Girls Put On Performance In Hero Scholarship Game

SPRINGFIELD–Everyone, it seems, has a relative or knows someone involved in law enforcement, is a fireman, or emergency medical technician. A group of girls got together to honor those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us Friday night at Cardinal O’Hara, in the second-annual .

The girls’ game, the first of a girls-boys doubleheader, was once again a success, drawing some of the area’s best high school seniors to play against each other.

This was a game that, at times, appeared to be a blowout, but the Red team prevailed, 51-42, thanks to team-high 10 points from Colleen Ollinger (Notre Dame Academy in Radnor) and MVP player Lia Di Sciascio (Cardinal O’Hara).

The Blue team MVP was Merion Mercy’s Natalie Di Cocco of Media, who finished with a game-high 18 points.

“This was definitely a fun experience,” said Di Sciascio, who committed to Scranton Friday afternoon and played her last high school game on her home court. “I went up against a lot of girls I played with in AAU and the style we played was more like a playground, which made it more fun. It was just a little sad playing this game on this court, my home high school court, for the last time.”

The game looked like a route, at one time with the Red team by 36-19, but the Blue team fought back and made a game of it, drawing within 46-42 at one point late in the fourth quarter.

“It was important this game was close, and for me personally, it was an honor that they asked me to coach in this game,” said Mary Beth McNichol, a Haverford resident who is Notre Dame Academy’s head coach. “I wanted to see a good, competitive game and that’s what we got. It was an honor and great to be a part of. We had one practice and I was fortunate to have a great bunch of kids.”

One of whom was her own, Notre Dame’s Ollinger.

“This was for a great cause,” said Ollinger, who has a Division I scholarship to the University of Portland in Maine. “It was awesome and for a great cause. My brother-in-law is a Philadelphia cop, so you can say this was a cause that was close to my heart. Plus, I got a chance to play one last time with my best friend, Erika Ferro, who I played with at Notre Dame.”

For Di Cocco, who’ll attend Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, a hospitality school, taking a Friday night to play in a game like this was important “because we can never take for granted what policemen, firefighters, ETMs do for us. My brother-in-law is in the Marines and was deployed. You always hear some crazy stories. It’s a real honor to play in this game, and for me, it was a lot of fun. It was awesome.”

Read for the full roster of the teams.