Cardinal O’Hara earns third PIAA girls’ title in four years after defeating Spring-Ford
Senior Joanie Quinn led the Lions with 16 points in their 42-26 victory over Spring-Ford on Friday at Hershey's Giant Center.
HERSHEY — Cardinal O’Hara found its purpose and it led to a state basketball title.
After losing to rival Archbishop Carroll in the Philadelphia Catholic League girls’ semifinals, the Lions sulked. But there was still something to play for.
A new Cardinal O’Hara team emerged, a determined group of seniors who wanted to win a state crown. The same could be said for Spring-Ford, the Rams’ seniors likewise rallying their team after a gutting loss in the District 1 championship.
Friday night at the Giant Center, the Lions downed Spring-Ford, 42-26, to win a PIAA Class 6A title, the program’s third in four years.
“We’ve been playing with a different heart ever since we lost in the [PCL] semifinal. We knew it was our last chance to prove to everybody that we’re O’Hara,” said Lions senior Carly Coleman. “We came up with this saying, ‘Do everything with a purpose.’
“We’ve been rebounding with a purpose, we passed with a purpose, we did everything with a purpose tonight.”
Spring-Ford made just 8-of-37 shots on Friday and 2–of-17 from three. O’Hara’s defense was a significant factor, but when layups were rimming out and open threes weren’t falling, it was a sign that Friday wasn’t going to be Spring-Ford’s night.
“We’re just very proud of the girls,” said Rams coach Mickey McDaniel. “I thought we were ready for this game, shots didn’t fall, and we understand that.
“We never got into a rhythm. Part of that can be attributed to Cardinal O’Hara as well, but it was one of those nights where we didn’t make shots, which is something we’d been doing very well down the stretch here.”
O’Hara didn’t have much offense in the first half, either, outside of Molly Rullo.
The junior forward, who won her second state title in three years as a starter, notched 11 of her 13 points in the first half. She had a game-high eight rebounds, while her sister Megan was right behind with seven.
“Rebounds get extra possessions and keep the other team from scoring,” Molly Rullo said. “Our dad always taught us to be tough and if you aren’t scoring, you can benefit by doing that.”
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The Lions led by 18-11 at halftime. They extended that lead to 22-13 when senior Joanie Quinn made a layup with 5 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Then, O’Hara stopped scoring, and Spring-Ford got five points from Mac Pettinelli to cut the deficit to four over the next three minutes.
Having struggled all night, it seemed as though a break was finally coming for the Rams.
“They’ll never quit and that’s evident in where we are this season,” McDaniel said. “You didn’t win a league championship, you didn’t win a district championship, you could just pack it in if you wanted. These kids didn’t do that, and we played some of our best basketball here in the state tournament.
O’Hara then went on an 8-2 run to end the third with an and-one drive by Quinn, putting the Rams in a 30-20 hole. After a rough first half, Quinn finished strong, with 14 points of her game-high 16 coming in the second half.
“We realized that in order for us to play the best we could, it had to come from the starters, it has to be us doing as much as we can,” Quinn said. “Me and Carly sat together the first two years, and now we’re out there playing and doing the things we watched our teammates do. We were on that banner, but this, we were on the court, so it means a little bit more.”
Doogan won her third title in her fifth season as the O’Hara head coach. Having her daughter Maggie be a part of the first two can’t be replicated, but Doogan said this group was special, too, because it was her first senior class that she had seen all the way through from eighth graders to their last game.
“I love these people,” Quinn said. “To do it with them, the love I have for them can’t be described.”
This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.