Top-seeded Berks Catholic uses big second half to move onto Berks semifinals
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Top-seeded Berks Catholic held a narrow five-point halftime lead over undeterred No. 8 seed Schuylkill Valley in Saturday’s BCIAA quarterfinal at Wolf Gymnasium.
The Saints showed their championship moxie in the second half, holding the Panthers to two third-quarter points and coming away with a 49-32 victory to move onto the semifinals against Reading High, a 45-22 winner over Brandywine Heights.
Berks Catholic is determined to get back to the county championship and win its second title in three seasons. The Saints were the tournament’s top seed last year, too, and lost on a heartbreaking buzzer-beater by eventual champion Gov. Mifflin in the semifinals.
That isn’t lost on senior Caraline Herb, who scored a game-high 17 points, or the Saints (18-5).
“We think about that all the time,” Herb said. “It’s definitely one of our motivations. We want to get to the championship and then hopefully win.”
Berks Catholic is one step closer to reaching that goal because it figured out the pesky Panthers (11-11) after the break.
CC Reali hit back-to-back, banked-in 3’s and Natane White hit a 3-pointer from the corner to pull Schuylkill Valley within three at 20-17 in the second quarter; the Saints led 24-19 at halftime and were getting the Panthers’ best punch.
“In the first half we weren’t matching their effort and hard work,” Herb said. “We started going strong to the basket and knocking down open shots.”
The Saints KO’d the Panthers in the third with an 11-2 spurt and expanded on that lead in the fourth; Herb scored seven of her 17 points in the final quarter.
“I felt like we needed to keep extending the lead,” Herb said. “I had open shots and they just happened to fall.”
Schuylkill Valley shot 1-for-11 in the third quarter as the upset bid ran out of juice. The Saints uncharacteristically allowed five 3s in the first half; they allowed just one in the second half. Herb was tasked with covering the Panthers’ top scorer in White, who was held to three points until the fourth quarter and finished with 10 — three below her average.
Sophomores Sydney Corado, Madison Langdon, and Molly McFadden each had 10 points in another balanced effort for the Saints; that cohesiveness will be needed as they churn through the playoffs.
“That’s what we have to do if we’re going to win games,” Berks Catholic head coach Bob Birmingham said. “There’s going to be teams that stop Caraline. I thought the other kids played under control.”
Berks Catholic held a significant advantage on the glass and outrebounded Schuylkill Valley by 16 with Corado, Langdon, and McFadden each grabbing eight boards.
The Panthers will conclude their successful season with a rescheduled non-league game Wednesday against Lancaster Country Day. Coach Jason Bagenstose’s squad, led by White and Juliana Stichter — both juniors — did a terrific job this season after losing four starters from a 20-4 team.
Most of the team is back next season and this loss will be on the players’ minds until then, much like Herb’s is on last year’s BCIAA loss.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 14 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 49 |
| Schuylkill Valley | 6 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 32 |
| Saints (18-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Herb | 7-14 | 2-2 | 1-5 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| Mad. Langdon | 5-10 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| McFadden | 4-7 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| Corado | 4-13 | 1-2 | 1-6 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| G. Roberts | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Brown | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Mac. Langdon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wolf | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Linderman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Borden | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Evans | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unger | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Roberts | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mirenda | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21-46 | 3-6 | 4-16 | 11 | 31-34 | 49 |
| Panthers (11-11) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| White | 3-8 | 2-2 | 2-5 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| Stichter | 4-14 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Reali | 2-8 | 1-2 | 2-6 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Lassandro | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Kauffman | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Bah | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kier | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sellers | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Wickersham | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Falsone | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Becker | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 11-35 | 4-6 | 6-20 | 7 | 13-18 | 32 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 10, Schuylkill Valley 11.