Lady Pirates edge Berlin to reach PIAA final four
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
JOHNSTOWN -- Williamsburg and its fan base had to sweat out literally every second of Saturday's PIAA Class 1A quarterfinal game against Berlin Brothersvalley, but in the end, the Lady Blue Pirates avenged a loss in the Inter-County Conference title game to beat the Lady Mountaineers, 54-53, at Richland High School.
"We have been talking about being on the redemption tour," Williamsburg coach Amy Hileman said. "We did that (Saturday), getting past Berlin. Even with Elk County, we haven't had an easy road here. The score might have not looked close, but they are a good team. We have been in the gym and working and talking about togetherness and trusting each other and just having the confidence to come out and play."
Next up on that tour is Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic, which topped Union on Saturday in another quarterfinal game. The Lady Marauders have beaten Williamsburg twice this season, most recently in the District 6 championship game, 46-42.
"It feels amazing to beat Berlin," Lady Pirates senior Laney Prough said. "We wanted this so bad. It was a very physical game, but we tried our hardest. It's awesome to get another chance against BG. They have a good amount of guards, and we have to stop their drives and get out on their 3-point shooters."
Saturday's game was closely contested throughout. Berlin's biggest lead was five after senior Regan Lauer opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers. She shot a pair of air balls in the first half from 3-point range.
"Regan has been a leader all year, and she's been confident in herself," Berlin coach Rachel Prosser said. "That's how you have to be if you are a shooter, because you're not going to make them all."
Williamsburg responded with a 12-2 run capped by Ayla Hileman's precision pass between two defenders to Prough for a layup that made it 34-29 in favor of the Lady Pirates. Berlin Brothersvalley scored the next four points, but LeeAnna Royer drilled a 3-pointer and made a layup for Williamsburg to give the Lady Pirates' their biggest lead of the game, 39-33.
"I tried my best and played my heart out," Royer said.
Berlin scored the final five points of the quarter to pull within one going into the final quarter, but foul trouble played a big role in the final eight minutes.
Lady Mountaineers star freshman Coral Prosser made a 3-pointer with 5:15 to play that put Berlin ahead, 46-45, but just less than a minute later, Prosser picked up her fourth foul on Levada Gorsuch. Gorsuch made a layup and completed a three-point play to put Williamsburg up, 48-46. The Lady Pirates never gave up that lead.
The Berlin Brothersvalley offense and defense suffered a huge blow with 2:59 to play when Prosser was whistled for her fifth foul and exited the game as Williamsburg ballooned the lead to 52-46.
"It does affect us," said Rachel Prosser regarding not having Coral Prosser on the court. "I don't think it affects the girls mentally, but I think it affects the flow of things at times. The last how many minutes that we had to play without her, it's different from what we're used to or what we'd like to be doing, but the girls stepped up. They are all capable."
Berlin Brothersvalley had one more push in it. Gorsuch fouled out with 42.9 seconds left as Elsie Barna completed a three-point play that made it 52-49. Lauer followed with two free throws to cut the lead to one with 22.7 seconds left.
Royer was fouled with 12.7 seconds left and made both free throws to restore Williamsburg's lead to three.
"I just knew I had to finish and make them, because if I did, when we went back on defense, they couldn't score any more than what we were up," Royer said.
Royer deflected a pass out of bounds for what would have been an attempted corner 3-pointer with 0.9 of a second left, and Berlin inbounded the pass inside the 3-point line to Lauer, who made a meaningless jumper as the buzzer sounded.
"People weren't sure how we were going to come back into this season after losing Jayla (Woodruff) and Kendel (Norris) to graduation," Amy Hileman said. "We have a freshman center. You're not sure how a freshman is going to perform, and then Ayla didn't come back until we hurried her back (from knee surgery), but we're finally meshing. The District 6 game, I didn't feel like we were playing as one. I feel like we're in that flow now."
Williamsburg led by one at halftime despite Gorsuch missing the final 2:18 of the first quarter and the entire second quarter after picking up her third foul on a charge.
"It was pretty big that our defense stepped up," Ayla Hileman said. "Vada is our tall girl in there, and we needed to make sure that they weren't getting in there and if they did, we were trying to play the best defense we could."
Williamsburg leaned on its reserves to help keep Berlin in check.
"Claire Carper came in and held the fort down," Amy Hileman said. "She's a strong girl. We depend on (Anastasia Ranalli) and Claire to come in. Levada has been in foul trouble at times, so these girls have experience that they can come in and hold their own. I'm so proud of them."
Royer finished with a game-high 20 points, Gorsuch scored 13 points and had seven rebounds, Hileman had 11 points and Laney Prough scored nine points.
Prosser and Taylor Hillegass each scored 15 points for Berlin Brothersvalley, and Lauer added 14 points. Berlin Brothersvalley, which made last year's PIAA semifinal round and won the 2019 state championship, finished the year 23-6.
Williamsburg improved to 27-3 and is back in the PIAA semifinals for the second time in three years after losing to eventual state champion Union in the PIAA quarterfinals last season.
"It's awesome to get back," Ayla Hileman said. "We know we have been there and lost, and we're ready to get it this time."
WILLIAMSBURG (54): Hileman 3 3-4 11, R. Prough 0 1-2 1, Royer 7 4-6 20, Gorsuch 5 3-5 13, L. Prough 2 5-6 9, Carper 0 0-0 0, Ranalli 0 0-2 0, G. Colbert 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 17 16-25 54.
BERLIN BROTHERSVALLEY (53): Lauer 4 3-4 14, Hillegass 7 1-3 15, Brant 0 0-0 0, Sechler 1 0-0 2, Prosser 5 3-4 15, Ritchey 1 0-0 2, Barna 1 2-3 4, Food 0 1-2 1. Totals -- 19 10-16 53.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Williamsburg 11 11 17 15 -- 54
Berlin Brothersvalley 12 9 17 15 -- 53
3-point goals: Williamsburg 4 (Hileman 2, Royer 2); Berlin Brothersvalley 5 (Lauer 3, Prosser 2).
Records: Williamsburg (27-3); Berlin Brothersvalley (23-6).
Officials: Bill Zupich, Andy Sobera, Lee Martell.