‘They wanted it’: Haley Noblit, Rylee Henson lead Greencastle-Antrim to District 3 championship, topping York Suburban

By Dan Sostek on 3/2/23

 

 

With her team up eight points at halftime, senior Greencastle-Antrim wing Rylee Henson walked into the locker room and made a declaration.

 

“I’m not letting this one slip through my fingers,” Henson said.

 

That’s because Henson, like a large contingent of Blue Devil hoopers, was also on the Greencastle-Antrim girls soccer team that this past campaign came up just short in both the District 3 championship game and the PIAA semifinals.

 

Henson kept her promise, as a tremendous effort by herself, Haley Noblit and some other unsung heroes carried the Blue Devils to a 44-30 victory over York Suburban in the District 3 5A girls basketball championship game, bringing Greencastle its second girls hoops title in program history.

 

Here’s how they did it.

 

The stars

Junior guard Haley Noblit had a big afternoon for Greencastle, as the Blue Devil leading-scorer finished with 19 points, a handful of steals and a charge drawn.

 

 

Henson also chipped in with 12, hitting three 3-pointers.

 

Ainsley Swindell also provided solid play in the paint despite giving up some size, picking up a trio offensive rebound putback scores to keep G-A’s offense humming.

 

Janay Rissmiller led York Suburban with 9 points.

 

Game-deciding moments

 

Greencastle-Antrim took control early. Very early.

 

The tone-setting play came on the first bucket, as Henson got the ball at the top of the arc and fired away despite a late contest. Henson swished the bucket while drawing the foul.

 

She would miss the free throw—something that would still irk her postgame—but Greencastle followed with a Mia Libby steal-and-score, a successful and-one by Henson and a 3-pointer by Noblit, and the Blue Devils would all of a sudden lead 11-0 halfway through the first quarter.

 

York Suburban, which was missing starter Alyssa Dougherty due to injury, would never cut the lead below 7, as Swindell did a good job controlling the paint, while freshman Callie Izer provided some strong play in her first District championship game.

 

They said it

 

“It feels so good. Especially since we didn’t get it in soccer. We were right in there, in the championship for soccer. So to get it in basketball, be right back here again, not on the losing side. It feels so good.”- Greencastle-Antrim guard Haley Noblit on bringing home the title

 

“[Coach Rhine] told me I couldn’t shoot in the sixth grade, which I thought was a little rude [laughs]. But in the summer, I’ve worked with all three of those coaches and they’ve pushed me and they told me that I can get here if I keep working. And every summer I was in that gym and I was shooting and shooting and it’s definitely paid off to where I am.”- Greencastle-Antrim forward Rylee Henson on her journey from beginning basketball in sixth grade to District champion

 

 

“They wanted it. I’m in the locker room [pregame] and I’m trying to be like, ‘Don’t want it too bad.’ You never get stuff you want too bad. They wanted to play, they wanted to be out there. I feel sorry for Suburban, they had a key injury that could have changed the complexion of that game, I think. But our kids were on point. They didn’t make a lot of mistakes. They played really well.”- Greencastle-Antrim head coach Mike Rhine on the confidence of his team heading into the title game

 

 

Up next

Both Greencastle-Antrim and York Suburban head to the PIAA 5A state championship bracket, which begins next week. Their opponents will be determined this weekend.