Sat. Pa. girls’ roundup: St. Basil qualifies for states

St. Basil earned a trip to the PIAA Class AAA basketball tournament with a 51-49, District 1 third-place win over rival Nazareth Academy on Saturday, thanks to a pair of clutch free throws from Jill Lynch.

Lynch, fouled off an inbounds' play with 3.8 seconds left, calmly dropped in two free throws to break a 49-49 tie and send the Panthers' fans at Plymouth Whitemarsh home satisfied.

The season ended for the second-seeded Pandas (17-89) as only three district teams advance in the AAA bracket.

For most of the game, St. Basil guard Jacqui Thompson carried her team with 19 points and six assists.

Annie Buckley added 11 points for the fourth-seeded Panthers (15-10). Lynch, a forward, led her team in rebounds with nine while Jess Dembeck added seven points and seven rebounds.

District 1 Class AA. In the title game at Villanova University, Springfield (Montgomery County) needed overtime to beat Christopher Dock, 59-57, as Elise DiFilippo's 21st and 22d points of the game came on a pair of free throws to break a tie with less than one second left in overtime.

Jenessa Derstine's 23 points led the Pioneers.

The Pandas roared back with a strong fourth quarter, riding the hot outside shooting of wing guard Maggie Borski, who scored nine of her 15 points during a 22-12 fourth-quarter run.

Nazareth Academy, which ened its season with a 17-8 record, also got 13 points from Ashley Adams.

The teams split their regular-season games with St. Basil winning the first, 44-34, and Nazareth Academy winning the second one, 34-32.

District 1 Class AAAA. In a fifth-place game, Ciara Andrews made eight consecutive fourth-quarter free throws to lift host Cheltenham past rival Upper Dublin, 55-45. Andrews scored 12 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter.

Host Boyertown rallied from down 10 in the final quarter to beat Central Bucks East, 51-49, in the seventh-place game as Krista Schauder hit a jumper from the corner at the buzzer for the win.

Taylor Bryant's 17 points led the Cardinals.

Downingtown East, the No. 3 seed, grabbed third place with a 46-34 win over visiting and No. 5 Lower Merion as Noelle Alicea scored 15 points and Kaitlyn Dougherty added 14.

District 12 Class AAAA. At Lincoln, Emily Fazzini scored nine points and was named game MVP for Archbishop Carroll in a 76-33 title-clinching win over Central. The Pattriots (19-7) also got 14 points from Rachel Pearson.

District 12 Class AA. At St. Joseph's Prep, DePaul-bound Brittany Hrynko scored 21 of her game-high 23 points in the first half to lead Engineering and Science past Bishop McDevitt, 78-24, for the title.

Rachel Pearson led the Patriots with 14 points and Mary Victoria Barr added 12, all on three-point shots.