Basketball

BG off to strong start

After making it to the second round of the PIAA Class 1A girls basketball playoffs last season, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic is hoping for a much more extended run this March.

The Lady Marauders are a legitimate contender for the state championship -- which BG last won in 2021 -- and they opened their state playoff competition this year in fine fashion, posting a 58-33 first-round win over Riverview of the WPIAL Saturday afternoon at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium.

"We won one game in the state playoffs last year but lost to Otto-Eldred in the second round, and this year's team has been working very hard,'' said BG coach Kristi Kaack, whose young team -- which started three sophomores and two freshmen on Saturday -- won the District 6 championship this year. "We're really happy with where we're at as a team right now, and we're hoping to make a deep run this year.''

BG will face District 9 third-place finisher DuBois Central Catholic, a 58-34 winner over Jamestown of District 10 on Saturday, in the second round of the PIAA playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Clarion University's Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium.

Bishop Guilfoyle rode an 11-point run in the first quarter and a 15-4 surge in the third quarter to Saturday's victory, which improved the Lady Marauders' record to 25-3.

Sophomore forward Alana Lightner and freshman guard Morgan Ruggery shared game-scoring honors for BG with 14 points apiece, while freshman guard Maurie Querry added 11.

After Riverview (16-9) opened the game with a 7-4 lead, sophomore guard Gia Adams fired in her first of three 3-point field goals to tie the score at 7-7.

Lightner then converted a teammate's inside feed for a bucket, Querry hit a layup off a drive, Lightner scored another bucket from inside, and freshman Hannah Homan hit a jump shot to complete the 11-point run and give the Lady Marauders a 15-7 lead after one quarter.

"We put in a lot of hard work this past week in practice, and I really think that it showed today,'' said Lightner, who also pulled in a game-high seven rebounds. "We played really well as a team.''

Riverview, which qualified for the state playoffs after finishing fourth in the District 7 tournament, carried the second quarter, 11-10, to pull to within 25-18 at intermission, but BG came out full bore in the third quarter to salt the game away.

After Lightner started the quarter by hitting one of two free throws, Querry drained a 3-pointer from the right corner and Adams followed with a 3-ball from the top of the circle to give BG a 32-18 advantage.

Following a 3-point goal by Riverview sophomore Isabella Chaparro, Ruggery promptly answered with a 3-pointer, and Lightner hit two free throws and an inside bucket, before adding another free throw for BG, which carried the third period, 17-6, to take a 42-24 cushion into the final quarter.

"I thought that we shared the ball real well in the third quarter,'' Kaack said. "We did a good job of working the ball and finding the right shot, and Alana Lightner and (sophomore forward) Stella Yeskey did a good job on the glass of getting offensive rebounds.''

Riverview got a game-high 17 points from junior Katerina Tsambis, but after falling way behind in the second half, could not recover.

"We were missing some girls today, and our depth just wasn't there,'' said Riverview coach Jill Catanzaro, who had just six players take the floor Saturday. "Our girls played their hearts out, but we had moments of darkness along with flashes of brilliance today.''

Catanzaro was impressed with the BG team.

"They play great man-to-man defense, and we knew that coming into the game,'' Catanzaro said. "They have a nice inside-outside game overall on offense.''

DuBois Central Catholic brings a 15-11 record into Wednesday's matchup with BG, and the Lady Cardinals have registered some impressive performances this year.

"They beat Clearfield, who I think has a really good team, and they played well against some other good teams,'' Kaack said. "They have good team depth and they play a lot of kids.

"Defensively, they like to pressure a lot in the full-court, and they run different defenses,'' Kaack added. "We expect a challenge from them.''

RIVERVIEW (33): Tsambis 5 4-5 17, Chapparo 2 1-2 7, Abraham 4 0-0 9, Bauer 0 0-0 0, Huffman 0 0-0 0, Harden 0 0-0 0. Totals - 11 5-7 33.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (58): Querry 3 4-4 11, Lightner 5 4-5 14, Yeskey 1 1-6 3, Adams 3 0-0 9, Ruggery 3 5-8 14, Petrecca 1 0-2 2, Homan 1 1-2 3, Gofus 1 0-0 2, Lechner 0 0-0 0. Totals - 18 15-31 58.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Riverview 7 11 6 9 -- 33

Bishop Guilfoyle 15 10 17 16 -- 58

3-point goals: Riverview 6 (Tsambis 3, Chaparro 2, Abraham); Bishop Guilfoyle 7 (Adams 3, Ruggery 3, Querry).

Records: Riverview (16-9); Bishop Guilfoyle (25-3).

Officials: Clark Adelman, Jack McDougal, Kevin Laird.