McDonald Abington Heights made its deepest trip into the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association girls basketball tournament since the 1999-2000 team, which finished 29-2 overall, made it all the way to the semifinals in Class 4A, the largest of four enrollment classifications at the time.
The Lady Comets won in the first two rounds, then battled Bethlehem Catholic in the Class 5A quarterfinals, leading much of the first half before falling short.
Abington Heights displayed outstanding rebounding throughout the state tournament, building a double-figures advantage over each opponent in that category and collectively outrebounding opponents 127-74.
Bethlehem Catholic 45, Abington Heights 33
Bethlehem Catholic overcame a fast start by Abington Heights with stingy defense and an offensive spark off the bench.
Sophomore Daviana Jones came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers and score 16 points as the Golden Hawks eliminated the Lady Comets with the victory in the March 16 state quarterfinal at Pleasant Valley High School in Brodheadsville.
Abington Heights scored the game’s first eight points.
Jones had two of her 3-pointers before the quarter was over to cut the Lady Comets lead to 13-10. She added another while Bethlehem Catholic was shutting out Abington Heights in the second quarter to move in front 21-13.
“We had a great start, but struggled to put the ball in the basket in the second quarter,” Lady Comets coach Deanna Klingman said. “We fought hard in the third and fourth quarters to keep ourselves in the game.”
The Lady Comets outrebounded the Golden Hawks 38-26 with the help of 16 offensive rebounds, but were unable to convert that advantage into more points.
Maggie Coleman had four of the offensive rebounds while Madison Zalewski, Kate Scoblick and Peyton Houlihan had three each.
Coleman finished with 13 points and six total rebounds.
Zalewski had nine points and three steals while Houlihan had seven points and nine rebounds.
Coleman and Zalewski had six points each in the first quarter. Coleman had two of her three 3-pointers during the first quarter.
Abington Heights 40, Bishop Shanahan 35
BETHLEHEM – Emily McDonald ran the Abington Heights offense from the point guard position.
On the other end of the floor, she helped shut down the Bishop Shanahan attack in her role as a post defender and rebounder.
McDonald led the Lady Comets in points and led all players in rebounds with a double-double March 13 when Abington Heights defeated Bishop Shanahan 40-35 in the second-round game.
McDonald led a balanced attack by scoring 11 points, including going 4-for-4 at the foul line in the last minute. She orchestrated an offense that committed just eight turnovers.
“I do play point guard on the offensive end and sometimes I guard post on defense,” McDonald said. “But, I’ve been playing both for a long team. I can really guard (positions) one through five and I’ll do whatever is the best for my team.”
McDonald’s nine defensive rebounds were more than any other player had total. She added two more on the offense end for 11 total.
Rebounding was a big part of extending the season. The Lady Comets led the Eagles 13-2 in offensive rebounds and 39-24 in total rebounds.
“That was our focus,” coach Klingman said, “especially in the second half, so we could get out and run.”
Kate Scoblick had seven rebounds, six of them offensive. Madeleine Walsh came off the bench to add six rebounds, including five offensive. Houlihan grabbed five defensive rebounds.
The Lady Comets did not yield an offensive rebound in the last 27-plus minutes. By then, they were also shutting down Bishop Shanahan at the 3-point line.
The combination allowed Abington Heights to outscore Bishop Shanahan 23-11 in that time and complete a comeback from a 22-12 deficit early in the second quarter.
Bishop Shanahan opened the 10-point lead by starting 6-for-12 from 3-point range. It was 1-for-13 the rest of the way with the only 3-pointer coming from long range with 45 seconds left.
Abington Heights scored the last four points of the first half and first four of the second to move in front 25-24.
Coleman then put the Lady Comets ahead to stay 28-26 on a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the third. She finished with eight points and six assists.
Scoblick scored all six of her points during the third quarter when the Lady Comets took a 34-28 lead.
Abington Heights did not hit a field goal in the fourth quarter. It hung on with its defense, rebounding and then 6-for-6, free-throw shooting in the last 1:18. Madison Zalewski made the first two before McDonald made her four.
Abington Heights 64, Archbishop Ryan 26
CLARKS SUMMIT – Archbishop Ryan presented Abington Heights with an opportunity to begin the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 5A girls basketball state tournament and the Lady Comets seized it.
The Ragdolls showed up for the start of state play with just six players in uniform.
They were overwhelmed early by the Lady Comets, who scored the game’s first 23 points on the way to a 64-26, home-court romp Saturday afternoon.
Coleman led the way with 18 points, all of which were scored before the three-minute mark of the third quarter. She had 10 points during the 23-0 start.
“I was really proud of the kids,” coach Klingman said. “They kept their intensity throughout the course of the game.”
Abington Heights led 44-14 at halftime, meaning the entire second half was played with the running clock of the Mercy Rule.
Madison Zaleski and Coleman made 3-pointers in the first minute of the second half.
To that point, Abington Heights was 21-for-38 (55.3 percent) from the floor and 7-for-14 (50 percent) from 3-point range for a 50-16 lead.
Abington Heights hit six straight shots for 14 points in 90 seconds, making it 19-0 on a Zaleski 3-pointer with 2:59 left in the first quarter. In the first 5:01, the Lady Comets were 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and 8-for-13 overall.
McDonald scored 12 points, led the team with five assists and had seven rebounds to share that team lead with two others. Zalewski had 10 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. Peyton Houlihan had nine points and seven rebounds. Kate Scoblick grabbed a team-high four offensive rebounds and hit the only two shots she took.
In addition to leading in scoring, Coleman dished out four assists and led the team in steals with three.
Lily Scoblick came off the bench to grab seven rebounds in less than seven minutes in the first half.
The Lady Comets outrebounded the Ragdolls 50-24.
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