There’s no overlooking Aaliyah Dabney’s impact in Berks Catholic’s latest win

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

By the time she lined up against Laney Noreika, Aaliyah Dabney had crafted a plan. It was days in the making. A product of meticulous film study and practice.

Berks Catholic’s senior knew what moves Noreika liked best. Which hand was dominant. Which shots she wanted to take. All of these things were scribbled down in her mental notebook.

The 32 minutes Dabney spent frustrating one of the top players in the Mid-Penn Conference weren’t merely an athletic achievement. They were science.

“I make sure I get her plays down,” Dabney said. “Then I try my best to stop her.”

Third-seeded Berks Catholic knocked off No. 6 Big Spring 48-30 in the District 3 Class 4A quarterfinals at Wolf Gymnasium Friday night. The Saints clinched a PIAA Tournament spot and advanced to face No. 7 Bermudian Springs at home Tuesday in a district semifinal.

Dabney is a four-year varsity player and county champion. This was arguably her greatest game. The one you could put in a time capsule if you wanted to summarize her contributions to the Saints. The 5-7 forward scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Plus, that defense.

It’s always a challenge to quantify what a stopper truly brings. The numbers always belong to someone else. Noreika shot 4-for-14 from the floor and finished with 11 points. That tells part of the story.

What about the shots Noreika didn’t take because she was denied the ball? What about the points she would have scored against a weaker defender? What about the uneasiness a team feels when its top player doesn’t produce?

There’s no way to know those answers. They’re scattered within the chaos of the action. They make Dabney’s value immeasurable.

“I love defense,” Dabney said. “I always go 100%. If I don’t have offense, I always make sure I have defense. I just put it in my mind that defense is first. Always.”

Noreika is 6-1 and is a standout field hockey player. She has a versatile set of skills. She can drive, post up or take a 3-pointer. Dabney never left the floor and never left Noreika’s shadow.

If Dabney is facing a player on the perimeter, she points her right foot in that player’s direction and uses it to lean her away from her better hand. Again, it’s science. She can always tell when her opponent is going on tilt.

“I feel the frustration,” Dabney said. “It just feeds me. It gets me more hype. Once I feel the frustration, I just go harder.”

Berks Catholic was at the intersection of two painful losses Friday night. One happened 10 days earlier, a buzzer-beater against Gov. Mifflin in the county semifinals. The other happened last year when Big Spring ended the Saints’ season on their home floor.

Ten days is a long time to wait for another chance. Berks Catholic was able to regroup. There is, after all, another championship to pursue.

“I was happy we were able to bounce back after the way we lost last week,” BC coach Bob Birmingham said. “We really had our sights set on getting that county championship. We didn’t make it, so they were very disappointed.”

Berks Catholic took control during a 90-second span of the third quarter. Caraline Herb, Caroline Reedy and Madison Langdon each hit 3-pointers to spark an 11-2 run. The Saints went from down 1 to up 8 and never looked back.

Reedy, the newly-crowned Player of the Year, had 11 points and 17 rebounds. Herb provided her own defensive excellence. She held Big Spring sharpshooter Emilee Sullivan without a 3-pointer.

“We guard very well,” Birmingham said. “Our best defense is halfcourt man-to-man inside that 3-point line. That’s what we do best. We communicate well and we’re strong.”

Berks Catholic’s defensive strategy always starts in the same place. Who’s their best player? That’s Dabney’s assignment.

Dabney is someone who gets overlooked when All-Berks and all-division teams are selected. But if you’re in the park one day and choosing sides, she’s the one you pick. She’ll do what it takes to win and she’s no fun to play against.

A few minutes after the best offensive game of her career, Dabney was asked if she knew how many points she scored.

“I have no clue,” she said. “Do you know?”

Those 19 points were the last thing on Dabney’s mind. All she cared about were the points she kept from her opponent.