Mount St. Joseph Hands Lady Cardinals loss 50-30 in District Quarterfinals

If there is one saying that sums up Upper Dublin's 50-30 loss to Mount Saint Joseph on Saturday afternoon, it might be that "there's always a bigger fish in the pond."

The Lady Cardinals had won 10 straight games entering this weekend's contest against the Magic, including the first two in District 1 AAAA play, and looked to be firing on all cylinders.

However, the girls ran into their toughest opponent of the season in Flourtown, when an experienced squad and raucous crowd added up to a 20 point defeat.

"It's a different kind of game when you come into a Catholic League game; it's a little more physical, a little tougher," said coach Vincent Catanzaro. "And you're talking about a really good team—the thing is we have to learn how to come out and balance everything out, we're still too young to understand all this."

The Lady Cardinals looked to be in all right shape early in the game, despite an obvious all-around size advantage and a home crowd that overflowed the tiny gym and forced spectators to gather in corners.

The teams traded baskets and the lead early, with Upper Dublin going up 9-7 on a Cutrena Goff basket with 2:36 left in the first quarter. However, the Magic would score seven straight, including a tough basket by Mount's Cailin Schmeer as time expired, to take a 14-9 lead heading into the second.

From there, it was all Magic, as they would outscore the Lady Cardinals 15-3 in the second frame to break the game open. They did so behind strong play of senior Mary Jo Horgan, who would later score her 1000th career point in the contest, and center Steph Smith, who was a force down low.

Smith gave Upper Dublin fits all game, using her size to pull down offensive rebounds and finish underneath. When the buzzer sounded to end the first half, the Lady Cardinals found themselves down 29-12.

The third quarter offered more of the same, as Mount would use a 14-5 run to open up its largest lead of the game, 43-17, with :55 left in the frame. Upper Dublin would slowly chip away, mainly doing so at the foul line, but never threatened.

The Lady Cardinals had few good looks from the floor, and often found iron when they did. Goff was able to penetrate into the lane on a number of occasions, but luck seemed to be low on the day as many of her layups rimmed out. A Mount Saint Joseph's basket at the final buzzer ran the final score to 50-30.

Now, the girls will move into the consolation rounds of the district tournament, having already qualified for states.

Catanzaro says that the remaining games will be crucial to Upper Dublin's chances at the next level.

"This is important to where we get seeded, believe me," Catanzaro said. "We need to go get a win out of some of these games, or we'll end up playing the number one seed out of [a quality district], and we don't need that."