envision this any better," said Traywick, a Shippensburg recruit. "We came out with a lot of heart, hard work, and we just put it all together."

The Rams, ranked No. 6 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, haven't lost since the sixth game of the season, a Dec. 27 defeat to Notre Dame. The win over Methacton, the Rams' third this season, came in a shade below their 32.6-point average margin of victory in the league.

Methacton, which had won 14 of 15, scored its first bucket at 4:31 in the second quarter, when forward Kelsey Watson hit an elbow jumper to make the score 32-2.

The first quarter was a complete disaster for Methacton (18-6) and set the tone for the rest of the night. The Rams' press made it difficult for the Warriors to bring the ball up the court, let alone set their half-court offense. The Warriors turned it over 20 times overall, shooting just 28.3 percent from the floor. Traywick, with seven rebounds, led the way for a 29-17 advantage of the boards for the Rams.

Jenny Bishop's eight points paced Methacton.

Point guard Brittany Moore added 11 points and four rebounds for Spring-Ford, which will host Chichester on Saturday. Methacton, the district's eighth seed, will host Ridley.

If the Rams needed any more confidence entering the district tourney, they surely added some on Wednesday.

"We can celebrate tonight, but tomorrow we're coming to school and going to practice," Traywick said.

Methacton   0 10 6 17 – 33

Spring-Ford   25 17 15 5 – 62

M: Maddy Parker 2, Kara Steinke 5, Kelsey Watson 6, Kelly Glatthorn 4, Sarah Sherman 3, Jenny Bishop 8, Stefanie Sherr 3, Rachael Picozzi 2.

SF: Brittany Moore 11, Courtney Hinnant 4, Sammy Stipa 5, Mariah Traywick 13, Sarah Payonk 8, Kirsten Landis 3, Nikki Lynch 3, Jaida Burgess 9, Shelby Mueller 2, Sammi Haas 4.