The Juniata Valley girls basketball team is perhaps the biggest victim of the historic dominance of District 6 in the Class 1A classification the past two seasons.

The Lady Hornets have had back-to-back solid seasons, and this season they won 15 games — including a triumph over 19-4 Everett — but the postseason outlook with Bishop Guilfoyle Academy, Bishop Carroll Catholic, Saint Joseph’s Academy and Williamsburg as the top four seeds has always looked bleak, as it would for almost any other Class 1A school attempting to crack the top of District 6’s bracket in the state.

Much like its regular season meeting with Saint Joseph’s, Juniata Valley was no match for the Lady Wolves in the District 6 Class 1A quarterfinals Tuesday at Bald Eagle Area High School in Wingate in a 71-35 loss.

“It was pretty much a carbon copy (of the regular season game),” Juniata Valley coach Liz Radabaugh said. “We were more prepared for their full-court press, and we didn’t turn the ball over too many times on that and handled it well. It was just a matter of us not being able to get our offense started.”

Saint Joseph’s won the regular-season game, 76-36, on Feb. 4. The Lady Wolves will take on Bishop Carroll in the semifinals in a rematch of last year’s semifinal matchup won by the Lady Huskies.

“We’re overall still a pretty young team,” Radabaugh said. “We had great leadership this season from (senior) Anna (Taylor) and (junior) Aubrey (Anderson). We still don’t have a lot of experience on the team. The girls have continued to work through new things and learning new offenses and defenses they haven’t done before. I’m super proud of how far the sophomores and freshmen have come along. Everyone was out there busting their butt every minute.”

The team’s lone senior — Taylor — went over 1,000 points for her career this season and committed to Mansfield in the fall to play college basketball.

“My time at Juniata Valley has been full of highs and lows, from having knee reconstruction to going to the state playoffs,” Taylor said. “I have made so many memories that I will forever cherish. I may be a Mountie now, but I’ll always be a Hornet first.”

Taylor scored a team-high 12 points.

“Anna puts her all into every second that she’s on the court,” Radabaugh said. “She is a goal setter and really pursues things hard, but in addition to that, she wants her teammates to succeed too. She is a good mentor to the younger kids. She spends a lot of time with the elementary program too, so she’s definitely leaving a legacy here with the work she’s done with the younger kids.”

Jacee Cunningham led Saint Joseph’s with 21 points. Alexia Luckovich added 16 points, and Naomi Crispin scored 15 points.

“The key with Saint Joseph’s is their starting five,” Radabaugh said. “They can all score.”

Anderson, Sage Walters and Mazzy Hartman each scored seven points for the Lady Hornets, who finished 15-8.

“This season has come with a lot of lasts,” Taylor said. “But I got to do it with some of my best friends.”

JUNIATA VALLEY (35): Walters 3 0-0 7, Anderson 3 0-0 7, Taylor 3 4-4 12, Hartman 3 1-1 7, Smith 1 0-0 2, Hutton 0 0-0 0, Wise 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 5-5 35.

SAINT JOSEPH’S ACADEMY (71): Luckovich 7 0-0 16, Crispin 6 2-2 15, Cunningham 10 1-1 21, Yartz 4 0-0 8, Himes 3 0-0 8, Soyster 0 0-0 0, Chappell 0 0-0 0, Fetzer 1 1-4 3. Totals — 31 4-7 71.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Juniata Valley 13 7 9 6 — 35

Saint Joseph’s 27 16 11 17 — 71

3-point goals: Juniata Valley 4 (Taylor 2, Anderson, Walters); Saint Joseph’s Academy 5 (Himes 2, Luckovich 2, Crispin).

Records: Juniata Valley (15-8); Saint Joseph’s Academy (23-2).

Officials: Justin Fraker, Randy Burkett, Jarryd Burkett.