A young Delone Catholic girls’ team was thwarted by Susquehanna Township in their quest for an eighth District 3 championship, as a fast and physical Indians team upset the number-one ranked Squirettes, 36-29, Thursday night at Cumberland Valley.
But as his players wiped away tears of frustration receiving their silver medals, head coach Gerry Eckenrode offered them a message of hope.
“There’s a silver lining to this whole thing. When we won our last state championship, we lost this game and then went through the western half of the bracket. That’s what I told them after the game, don’t be discouraged and just come back harder,” Eckenrode told the media outside the locker room.
“Our season’s not over by any means. I call this the fourth season. You have regular season, county, districts and now the state playoffs,” said Eckenrode, who’s commanded Delone’s sideline for 27 seasons.
Susquehanna Township gave the Squirettes little room to breathe from the get-go of the February 26 contest, forcing turnovers and preventing Delone from getting inside. When the Squirettes did get good looks, their shots failed.
“The first half, we just had way too many turnovers. I’ll give [Susquehanna Township] credit, their defense was pretty strong,” Eckenrode said. “We couldn’t get Reece [Meckley] going in the first half…and part of that had to do with how they defended her. They’re very quick and they’re aggressive.”
Delone was limited to three points in the second quarter and found themselves trailing 21-9 after a buzzer-beater by Township.
In the second half, Eckenrode changed from a zone defense to man-to-man, and the strategy helped his team chip away at the lead. A few stretch passes and quick ball movement found Delone within six points late in the third quarter.
Meckley hit a three-pointer and Amelia Joyce followed up with two more points to help Delone pull within four, 33-29, with 30 seconds left in the game. But Township squashed Delone’s hopes for a comeback, sinking a few final foul shots to secure its first District 3 Class 4A title in 45 years.
“They’re very quick and very aggressive, and they have a little more depth than we have, even though they’re young like we are. They’re just a good, quality team,” Eckenrode said of Susquehanna Township.
Delone enters the PIAA playoffs March 7 against the number 3 seed from District 12.
“We’ll give them the weekend off, and then we’re going to go back and learn from this,” Eckenrode said. “I have a great group of girls and a great group of supportive parents, and I’m so happy with them. I’m proud of these kids.”
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
