Raiders, Panthers, Bullets shot down in District 3 girls play

Berks Catholic advanced to the District 3 Class 4A semifinals Friday with a 48-30 win over Big Spring but Twin Valley, Schuylkill Valley and Brandywine Heights each were turned back.

Each continues district tournament play next week.

Class 5A

Mechanicsburg 28, Twin Valley 18: The eighth-seeded Raiders (15-9) continued to have trouble scoring as they were held below 20 points for the second time in their last four games in falling to the top-seeded Wildcats (20-4).

Twin Valley was within 18-16 after three quarters but scored just two points in the final quarter, on a pair of free throws by Rachel Knight.

Knight and Sarah Gowman each finished with seven points for the Raiders. Leading scorer Natali Foster was held to a season-low three points.

The Raiders, who clinched a spot in the PIAA Tournament with an opening-round win over Spring Grove, will play at fifth-seeded West York (15-8) Tuesday in the playback round to determine seeding for the state tournament. With a win, they could enter the state tournament as the No. 5 or 6 seed.

Mechanicsburg was held below 30 points for just the second time this season.

Class 4A

Lancaster Catholic 60, Schuylkill Valley 31: Senior Jeriyah Johnson scored nine points to stake the fifth-seeded Crusaders (22-4) to a big early lead in beating the fourth-seeded Panthers (20-3) in a quarterfinal at Leesport.

Lancaster Catholic led 24-11 after one period and 38-17 at the half.

Johnson finished with 14 points. Teammate Lily Lehman had a game-high 17 points.

Jadyn Heck-Hoppes led Schuylkill Valley with eight points.

The Panther will play Tuesday to extend their season against No. 9 Bishop McDevitt (17-7). A win will clinch a spot in the PIAA Tournament; a loss will end their season.

The top six teams advance to the state tournament.

Schuylkill Valley has lost back-to-back games after a 20-1 start. It fell to Reading High 43-33 in the Berks League quarterfinals 13 days ago.

Class 3A

York Catholic 52, Brandywine Heights 44: The fourth-seeded Fighting Irish (12-12) hit enough free throws in the final quarter to hold off the top-seeded Bullets (17-6) in a semifinal at Mertztown.

York Catholic led 14-7 after one period and by 10 after three quarters. It maintained its lead despite missing 19-of-36 free throws overall.

Amanda Reed scored a game-high 22 points for the Fighting Irish, but hit just 2-of-10 free throws.

Addison Benner led Brandywine Heights with 14 points; Emily Savitz scored 10.

The Bullets will host third-seeded Pequea Valley (13-12) Tuesday in the third-place seeding game. They clinched a spot in the state tournament by earning the No. 1 seed in districts.

The loss was the fourth straight for Brandywine, which hasn’t won since Feb. 8. It dropped its league

finale to Schuylkill Valley, a Berks quarterfinal to Gov. Mifflin and a non-league game to Columbia.