Upper Dublin defeated District 2 champion Hazleton in Friday’s PIAA 5A State Tournament quarterfinal game at Liberty High School to earn a spot in Monday’s state semifinal.
PIAA 5A State Tournament quarterfinal
#1-1 UPPER DUBLIN 51, 2-1 HAZLETON 42
Less than a minute remained in Friday’s state quarterfinal battle when Emilia Coleman stepped to the foul line with her team clinging to a four-point lead. The senior sharpshooter buried the first but missed the second.
There was no need to worry.
Junior Tamia Clark was there, and she not only got the rebound of the miss but also scored on a putback that gave the Cardinals – who trailed by three with just over three minutes remaining – a 49-42 lead.
After a stop at the other end, Clark missed a pair at the line, but this time Bridget DiMartile rebounded her miss of the second and found Clark for an easy bucket and a 51-42 lead that held until the final horn.
“Definitely a lot of adrenaline,” Clark said. “It was like – we’re playing for something big here and just need to stick together as a team.
“Everyone is trying to reach the same goal, so just making sure everyone goes out there and just does their part to help.”
Those back-to-back possessions in the final minute of Friday’s hard-fought win underscored a key to the game for the Cardinals, who owned the backboards. Clark led UD with 21 points and also pulled down 13 rebounds in a dominant effort.
“We work on it a lot in practice, so that’s one of the things we really focus on as a team, boxing out and just grabbing the rebound,” Clark said. “We really needed everyone to rebound today, and honestly, for me, it was just tracking the ball and going and getting it. We know they like to attack the rebounder once you grab it, so just trying to be strong with the ball once you get the rebound.
“They’ll let you get it, but it’s whether you can hold onto it or not after you do get it, so really just trying to be strong with the ball and just make it over half court and stay out of their traps.”
–A perfect match: Both teams entered Friday’s game with identical 26-2 records. While Upper Dublin had defeated its two state opponents by a combined 55 points, Hazleton’s wins were even more lopsided. The Cougars defeated Garnet Valley by 40 points and Parkland by 33.
Something had to give.
And it did, but it took 32 minutes and every ounce of energy and determination the Cardinals had to eke out a win that was a whole lot closer than the final score suggests.
“There were a lot of highs and lows, so it was kind of like an emotional roller coaster,” Clark said. “It’s in the back of your head – if we lose this game, that’s it for us. Our season’s over, and our team is so good this year, and I’m playing with such a good group of girls, so no one wants the season to end.
“The adrenaline keeps you going. There’s so much going on in your head that you don’t focus on being tired because you know there’s a bigger goal at hand, so you stay focused on the task. When it was over, you could take a deep breath, look back and you’re like ‘Wow, that just happened.’”
–The game: The Cards, who led 14-8 after one quarter, opened up a 23-13 lead after Megan Ngo found Clark for an easy basket, but the Cougars closed out the half with a 7-0 run to go into halftime just trailing by three, 23-20. Clark’s 11 points led the Cards while DiMartile added six points on a pair of clutch 3s.
In the third quarter, the Cards endured a three-minute scoring drought, and the Cougars took a 32-30 lead that was erased when Coleman buried a three to send the Cards into the final quarter with a 33-32 lead. The Cougars twice led by three in the fourth quarter, their final time with 3:25 remaining (42-39), but Clark answered with a huge bucket. With 1:51 remaining, the Cougars were in the bonus, and the Cards capitalized with Ngo burying 9 of 10 down the stretch while their defense kept the Cougars off the scoreboard over the final three-plus minutes, and the win was in the books.
“They find a way,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “They’re a special group.”
–Cards match Cougars toughness: From the outset, it was obvious points would not come easily for either side. The Cards connected on just 4 of 18 shots in the opening quarter, and they were 1-for 11 from beyond the arc but – because of their dominance on the backboards – they led 14-8 after one quarter.
The Cards struggled to get any kind of rhythm against the Cougars’ aggressive zone, and for the game, they shot 4-for-29 from beyond the arc but still found a way to win.
“To be able to shoot as poorly as we did from 3-point range and still win – it speaks to the toughness of our girls,” Funsten said. “It was difficult to match the toughness of Hazleton, and our girls found a way.
“I think it always starts with Megan and Emilia’s leadership, and Tamia was awesome tonight. She was all over the place. She was under control in a game that was not easy to be under control because they just run waves at you.”
By the numbers: Tamia Clark led the Cards with 21 points, 13 rebounds and four deflections. Emilia Coleman added 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Bridget DiMartile also had a big night with eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. Megan Ngo did not have a field goal but added nine points on a 9-for-10 effort at the foul line in the fourth quarter. She also had three assists. Ella Morris added five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten:
–Owning the boards: “One of the keys for us was to rebound the ball. Especially defensively because they are as relentless and tough as any team I’ve coached against. The best word to use for them is just relentless, and they play fast, and they’re really athletic. They’re just really, really tough kids, and we knew going in that rebounding was going to be important.
“The story of the game – and there were a lot of stories – was rebounding. We out-rebounded them 45-32.”
Nineteen of those rebounds were offensive.
–Respect for the Cougars: “I was talking to their coach (Joe Gavio), and he’s had some great teams. He said, by far, this was the best team he’s ever had. They have everybody back from two years ago when they competed with (Cardinal) O’Hara, and then last year, they gave Perk Valley a game in this round, and they have everybody back, and they’re a year older. We knew going into the game that this was going to be a battle.
“I thought we handled their press well. We only turned the ball over 11 times. We watched them play Red Bank Catholic, which is ranked sixth in the country right now, and they just won the New Jersey State Championship for private schools, and Hazleton was right there, they were down seven with a few minutes to go and gave them a game. They turned Red Bank over 20 times in that game.
“Hazleton had mercy rules in 22 of the 28 games they’ve played this year. They average 72 points a game. This was their lowest output of the season with only 42. They’re just a great team, and the game could have gone the other way. We just made plays down the stretch. We were down three with three minutes to go. Tamia made a great play to get it to one, then we got a stop defensively.
“The thing that hurts Hazleton sometimes is they’re super aggressive, and they were in the penalty, and they sent Meg (Ngo) to the foul line.”
–More props: “Meg had to work so hard. She handled their pressure and helped hold (Kaitlyn) Bindas, their point guard who averages 20 a game, to 11 points. She obviously handled the pressure. She was so important, and Emilia was kind of like Meg’s safety outlet when Meg was getting triple teamed and needed to give up the ball for a second.
“I thought Emilia played a really great game, just a real simple, great game to help calm things down against the press. Emilia also kept a bunch of rebounds alive. They have great athletes, and Tamia would outjump everybody. The four great athletes would jump up to get a rebound, and all of a sudden Tamia would just keep rising and rising, and she would come down with the ball. And it was just like ‘Wow.’
“The girls were so excited afterwards. It’s going to be a quick turnaround on Monday, but at this point, I think they could probably go out and play another one.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will face District 12 champion Archbishop Carroll in Monday night’s PIAA 6A State Tournament semifinal.
Hazleton 8-12-12-10 42
Upper Dublin 14-9-10-18 51
Hazleton (42) – Mariah Marlo 0 1-2 1; Sophia Benyo 1 7-8 9; Kaitlyn Bindas 4 0-0 11; Addison Fritz 1 0-0 2; Molly Temchatin 1 1-1 3; Kayla Lagowy 1 1-2 3; Alexis Reimold 6 0-0 13; TOTALS 14 10-13 42.
Upper Dublin (51) – Bridget DiMartile 3 0-0 8; Tamia Clark 8 5-10 21; Megan Ngo 0 9-10 9; Emilia Coleman 2 5-6 10; Ella Morris 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 14 19-26 51.
3-point goals: H – Kaitlyn Bindas 3, Alexis Reimold; UD – Bridget DiMartile 2, Emilia Coleman, Ella Morris.
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