Juliana Stichter again shoulders the load as Schuylkill Valley wins holiday tournament
Schuylkill Valley senior Juliana Stichter knew what awaited her when classmate and Lancaster Bible College commit Natane White went down with a torn ACL in March.
White, who has played significant minutes as the Panthers’ point guard since her freshman season, would have to work her way back to game speed to begin this season. That meant more responsibility for Stichter.
She was ready.
“I had to take a big step up this year,” said Stichter, who dedicated her offseason to working on her ballhandling, post game, and rebounding. “I knew that as time went on Natane would be back to her old self but I was prepared for the increased responsibility. I worked hard in the offseason and did what had to be done.”
Stichter scored a team-high 10 points and had four rebounds, four assists, and three steals to lead the Panthers to a 44-39 victory over Annville-Cleona Thursday night in the Schuylkill Valley Santa Slam Tournament championship game in Leesport.
No tournament MVP was named but it surely would’ve gone to Stichter, who had a career-high 26 points in the first-round victory over Littlestown. Annville-Cleona had seen enough and decided to faceguard her the entire game.
“They were putting a lot of pressure on me which I was kind of expecting,” Stichter said. “I knew that if they were focusing all of that attention on me somebody else was open. So I just kept my eyes up and hit the open girl.”
As if she wasn’t already carrying a bigger load, Stichter recently found herself as the Panthers’ tallest player when 6-foot post Julia Lassandro was forced out of action with a concussion.
Stichter proceeded to have 14-point, 15-rebound and 18-point, eight-rebound games last week and was named the Wyomissing Physical Therapy Player of the Week.
“She’s stepped up when we needed her this year,” Schuylkill Valley head coach Jason Bagenstose said of Stichter. “We kind of knew she had to be the No. 1 option. Once Natane got hurt last spring, we knew we might get her back, but also knew ‘Julz’ had to shoulder the load.”
After the Dutchmen (4-5) took their first and only lead of the game at 13-12 with 5:18 left before halftime, Stichter began orchestrating the offense from the block.
She posted up her defender after receiving an entry pass, caused the defense to collapse, and kicked out to Kalika Kauffman and Taryn Rittenhouse for back-to-back 3’s to give the Panthers (7-4) a five-point lead.
Stichter then scored herself before hitting Rittenhouse for another 3 to increase the lead to 24-13 at halftime.
The lead remained 11 points by the end of the third; the Panthers needed that cushion to hold off a run by the Dutchmen in the fourth quarter.
Stichter, a Bryn Athyn College commit, did a bit of everything and never forced anything. Her developed skill set gives Bagenstose three reliable guards to handle the ball along with White, who finished with nine points, and sophomore Elyssa Sellers, who had eight.
Even with all of the new responsibilities on the court and added attention from opposing teams, Stichter has still increased her scoring average from 11.7 to 14.2 points this season. She boosted it by nearly eight points from her sophomore to junior seasons.
She’s leading a Schuylkill Valley team that is rounding into form as players return from injury or to full strength. The Panthers have won four in a row since a loss to division rival and Berks III favorite Wyomissing in mid-December; that loss dropped them to 3-4.
Stichter has made the BCIAA playoffs every year of high school and hopes to lead the Panthers back there for a fourth consecutive season. Stichter, White, and Kauffman each played in 20-plus games on Schuylkill Valley’s 20-4 team as sophomores. They know what it takes to have a successful team.
“There’s some pretty good competition in our division,” Stichter said. “We started off a little on the downside, but we’re just trying to flip things around. We’ve got a winning record now. We’re just going to keep working.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Schuylkill Valley | 11 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 44 |
| Annville-Cleona | 9 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 39 |
| Panthers (7-4) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Stichter | 4-9 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| White | 2-6 | 5-7 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Sellers | 3-8 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Kauffman | 2-2 | 1-4 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Wickersham | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Rittenhouse | 3-4 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| Falsone | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reali | 0-2 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Totals | 14-36 | 12-22 | 4-11 | 8 | 20/21 | 44 |
| Dutchmen (4-5) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Cooper | 6-10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| Hoover | 4-12 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Sellers | 3-11 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Sanchez | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Shaak | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sider | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 8 | 5 |
| Grubb | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Viozzi | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Shay | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-44 | 5-8 | 0-7 | 6 | 26/30 | 39 |
Turnovers: Annville-Cleona 11, Schuylkill Valley 8. Team Rebounds: Annville-Cleona 4, Schuylkill Valley 1.
