BG wins championship

UNIVERSITY PARK - As the Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School girls basketball players and coaches packed into the Pennsylvania Cable Network's interview area after Saturday's PIAA Class A championship game at the Bryce Jordan Center, Lady Marauder fans adorned in a variety of wild costumes in the stands above them tossed a pirate hat down and clamored for someone ... anyone ... to put it on while on television.

Star senior Alli Williams considered it, teased them with it and then briefly donned it before thinking the better of it and handing it on to another prospective wearer.

"That was weird. I'd be embarrassed,'' Williams said.

There was nothing embarrassing about the Lady Marauders' performance, though. Guilfoyle jumped to an early lead and kept it to repeat as state champion with a 49-29 win over Northern Cambria, posting their first-ever perfect season in the process.

While the Lady Marauders basked in the glow of their sixth PIAA title and third in four years, their rooting section seemed to get an even bigger thrill out of the moment.

"The BG community is like no other,'' Williams said. "The whole school comes out. People I don't even know come out to watch it. It's really amazing to look up and see that many fans.

"I just think it makes BG and Altoona proud that we could represent our city and school in such a way.''

While many private schools don't draw particularly large crowds away from home, that hasn't been true of Bishop Guilfoyle during this run. The number of fans clad in BG purple and gold on Saturday may have actually surpassed a very healthy following for Northern Cambria.

The Lady Marauder student section was active right from the start, stirred to a frenzy as their team gave them plenty to be fired up about, building a commanding 17-point lead by halftime. With just under 2 minutes left in the game, the students broke into their familiar "We believe that we will win'' chant for the 30th time this season, signifying another Guilfoyle victory.

Afterward, even Blair County District Attorney and Lady Marauder assistant coach Rich Consiglio, usually stoic, cracked a grin as the fans tried to coax him into putting the pirate hat on himself, BG coach Mark Moschella or even the state championship trophy itself.

"I think they're really proud of us and think that we did a great job,'' Lady Marauder senior Kaleigh Floyd said.

Mirror Sports Writer Philip Cmor is at 946-7440.