Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Williamsburg senior LeeAnna Royer looks up and collects her thoughts while Delco Christian is presented their championship medals in Hershey on Friday.

HERSHEY — Friday ushered in the first day of spring across central Pennsylvania with seasonable, much more comfortable temperatures than those which had bid winter farewell earlier this week.

Inside Hershey’s Giant Center, however, the floor shooting by both Williamsburg and Delaware County Christian in the PIAA Class 1A girls basketball championship game was ice-cold.

Attempting to win its first state basketball championship since its last appearance in the title game back in 1997, Williamsburg converted just 14 of its 59 floor shots, including only one of 24 from 3-point range, and scored just two points in the fourth quarter.

Delco Christian didn’t fare much better shooting, making only 14 of 45 overall shots and five of 23 from 3-point range, but the Lady Knights had just enough offense to pull out a 39-36 victory and a state championship in the first-ever appearance by that school’s girls basketball program in a state title game.

“We’re proud and excited that we got here, but I just felt like our shots just didn’t fall today,” Williamsburg senior guard and three-year starter Regan Prough said. “Making it here was an awesome experience.”

Fellow senior guard LeeAnna Royer, a four-year starter for Williamsburg who eclipsed the 1,000-point career scoring mark last season as a junior, also felt that the Lady Pirates’ shooting problems were a big factor in Friday’s outcome.

“Our shots just weren’t falling for us today,” said Royer, who will continue her basketball career next year on the NCAA Division II level at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. “They usually do. Today, they weren’t.”

Especially in the fourth quarter, when the Lady Pirates sorely needed those shots to fall.

A putback by freshman Bella Royer — LeeAnna’s younger sister — tied the score, 36-36, with 4:30 left in the game, but that was the only offense that Williamsburg could muster in the entire fourth period.

In a quarter in which neither team executed well offensively — with District 1 champion Delco Christian (30-2) scoring just four points in the final eight minutes — sophomore guard Mary O’Donnell was fouled with just 21 seconds remaining and converted one of two free throws to put the Lady Knights ahead, 37-36.

“Obviously, this is the best experience I’ve ever had in my lifetime,” O’Donnell said of her team winning the gold medal. “It was all about the mentality for us, and staying in our heads. This was a great environment, and we wanted to give it our all today.”

Williamsburg missed five field goal attempts in the final four minutes, including three from the paint. Delco Christian regained possession with 12 seconds left, and sophomore guard Ella Stinger, who led the Lady Knights with 16 points, was fouled and made one of two free throws to put Delco Christian ahead, 38-36.

When Williamsburg misfired on an attempt from the left corner, Delco Christian freshman Monique Good, who scored 14 points, got the rebound, was fouled and made one of two free throws with less than a second left to set the final 39-36 score.

“It’s just a blessing to have this opportunity,” Stinger said of Delco’s championship victory. “We’re all family on this team, and it’s a great way to go out this season.”

Williamsburg, led by 6-foot-2 junior forward Levada Gorsuch’s game-high 19 points and 19 rebounds, bolted off to a 10-3 lead out of the starting blocks before Delco Christian, behind Stinger’s 12 first-half points and 11 from Good, closed the gap to 27-25 at intermission.

Gorsuch created matchup problems inside over the first three quarters for the much smaller Delco team, which finally found an answer for her in the fourth quarter.

“We couldn’t stop her for the first three quarters — she’s a heck of a player,” Delco coach Jason Godino said of Gorsuch. “She played really, really well.”

After Bella Royer’s field goal off an inside feed gave Williamsburg a 34-30 lead midway through the third quarter, Delco responded by reeling off the next five points to take a 35-34 lead into the fourth quarter. O’Donnell’s runner, followed by Stinger’s 3-ball from the left side with 2:46 remaining in the third period, put Delco into the lead.

“At the end of the game, we used a triangle defense that Ella Stinger had learned from another coach,” Godino said. “The fact that our players adjusted so well to it is a testament to the range of basketball IQ that our players possess.

“Our girls were mentally tough down the stretch, and I truly believe that our defense won us this state championship.”

Williamsburg — which qualified for the state tournament by placing fourth in the District 6 Class 1A tourney — returns three of five starters next season and should be a force to be reckoned with again in the state’s Class 1A girls basketball sector.

“I think the players were a little nervous today, and they took a while to settle in,” said Williamsburg coach Angela Detwiler, whose Lady Pirates finished a 26-6 season. “After (Delco Christian) began focusing on stopping Vada (Gorsuch), we were forced to go outside, and we weren’t in sync and we couldn’t get anything to fall from the perimeter.

“But I’m so proud of these girls. Coming into the state playoffs, we went into each game looking for an edge, and these girls executed so well in the games leading up to this championship game. They really believed in one another.”

WILLIAMSBURG (36): B. Lower 2 0-0 4, Prough 0 0-0 0, L. Royer 1 0-0 3, Gorsuch 7 5-9 19, B. Royer 3 2-48, Detwiler 1 0-2 2. Totals – 14 7-15 36.

DELCO CHRISTIAN (39): O’Donnell 2 3-6 7, Good 6 2-5 14, Stinger 5 1-2 16, Latchford 0 0-0 0, Bechtel 1 0-0 2, Washington 0 0-0 0, Rhoads 0 0-0 0. Totals – 14 6-13 39.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Williamsburg 15 12 7 2–36

Delco Christian 11 14 10 4–39

3-point goals: Williamsburg 1 (L. Royer); Delco Christian 5 (Stinger 5).

Records: Williamsburg (26-6); Delco Christian (30-2).

Officials: Hillary Bower, Michael Heisler, William Flaherty.