Soph Madison Langdon helps shorthanded Saints top McDevitt, return to semifinals
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Madison Langdon battled a lingering ankle injury, the disappointment of a loss in the Berks Girls League semifinals, and the reality that her Berks Catholic team would be without one of its best players.
The sophomore won those battles Friday night in leading the second-seeded Saints to a resounding 52-28 victory over No. 7 Bishop McDevitt in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal at Wolf Gymnasium.
Langdon had a game-high 18 points and held Bishop McDevitt’s leading scorer Sophia Formica to two points.
The Saints (19-6) rebounded from the upset against Reading High and did it without their tallest player and third-leading scorer, 5-10 sophomore Sydney Corado, who was out battling an illness.
“We definitely knew we had to step up our game,” Langdon said. “Every single one of us. We all had to play bigger than we have before and I thought we did a really nice job doing that.”
The Saints’ first goal of winning a Berks championship slipped through their grasps but the goals of winning a district title and making a run in states remain.
“We can’t go back and change what happened,” Langdon said of the loss to Reading. “We’re just going to continue to use that as motivation and show that we’re a good team.”
Berks Catholic moves on to host third-seeded Wyomissing, which defeated Middletown 51-38, in the district semifinals Monday.
The Saints also clinched a spot in the PIAA Tournament with the win.
“We want to win a district championship,” Langdon said. “ We can go as far as our hard work takes us. If we continue to play how we did tonight, we can go really far for sure.”
The score was tied 11-11 after the first quarter.
Caraline Herb scored six of her 17 points and Langdon four in the second period as the Saints took a 26-15 lead into halftime.
Landon scored six and Herb five in the third as the Saints pushed their lead to 43-24 and all but put the game away. Langdon tacked on another four points and Herb another three in the final quarter.
Langdon hit all eight of her foul shots and Herb drained four 3’s.
Molly McFadden tacked on six points, Sydney Brown five, and Gianna Roberts four for Berks Catholic to help pick up the slack of Corado’s absence.
No player scored in double digits for the Crusaders (17-7), who will play Middletown in a playback semifinal. The winner of that game will clinch a state playoff spot; the loser’s season will be over.
Kayla Culver and Mia Walker each had eight points to lead McDevitt.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 11 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 52 |
| Bishop McDevitt | 11 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 28 |
| Crusaders (17-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | Points |
| Osevala | 2 | 1-2 | 0 | 5 |
| Grella | 2 | 0-2 | 0 | 4 |
| Formica | 1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brescia | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeAntonio | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dickerson | 0 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 |
| Culver | 3 | 1-2 | 1 | 8 |
| Walker | 4 | 0-0 | 0 | 8 |
| Totals | 12 | 3-8 | 1 | 28 |
| Saints (19-6) | FG | FT | 3’s | Points |
| Borden | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Roberts | 2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mac. Langdon | 1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 |
| Evans | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| McFadden | 3 | 0-2 | 0 | 6 |
| Unger | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Roberts | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| Herb | 6 | 1-2 | 4 | 17 |
| Brown | 1 | 2-2 | 1 | 5 |
| Mad. Langdon | 5 | 8-8 | 0 | 18 |
| Mirenda | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 18 | 11-14 | 5 | 52 |