Miller

EBENSBURG — Bishop Carroll Catholic had one of the shortest turnarounds imaginable entering its District 6 Class 1A first-round game against Purchase Line on Monday night.

The Huskies were never seriously threatened in their 40-17 victory at home. Three players achieved double-figure scoring for Bishop Carroll, which jumped out to a 9-1 first-quarter lead and coasted the rest of the way.

The second-seeded Huskies will play host to tonight’s Saint Joseph Catholic Academy-Juniata Valley quarterfinal winner in a semifinal-round game.

Bishop Carroll (22-3) also qualified for the PIAA 1A playoffs with the win over Purchase Line.

“We had to get this win. We did. That’s all that mattered tonight. But we have to get back on track and ready for Thursday, which will be a tough game,” first-year Bishop Carroll coach Nick Smith said.

“Both will definitely pose a challenge. So we definitely have to be ready for Thursday,” junior Adelyn Myers said.

Top-seeded Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic received a first-round bye. The Marauders will play Williamsburg on Thursday. The Lady Pirates beat Purchase Line in their playoff game Monday.

Both semifinal games will be played at 7 p.m. Thursday. The winners will meet at Mount Aloysius College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25, for the district championship. The losers meet on the same evening.

“After the loss, we knew it was important to focus on the next game, and that we would have another chance to beat Guilfoyle. And now our focus is making it there,” senior Sarah Miller said.

The Huskies have lost two of their previous four games, including a 53-44 decision at the hands of Bishop Guilfoyle in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game this past weekend.

Among Smith’s challenges was to bring the team into the right mind-set after its disheartening loss. Monday happened to be the third game in six nights.

“We weren’t executing. I think we might have had a layover from Saturday. But (Purchase Line) played a great game and I give them credit for what they did tonight,” he said.

“I think we took them as they can’t compare to BG. And so we kind of took it easy in the first half. But you could tell in the second half we were starting to kick in and show them we are the second seed,” Myers said.

“We all let (the loss) go pretty well. We were ready,” Miller said.

Purchase Line entered the district playoffs with a respectable record in a rugged Heritage Conference West Division, and was enjoying its best girls basketball season in 32 years.

“I feel like, especially the beginning of the season, we have had a habit of playing down to the other team’s level rather than our level. So it’s definitely a challenge to push ourselves,” Myers said.

Miller and Myers shared high scorer honors with 12 points. Emily Lucko added 10 points.

“(Bishop Carroll) is one of the best Single-A teams in the state. They have some good senior and junior leadership. We’re kind of on the opposite end,” Purchase Line coach Greg Mahaffey said.

The Huskies held Purchase Line, which started two sophomore and two freshmen, to 0-for-9 shooting before sophomore Rylee Mahaffey scored the visitors’ first basket at the 5:06 mark. She led Purchase Line with seven points.

Bishop Carroll, meanwhile, dealt with a 3-2 zone press that coach Mahaffey threw at the Huskies. Smith said Bishop Carroll has faced that in the past.

“We knew we had to ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at them. I think we executed the game plan pretty well. We had to change things up a little later in the game to put ball pressure on them, try to get ‘five’ counts going and be a little more disruptive.

“I thought we did a nice job in the 3-2 through three quarters. But it wasn’t enough. We couldn’t take care of the basketball,” Mahaffey said.

“We were kind of passing the ball around. We couldn’t hit some shots. It kind of threw us off a bit,” Smith said.

“They’re a good team. They definitely gave us a run for our money. They played good defense,” Miller said.

“They are very good. And we definitely underestimated them,” Myers said.

PURCHASE LINE (17): Mahaffey 3 1-2 7, Phillips 1 0-0 3, Nelson 1 0-0 3, R.Johns 0 0-0 0, Cessna 0 0-0 0, H.Johns 0 1-2 1, McCombs 1 0-0 3. Totals – 6 2-4 17.

BISHOP CARROLL (40): Lucko 3 2-2 10, Pablic 1 1-2 4, Miller 5 0-0 12, Ad. Myers 5 1-1 12, Delauter 0 0-0 0, Olienyk 0 0-0 0, Av. Myers 0 0-0 0. Totals – 15 4-5 40.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

Purchase Line 1 6 4 6 — 17

Bishop Carroll 9 8 10 13 — 40

3-point field goals: Purchase Line 3 (McCombs, Nelson, Phillips), Bishop Carroll (Lucko 2, Miller 2, Ad.Myers, Pablic).

Officials: Keith Redford, Dan Solomon, Rick Dillon.

Team records: Purchase Line (15-8), Bishop Carroll (22-3).