Bob Birmingham and Scott Moyer went to college together at a local Penn State branch back in the day.
Birmingham was at Moyer’s wedding.
Moyer was at Birmingham’s wedding.
They’ve coached together at clinics in the summertime and they chat often.
On Saturday, Birmingham and Moyer will coach their respective girls’ basketball teams in a PIAA-AAA state quarterfinal game, with a trip to the Final Four hanging in the balance.
It’ll be the first time the longtime friends go head-to-head as coaches.
Birmingham’s Berks Catholic club punched its ticket to Saturday’s state quarterfinals with a hard-fought 53-45 second-round win over District 3 champ Greencastle-Antrim on Wednesday night at Cumberland Valley.
Post fiend Devon Merritt, a 6-2 junior with hops and glass-crashing chops galore, scored 18 points and plucked 10 rebounds, senior forward Courtney Wensel chipped in with 12 points, and the Saints owned the boards in their win over the Blue Devils, who saw their memorable season coming to a screeching halt.
G-A finished 25-4 overall after winning its second Mid-Penn Colonial championship in a row and capturing the program’s first district crown.
“I thought we played as best as we could,” G-A coach Mike Rhine said. “We have nothing to be ashamed of, that’s for sure. We just hate to see this run end.”
Meanwhile, on the other end of the state, Mid-Penn Capital champ West Perry knocked off the last seed out of the WPIAL, McGuffey, 52-51 on Meredith Brown’s late bucket in another second-round game at Altoona.
Berks Catholic (25-5) vs. West Perry (24-5) is set for Saturday at a site and time to be announced. The Saints are No. 9 and the Mustangs — who are back in the PIAA quarters for the second year in a row — are No. 10 in PennLive’s Class AAA state rankings.
BOARD WORK
Berks Catholic out-rebounded G-A 35-23, as 5-11 senior forward Brooke Wensel chipped in with 10 boards, teaming with Merritt to give G-A a nightmare of an inside matchup.
Unable to score — let alone get good looks — in the lane, the Blue Devils relied on their perimeter attack. Junior point guard Hannah Crist hit a first-quarter 3, and soph wing Jenay Faulkner was able to sink three treys — including a clutch 3 with 1:27 to go in third, tying the game at 29-all — but G-A couldn’t make shots in crunch time.
“That’s a good defensive team,” Rhine said of Berks Catholic, the No. 5 seed from District 3. “At the end of the day, what won us a lot of games all year (making 3’s) didn’t happen. And that’s a credit to their defense and their length. It was tough shooting over their length the entire game. They were taking away our 3-point shooters, and ultimately we didn’t make shots. You win by the 3 and you die by the 3. That’s basketball.”
“And,” Rhine added, “when you have a 6-2 shot-blocker (Merritt) back there, it makes it tough.”
Berks Catholic went 7-for-9 at the line in the final 7:19 to ice it.
KEY MOMENT
Trailing 37-36 in the third, Courtney Wensel was able to cash in with a bucket after a mad scramble, giving Berks Catholic a 38-37 lead. And on the Saints’ next possession, junior point guard Haley Kubinak knocked down a wing 3, pushing the Saints’ lead to 41-37.
That bucket gave Berks Catholic the momentum to finish the job.
“We never recovered after that,” Rhine said.
Merritt added three fouls shots and a baseline turnaround, sub Mikayla Lea — who had three buckets and six boards off the bench — had a breakaway layup, and Courtney Wensel had another basket during Berks Catholic’s game-ending surge.
Merritt actually got the run started; she beat the third-quarter horn with a runner in the key, knotting the game at 33-all heading into the fourth.
“Our bigs have great hands,” Birmingham said. “And our entry passes have gotten better and better all year. And I thought we did a good job with that in the second half; they were double and triple teaming us in the first half, we went high-low in the second half and we were able to get those passes in there.”
And, more times than not, finish. Or draw a foul.
DEVILS GET THEIR DUE
Berks Catholic bolted to a 6-0 lead, and G-A didn’t score until Crist ripped cord on a 3 with 3:55 to go in the first quarter, which ended with the Saints sitting on an 8-7 lead.
G-A finally warmed to the task in the second quarter; Faulkner’s trey gave the Blue Devils their first lead, 14-13, and Kate Gelsinger shook free for a couple of dribble-drive buckets as G-A took a 17-15 lead into the locker room.
Berks Catholic went ahead by as may as six points in the third quarter — 25-19 on Lea’s bucket — but Faulkner scored 10 points in the period, including a lights-out clip when she went 3, steal and layup and another 3, tying the game at 29 apiece.
But in the end, Berks Catholic’s size, and the Saints’ ability to sub and keep some kids fresh, wore out G-A.
“We’re still playing,” Birmingham said, smiling. “We’re still in the gym everyday and we’re still having fun. That’s what it’s all about. And that’s 25 wins for this group. That’s not a bad year. You can’t beat that.”
JUMP SHOTS
Gelsinger had 12 points and six boards and Crist chipped in with 10 points for G-A. … Turnovers: Berks Catholic 20, G-A 11. … Megan Hirneisen added six rebounds for G-A. … Berks Catholic’s division rival, Conrad Weiser, upset District 11 champ Bethlehem Catholic — the state’s third-ranked team — 48-44 on Wednesday. The Scouts will play Honesdale in a state quarterfinal game on Saturday.
