SIDMAN — Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic and Forest Hills were both still alive in the state quarterfinals last year when the PIAA canceled the rest of the season.

Both teams have their sights set on returning to that point and getting even further this year with most of their respective squads back.

Monday’s matchup at Forest Hills went the Lady Rangers way, 67-55, but both teams said playing each other makes them better. Both are playing one class lower than they were last year with the Lady Marauders at 1A and Forest Hills at 3A.

Bishop Guilfoyle missed a few layups early Monday, and the missed opportunities quickly turned into baskets the other way. Before long, the Lady Marauders found themselves down 25-9 midway through the second quarter after they had dominated their first three opponents this season.

“When we missed a basket, we were too concerned about what happened on the offensive end to get back and play defense hard, which is not the way we’re going to win basketball games,” Bishop Guilfoyle coach Kristi Kaack said. “I’m disappointed with the effort in the first half. I thought we just didn’t get after it on the defensive end, because we were disappointed with our offensive start.”

The Lady Marauders ended the half on a 10-5 run to cut the lead to 11 and kept the momentum on their side in the third quarter.

After a back-and-forth first few minutes, Bishop Guilfoyle used a 13-0 run to tie the game at 40. A Lexi Koeck layup put the Lady Rangers back ahead, but BG took its first lead of the game moments later when Dani Scipioni drilled a 3-pointer with 2:10 left in the quarter.

Remi Smith put Forest Hills up by two on a three-point play, but Scipioni answered with one of her own to make it 46-45.

“We shared the ball a little more, ran through our sets and got other people open,” Kaack said. “In the first half, we were trying to do it one-on-one. Credit Forest Hills, because they were playing a really nice pressure man, but I just don’t think we ran our sets very disciplined in the first half.”

Bishop Guilfoyle had a couple opportunities to expand its lead but couldn’t get any shots to fall, and Remi Smith ended the quarter with two baskets to put the Lady Rangers up by three after three quarters.

This time it was Forest Hills carrying the momentum through a quarter as it opened the fourth with a 9-2 run to balloon its lead back to 10.

“We could have fallen down five or six and been in trouble,” Forest Hills coach Carol Cecere said. “But this team has a don’t-quit kind of attitude. BG is a good team. We knew this was going to be a great game. We worked really hard defensively to prepare for them, because any of them can score.”

The Lady Marauders responded by scoring the next six points to cut the lead to 58-54, but Forest Hills scored the next five to all but put the game away, especially after BG defensive specialist Aurielle Brunner fouled out.

“(Brunner), Sophia Warner and Dani Scipioni start our defense,” Kaack said. “We look to those three kids, especially Aurielle, to carry our defense. Without her, we knew the deficit was going to be tough to overcome.”

Warner soon joined Brunner on the bench after picking up her fifth foul. Scipioni finished with four fouls.

“It was pretty tough (watching from the bench), because I wanted to get back in there,” Brunner said. “When shots aren’t falling, we can’t let it bother us. We need to get the ball inside and get back on defense.”

Forest Hills got at least nine points from all of its starters. Paige Debias led the Lady Rangers with 16 points, and Jordyn Smith and Remi Smith each added 15 points, many of which came on transition points.

“We have a big floor, and we’re used to running it every day,” Cecere said. “We try to get out and run when we can. It also helps when you have a lefty like Paige. People forget about that side of the floor, and she got some nice points on that side.”

Leah Homan led the Lady Marauders with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Scipioni added 13 points.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (55): Brunner 2 2-2 6, Warner 2 1-2 5, Homan 7 7-8 23, Haigh 2 0-0 5, Scipioni 5 1-1 13, McClurkin 1 1-2 3, Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 12-15 55.

FOREST HILLS (67): Cecere 4 0-0 10, Burda 3 0-0 9, J. Smith 5 4-4 15, Debias 7 2-5 16, R. Smith 6 3-5 15, Koeck 1 0-0 2, Henderson 0 0-0 0, Vitez 0 0-0 0, McGough 0 0-0 0, Britt 0 0-0 0. Totals — 26 9-14 67.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Guilfoyle 7 12 27 9 — 55

Forest Hills 14 16 19 18 — 67

3-point goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 5 (Homan 2, Scipioni 2, Haigh); Forest Hills 6 (Burda 3, Cecere 2, J. Smith).

Officials: Chris Rickens, Brandon Hoover, Derrick Soellner

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (3-1, 2-1 in LHAC); Forest Hills (3-0)

JV: Forest Hills, 49-26. High scorers–Lainey Farabaugh, BG, 13; Lexi Henderson, FH, 15