By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Before heading into the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament as District 2’s perceived best title hope, the Scranton Prep girls had to take a required step.
The Classics completed their collection of local titles, adding a fourth District 2 Class 4A championship to their four perfect league seasons and division crowns.
Rachael Rose, an all-state performer from the time she joined the team as a freshman, led the way Thursday when she scored 18 points in a 51-25 victory over Berwick at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
“It just means everything, especially with this team because we have unfinished business,” said Cecelia Collins, another all-state player who led the team in rebounds (six), assists (six) and steals (four) Thursday. “We just keep working hard every day in practice and hopefully get to that end goal.”
Scranton Prep has had a way of achieving those goals since Rose, Collins, Meredith Purcell and Maggie Mills made their way onto the varsity squad as freshmen.
“This senior class is a special group,” Classics coach Bob Beviglia said. “Fifty-two consecutive wins in the Lackawanna League, (12) wins in the District 2 tournament.
“I’m blessed to be a part of it and there’s not a harder working group of kids in northeastern Pennsylvania.”
Rose, who will play on a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I scholarship at the University of South Carolina Upstate, was a team leader from the start. Collins was a significant contributor as a freshman, who made major strides from there to become an NCAA Division I commit with Bucknell University before her senior year. Purcell went from occasional playing time as a freshman to first forward off the bench as a sophomore before starting the last two years. Mills, who also saw some action as a freshman, started her entire sophomore year before filling the vital role of first player off the bench the last two seasons.
As juniors they were part of a rare accomplishments in the century that the PIAA has usually conducted state basketball championships – an unbeaten team that was not a state champion. With COVID-19 making its first appearance in the athletic world a year ago this week, there were no 2020 state champions, leaving unbeaten girls teams, Chartiers Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, Scranton Prep and Jenkintown on the top of the list of “what ifs?”
Playing on the anniversary of what turned into the 2020 season finale, a 54-31 romp over Allentown Central Catholic at Hazleton Area, the Classics earned another state shot.
Players who have been there before were prominent in getting back there again.
Rose made seven of her last nine shots and also contributed four assists and three steals.
Purcell matched Collins’ point total of eight while handling the game’s most important defensive assignment.
Berwick’s Katie Starr, who is committed to a partial Division II scholarship from Bloomsburg, came in with a double-double in every game of the season.
Giving up about four inches in height, Purcell combined with a little bit of second-quarter foul trouble, to hold Starr to six points and six rebounds.
“She stepped up and made some shots, but more important was the defense she played on Starr,” Beviglia said.
Mills joined the starters in a defensive effort that had Berwick struggling to barely get off more shots than it had turnovers.
Purcell got her eight points on 4-for-5 shooting.
After going 3-for-4 in the first half to help Scranton Prep to a 23-7 lead at the break, Purcell took on a different role from the high post area.
Berwick ended a stretch of 10:45 without a field goal on the opening possession of the second half, but Purcell then hit Lizzie Neville and Rose with passes for 3-pointers on Scranton Prep’s first two to make it 29-9.
Rose was scoreless until landing hard when fouled on a drive to the basket two minutes into the second quarter. After appearing to be shaken up at first, she stayed in the game, hit her next shot, a 3-pointer, a minute later, then scored 14 points in the second half on 6-for-8 shooting.
Neville had 7 of her 10 points in the second half and also finished with 3 steals.
Renny Murphy led Berwick with eight points.
Berwick’s 11-game winning streak and season ended.
“Their defense is phenomenal,” said Berwick coach Bill Phillips, whose team won the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title this season. “It’s suffocating.
“Their on-the-ball pressure is the best we’ve seen.”
Scranton Prep celebrated a victory and prepared to pursue more.
“We’re just so lucky to be able to play in an environment like this,” Purcell, part of a senior class that also includes Victoria Berbano and Maggie Kosierowski, said. “We just wanted to have as much fun as we can in this type of environment.”
MORE: Expanded boxscore. https://nepabasketball.com/2020-21/articles/4AGirlsBoxscore.
