Girls B-ball: Upper Dublin Knocks Off Coatesville in First Round of Playoffs

Going into Saturday afternoon’s first round District 1 AAAA playoff matchup, Upper Dublin was riding an eight game winning streak. Coatesville was right behind them, having won six in a row.

Something had to give, and luckily for Upper Dublin fans, it would not be the Lady Cardinals. Upper Dublin used a half court trap that left Coatesville puzzled to secure a 40-36 win on Saturday, moving them to the second round of the playoffs.

Upper Dublin’s Coach Vincent Catanzaro has warned his team about slow starts now that it's playoff time, but for this first round game, his team did not get the message. The Lady Cardinals came out slow once again, falling behind 4-1 early on a layup by Coatesville's Asia Graham.

The Red Raiders' starting center Samira Strand had a serious height advantage over Upper Dublin starting center Jen Myers, causing problems for the Cardinals down low. In order to draw Strand away from the basket, Myers moved to the perimeter, opening up the lane for the Upper Dublin guards. The Cardinals took advantage as Curtrena Goff, Taylor Bryant and Lauren Rothfield all hit layups to give the Cardinals a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

With his offense struggling and his team suddenly behind 16-15, Catanzaro decided to pressure the inbounds pass after every basket. It worked to perfection, as Coatesville had no answer to the Cardinal trap. Upper Dublin forced Coatesville into three turnovers from the trap alone in the second quarter, also forcing a 5 second inbounds violation.

With Coatesville struggling to even get the ball over the half court line, Upper Dublin was able to make a run. A rebound and layup by Jen Myers was followed by a Sarah Hallowell basket. Hallowell’s basket capped a 11 -2 Cardinals' run to put them up 26-18. Coatsville would fight back behind strong play from Elisa Gaffney, who gave the home team problems all day. Gaffney would score seven points in the quarter to bring Coatesville back into the game, but Upper Dublin still took a 26-22 lead into the locker room at half.

After an offensive explosion in the second quarter that saw a combined 28 combined points, things settled down in the third, as both defenses stepped up.  Points were at a premium for both teams, which made Sarah Hallowell’s two baskets in the final minute huge. With the Cardinals up 31-25, Hallowell drove the baseline and pulled up for a jumper, a move she has displayed all season. Then, with the clock winding down, Hallowell pulled up from a yard behind the arch and nailed a 3-pointer as time expired.

“I thought it was a big shot for the team and myself” said Hallowell after the game. “We needed something to go down and it gave us a little cushion.”

The shot did give the Cardinals an 11 point cushion going into the fourth, a cushion that coach Catanzaro pleaded his team to keep and not let Coatesville back into the game. But Coatesville knew that their season was on the line, and played like it. Coatesville went on an 10-2 run in the final quarter, pulling all the way to within 3 in the final minute. A missed shot by the Cardinals gave Coatesville the ball and the chance to tie, but a forced 3-pointer by Chameeka Boggs hit the iron, and Upper Dublin’s Tori Waters pulled down a huge rebound for her team. Waters would drive the baseline for a layup on the other end, to put the team up five with 17 seconds to go.

Those big plays by Waters saved the day for the Cardinals, as momentum was not on their side in the final minute. After the game, Catanzaro would say that he thought about calling a time out before Waters' big layup, but saw her making the move, and trusted her.

His trust paid off. 

Waters basket would prove to be the deciding one, as Coatesville would knock down a free throw with .8 seconds to go, but it would not be enough. Upper Dublin walked away with a 40-36 win.

After the game, Coach Catanzaro said that the excitement of the start of the playoffs probably had more to do with the slow start than the 11 day layoff.

“I think they were over pumped” said Catanzaro, “But good teams work through it, and I’m happy we won.”

The Cardinals will now take on Council Rock South, who advanced to the second round with a 48-34 win over Unionville. The game is schedule for this Wednesday.