Marian Catholic’s wish came true, North Schuylkill was denied a Schuylkill League Championship, but not by the Fillies. Schuylkill Haven came into the game and managed to secure the title, the first program history on Friday night at a packed Martz Hall in Pottsville.
The Hurricanes were led by McKenna Runkle who had 12 points. Kylie Siket netted nine, and Alea Porter scored six. Other scorers for the Hurricanes were Anna Schaeffer (5), Ava Terefencko (4), and Audrey Hutchinson (2). For North Schuylkill, Mya Conti leaded her team with 11 points. Gianna Capone scored nine, and Jadelin Stitzer had five. Other Spartan scorers were Hannah Kane (3), Addisyn Balicki (2), and Monica Selgrade (1).
Siket hit three, three-pointers to get the Hurricanes on an 11-2 run to start the game, but North Schuylkill trimmed that to 11-7 at the end of the quarter. Coach Tony Sanders of Schuylkill Haven wanted a quick start, and he achieved that. In quarter number two, Schuylkill Haven went 5:21 without scoring but Runkle came through and started a 12-2 run. Porter also has a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the half. That gave North Schuylkill some issues at halftime as they were down 26-16. The third quarter was when neither team really did much as it was 28-22, Schuylkill Haven was still leading. The hope of another Schuylkill League title for the Spartans was gone as they lost 38-31.
Runkle said after the game that it’s unbelievable to complete a task no one has ever done before in the history of the Hurricane program. She also said “defense turned into offense” for Schuylkill Haven. Stopping the Spartan on defense helped the Hurricanes on offense, Runkle said.
Looking at the postseason, North Schuylkill is going to compete in the 4A tournament as the 2-seed with the only team ahead of them being Northwestern Lehigh. The top eight teams qualified for District XI playoffs. They will play Lehighton in the opening round. The Hurricanes are the two-seed with the team ahead of them being Colonial League champion, Notre Dame-Green Pond.
The Schuylkill League Girls Basketball Playoffs were very fun and interesting to watch, especially in the semifinals. Schuylkill Haven had an upset victory over Marian Catholic and Tamaqua nearly beat North Schuylkill. Hopefully the next tournament is another amazing and shocking one like this one.
