Parkland Girls Suffer Familar Fate Against Nazareth

The fourth matchup between the Parkland High School and Nazareth High School girls varsity basketball teams unfolded in similar fashion to the first three.

Tuesday night’s stakes were significantly higher with the right to advance to the District 11 4A on the line.

The Blue Eagles, led by senior Erika Livermore’s 13 points, opened up a close defensive contest in the fourth quarter and Nazareth went on to defeat Parkland, 36-28 at Dieruff High School.

In the first semifinal of the night, Liberty High School’s varsity girls basketball team watched a 14-point second quarter lead disappear at the hands of a devastating 17-0 run by Northampton and eventually lost a tough 44-42 decision.

Second-seeded Nazareth will face fourth-seeded Northampton Friday night at 6 p.m. at Liberty High School for the D-11 crown. Nazareth (20-3) and Northampton (20-4), by virtue of making the D-11 final, automatically qualify for the upcoming PIAA tournament.

A fourth matchup between the Blue Eagles and the Trojans held no surprises – a close, low-scoring game was in the cards.

“There’s no secrets at this time of year,” said Nazareth coach Rich Bickert. “We knew what they were going to do and they knew what we were going to do. It came down to making some buckets and trying to keep them off balance.”

Parkland (19-5) came out shooting with three quick three-point goals tying the game at 9-9 after one quarter.

“They came out with that ‘look at me’ press and that slowed us down,” Bickert said. “When they went into a man-to-man, it was to our advantage.”

Many scoreless minutes went by during several portions of both halves and the Trojans were within one point at 36-35 with 3:40 to play.  Clutch free throws by Livermore and Caitlyn Gary down the stretch were key points.

“We knew their game plan and it came down to who made more plays,” said Parkland coach Wes Spence. “We played hard throughout. They had, what, 36 points and it was close until we had to start fouling them. I’m proud and happy about the way our kids played.

Liberty (13-12), up by a 20-9 count in the second quarter, weathered the second half run of Northampton and came within 36-35 with 3:30 to play. But Northampton, in the double bonus for most of the fourth quarter, converted enough free throws to edge away.

“We came out intense and it was hard for us to keep that intensity,” said Liberty head coach Amy Yencho. “They had that big run to tie the game and we held in there with them. I’m happy with our effort.”

The Hurricanes stormed out to a 23-11 midway through the second quarter with a 7-0 run as J.J. Hilliard and Jody Chickey paced the Liberty offense with nine and seven points, respectively.

Northampton wasn’t able to take advantage of its size edge and shot dismally, despite getting the ball inside the paint for what were high percentage shots.

Liberty held senior Kara Bonenbeger to one first half point, but she finished with 10.

The Hurricanes Jody Chickey led all scorers with 20 points.

Eighth-seeded Liberty will face third-seeded Parkland the D-11 4A third-place game Friday at 6 p.m. at Allen High School.

PARKLAND (28)

Alissa Perichetti 2 2-4 7, Elena Pierce 1 0-0 2, Allison Cressman 0 0-0 0, Olivia Hassler 4 2-2 11, Jess Fritsche 2 0-0 4, Jackie Oertner 0 0-0 0, Monica Hagenauer 0 1-2 1, Kelly Robertson 1 0-0 3. Totals: 10 5-8 28.

NAZARETH (36)

Jacalyn Hikes 1 2-4 4, Gina Facinelli 1 0-0 2, Lennon Kramer 1 0-0 2, Morgan Calabrese 1 0-0 2, Caitlyn Gary 1 5-7 7, Erika Livermore 4 5-8 13,  Kim Owens 2 0-1 4, Alyssa Reinhart 0 0-0 0, Ariane Hilbon 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 12-20 36.

Parkland – 9  2  5  12 – 28

Nazareth – 9 4  9 14 – 36

Officials: Susan Wallace, John Mitchell and John Hymans

Fouled Out: None

3-Point Goals: Parkland: Persichetti, Hassler, Robertson.

NORTHAMPTON (44)

Steph Bragg 2 3-4 7, Jackie O’Connell 0 0-2 0, Leandra Sterner 0 0-0 0, Kara Bonenberger 2 6-8 10, Allison Braithwaite 2 0-0 4, Michele Dally 0 0-0 0, Lauren Szerencsits 0 0-0 0, Chelsea Hall 3 1-6 7, Alesha Marcks 7 2-4 16. Totals 16 12-24 44.

LIBERTY (42)

J.J. Hilliard 5 0-0 11, Shay Lewis 0 0-0 0, Kali Shumock 1 0-0 2, Hawaou Doukoure 0 0-0 0, Jody Chickey 8 2-5 20, C.J. Hilliard 4 0-1 9, Maggie Zerbe 0 0-1 0. Totals: 18 2-7 42.

 Northampton --7  8  11 18 – 44

Liberty – 11 12 5 14 – 42

Officials: Mike Brosius, Tom Cramer, Karen Pammer

Fouled Out: None

3-Point Goals: J.J. Hilliard, Chickey (2), C.J. Hilliard