Bishop Guilfoyle secures its trip to Hershey in a close game against Bishop Carroll

ALTOONA, Pa. - The Bishop Guilfoyle Lady Marauders (29-2) faced off against the Bishop Carroll Lady Huskies (21-8) on Saturday in the PIAA Class 1A semifinals. This became a nail-biter of a game and a massive sigh of relief for Marauder fans.

Right from the start, the energy surrounding the contest was immediately felt. With a gym full of passionate fans and two teams preparing their fight for survival, the match had begun long before tipoff.

The game started very even with both teams exchanging points, quickly leading to a 12-11 score in favor of the Lady Marauders by the end of the quarter.

The next two quarters offered much of the same, leading to a 33-33 score by the end of three with Lady Marauders junior Morgan Ruggery and freshman Layona Williams taking over. Each ended up finishing the match with 14 points.

This on-the-court success was no coincidence, but instead came through a heap of preparation for such a momentous game.

“We watched some more film, and then we’ve been practicing every single day, working hard, playing against each other hard and just getting ready,” Ruggery said.

The fourth quarter was a tied game thanks to Bishop Carroll’s Adelyn Myers who put up a game-high 15 points. It ultimately became the defending Bishop Guilfoyle that took the lead and the win in quarter-dominant fashion, 49-42 over the Lady Huskies.

Lady Marauders’ head coach Kristi Kaack felt confident in her team to get the job done despite such a close bout.

“I told them [Bishop Guilfoyle]…‘I want you to start coming through them’ because they were on rebounds and they were earning second chance opportunities so credit to Bishop Carroll,” Kaack said. “I thought in the fourth quarter our girls really went out and fought, killed every position, and then we rebounded well and ultimately we could hold the ball.”

With the solidifying win, Bishop Guilfoyle will be heading back to Hershey for the second year in a row with hopes to capture lightning in a bottle with a repeat championship win.

Such an opportunity and its importance was not lost on Coach Kaack, as she knew how much another historic win would mean to this program.

“I mean it’s special…for them to do this I said ‘Just really soak it in because it’s a very special thing that they are gonna have the opportunity to go do again.'”

Sawyer Hadlum is a second-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email smh7597@psu.edu.