Lower Merion girls eke out first-round victory

To prepare for Saturday's District 1 Class AAAA first-round matchup with Great Valley, the Lower Merion girls' basketball team viewed game tape of its opponent.

The video was from a December game and gave the fifth-seeded Aces the impression that the playoff would be a breeze, not the 33-29 victory they scratched out over the 28th-seeded Patriots.

The mind-set was obvious in their warm-ups, as the girls voiced concerns over the pregame music and later joked around in the pregame huddle.

"I don't think we came ready to play. We could've gone harder in warm-ups," senior point guard Sheba Hall said. "I guess we took them lightly."

After the win, the Aces gathered in the team's locker room and coach Lauren Pellicane told the players that even though they were moving on to the second round, it wasn't a good win.

After a 14-point third quarter, Lower Merion (20-3) scored just two in the fourth, coming on a Lila Jones layup with 1 minute, 17 seconds left.

"We're grateful that we beat them. But, going down the line if we play like that, we're not going to win," Jones said.

The Patriots, led by senior forward Tiffany Govan, stormed back in the late stretches of the fourth. After Hall missed two front ends of a one-and-one, Great Valley failed to capitalize, going scoreless in its final three possessions.

"We have a lot of heart, and we never really give up. This time, we just came up a little short," Govan said. "Everyone underestimated us - we were the 28th seed - but we're better then that."

Pellicane said she was pleased at times with her team's intensity on defense, especially the play of her two senior guards, Jones and Hall.

The duo combined for six steals that led to transition baskets, as Pellicane's decision to switch to a man-to-man defense caused problems at midcourt for the Patriots (13-10).

With less than a minute remaining in the third, Hall intercepted an errant Patriots pass and raced toward the basket. As the defense closed in, she dished off to Jones, who missed long on the layup but grabbed the rebound.

Jones then passed back to Hall, who found a wide-open Jones in the right corner for a three-pointer. It capped a 6-0 run for the Aces and came two minutes after the team had rattled off a 9-1 run.

"We've been playing together for four years now. We're on the same page with everything," Jones said.

In the second round of the district playoffs, the Aces will host Downingtown West at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Great Valley   8777-29

Lower Merion   107142-33

GV: Logan Curley 4, Karen Davison 4, Amanda Germer 6, Tiffany Govan 8, Rachel Kalick 7.

LM: Sheba Hall 6, Lila Jones 15, Jesse Porter 4, Rosie Stahler 4, Carli Swartz 2, Carmen Torres 2.