G-A girls have rematch with Berks Catholic

Lindsey Smith, lismith@GameTimePA.com

The Greencastle-Antrim girls basketball team extends its post-season journey with an appearance at Giant Center on Wednesday for a District 3 Class AAA semifinal, in which the Blue Devils meet a team with which they have unfinished business, Berks Catholic.

 

Rewind to March 11, 2015, when Greencastle was knocked out of the PIAA state tournament with a second-round loss to the Saints in a 53-45 decision, ending its season.

 

"It will be nice motivation," Greencastle coach Mike Rhine said of last season's loss. "It is really nice to beat a team who beat us before, but no one is going to be thinking about that when the final buzzer sounds."

 

The Blue Devils (22-2) are most familiar with Devon Merritt, who scored 18 points in the teams' last clash, and sits in second in Berks County, averaging 16.5 points per game.

 

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Hannah Crist, left, has been Greencastle-Antrim's top defender through the post season, and will look to help the Blue Devils as they meet Berks Catholic in the District 3 Class AAA semifinals, Wednesday at Giant Center.'

 

Merritt stands a 6-foot-2, anchoring a team worthy of its No. 1 ranking, according to Rhine.

 

"They're big, and they're long, and kind of deep, and really good," Rhine said. "They're No. 1 for a reason."

 

Despite their familiarity with Merritt, the Blue Devils' approach to Merritt and the Saints (20-5) this time around will be a bit different from a year ago.

 

"Merritt is a good basketball player, and her size and length give us trouble," Rhine said. "She brings something different than what we've really seen."

 

Last time around, Katie Gelsinger focused on Merritt, but since her graduation, the task of stopping the Saint's leading scorer will fall to Jenay Faulkner, who stands at 5-foot-11.

 

But Faulkner has proven to be able to handle it all as an offensive and defensive leader for Greencastle. She is one of the area's top scorers, averaging more than 20 points per game, and has a knack for making dramatic defensive plays. She had five blocks and five steals against Elco in Greencastle's quarterfinal win.

 

With that, Merritt is the only Saint with a double-figure average, while Faulkner and Hannah Crist (16.5 ppg) sit comfortably in double-figures, with Meghan Hirneisen inching closer with a 8.7 points per game.

 

If the game were decided based on season statistics alone, Greencastle would take the cake. Berks Catholic averages just 44.8 points per game, while the Blue Devils, average 57.75 points per game.

 

All of that can be explained, though, by the level of competition between Berks and Franklin Counties. Berks Catholic faces a slew of Class AAAA schools throughout the season that will likely make a good run in districts and states, which resulted in its only losses of the year. Greencastle's AAAA competition generally pales in comparison.

 

"This is going to be a very difficult, high-level game against top competition," Rhine said. "The common strategy is to pack it in and make them shoot outside shots."

Blue Devils vs. Saints at a glance

 

Game data: No. 5 Greencastle-Antrim Blue Devils vs. No. 1 Berks Catholic ... Wednesday, at Giant Center, 5:30 p.m. ... District 3 Class AAA semifinal.

 

Media: Follow @liziarbogast on Twitter for updates. 

 

Teams: Greencastle is 22-2 entering the semifinal ... Berks Catholic earned the No. 1 seed thanks to a 20-5 record and an unbeaten conference run.

 

P.O. pick: Greencastle by 3.

 

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Greencastle-Antrim set for showdown with No. 1 Berks Catholic in District 3 semifinals

By Ben Destefan

 

It’s eerily similar to last season.

The difference this time is having that past experience to lean on.

For a second straight year, Greencastle-Antrim finds itself paired against the top seed in a Class AAA semifinal game of the District 3 girls’ basketball playoffs at Hershey’s Giant Center.

Considering few gave the Blue Devils any real chance of knocking off previously unbeaten West York during their run to the district title last February, G-A (22-2) is certainly content embracing the underdog role yet again ahead of Wednesday evening’s showdown with No. 1 Berks Catholic (20-5) set to tip at 5:30 p.m.

Both teams have already clinched berths in the PIAA tournament, ironically where these two met in March of 2015. Squaring off in the second round of states, the Saints ended the Blue Devils’ history-making campaign with a 53-45 victory. While admittedly not using it as added motivation, G-A hasn’t forgotten.

“They remember it,” Greencastle head coach Mike Rhine said. “But, at this point in the season, being a part of the final four at the Giant Center is motivation enough. It’s special to get there once, and here we are again. We’re viewing it as another opportunity for our program to play a very, very good opponent.”

Indeed, there is a reason Berks Catholic enters as the top seed.

Paced by senior Devon Merritt, the Saints pose a slew of challenges on both ends of the floor.

Listed at 6-foot-2, Merritt is averaging 16.5 points per game and accounted for a team-high 18 against G-A in last year’s state game.

On nights Berks Catholic struggles to score, the Saints simply rely on their defense, as evident in Saturday’s 34-24 quarterfinal win over York Suburban.

The biggest concern for the fifth-seeded Blue Devils, however, is Berks’ size.

“Their size is their strength,” Rhine said. “Offensive rebounding is going to be very difficult for us and second chances will be at a minimum. They rebound the ball extremely well, so we need to find quality shots and make them count.”

Undoubtedly, G-A will look to spread the Saints’ defense from beyond the arc, where the Blue Devils have shined throughout the season.

Averaging 20.1 points per game, Jenay Faulkner leads the midstate with 86 total 3’s this winter, serving as an elite threat both inside and from long range.

Coming off a 17-point performance in Saturday’s 39-26 win over ELCO, Hannah Crist can also take over at any moment, averaging 16.7 PPG while draining 59 3’s thus far during her senior season.

Meghan Hirneisen serves as the third returning Blue Devil who has competed under the bright lights of the Giant Center, averaging 8.4 per outing.

“We’re trying to find a balance between being proud of ourselves for getting back here, but not being satisfied,” Rhine said. “There’s no doubt that our girls believe they can win, and they’ll go out and play like it. We are going to do our best to get it to the fourth quarter, keep it close and give ourselves a shot. I’ll take my chances with our experience in that situation.”

Tomorrow night’s winner advances to Saturday’s Class AAA championship game against either Lancaster Catholic on Conrad Weiser. The loser will play for third place on Friday.

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Things to watch in District 3 girls' basketball semifinals

By Jeff Reinhart | jreinhart@pennlive.com

 

We’re a week into the District 3 girls’ basketball playoffs, with the semifinals and championship games set for this week. So pick out a good seat at the Giant Center and get cozy.

AAA Semi's

 

DEFENDING THE PERIMETER: If there is one thing Berks Catholic absolutely, positively must do in its Class 3A semifinal against defending champ Greencastle-Antrim on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Giant Center is not let the Blue Devils freely catch and shoot.

 

G-A has a lights-out 200 3-pointers this season, with Jenay Faulkner (86), Hannah Crist (59) and Meghan Hirneisen (35) leading the shooting brigade. Saints’ guards Taylor Dimmerling, Abby Gaffney and Taylor Keys must be aware of the Blue Devils’ snipers at all times.

 

“We have to get out on Crist and Faulkner and their 3-pointers shooters,” Berks Catholic Bob Birmingham said Saturday after his Saints topped York Suburban 34-24 in a quarterfinal-round game at Garden Spot. “They’re not looking to get the ball inside. They’re looking to shoot 3’s. So we’ll have to get out and guard them.”

 

Or else.

 

A finals rematch is still on the table; last year’s runner-up, Conrad Weiser, gets rampaging Lancaster Catholic in the other 3A semifinal, set for Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the Giant Center. If the Scouts want a return trip to the finale, they have to solve glass-crashers Caroline Scarff and Kiki Jefferson, who were huge in the paint on Saturday in Lancaster Catholic’s come-from-behind quarterfinal-round win over Northern Lebanon.