Carly Mulvaney scored all 15 of her points in the first half Wednesday night and host Jenkintown held Susquehanna to one field goal in each of the first three quarters on the way to a 56-19 romp in the opening round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A girls tournament.
Katie McGrath, who scored 10 in the first half, and Lauren Brockwell finished with 12 points each for the District 1 champions, who have lost just once in the past two seasons. That loss came against District 1 Class 6A team Abington.
Mackenzie Decker led the District 2 champion Lady Sabers with 10 points. Meghan Kiernan, who was in quarantine and therefore had to miss the district championship game, added eight.
Both teams were state quarterfinalists a year ago when the PIAA ended the tournament early because of coronavirus.
Jenkintown still had much more of its lineup intact from the potential state semifinal matchup of a year ago.
McGrath scored six points and two of the team’s three baskets came off steals as Jenkintown took an 8-0 lead.
Decker scored on a layup with 4:42 left in the first quarter, but the Drakes then scored the last nine points of the first quarter and first seven of the second quarter for a 24-2 lead.
Mulvaney, a 5-foot-10 senior who averages 17 points per game, had seven of the nine to end the quarter. She made two free throws, hit a 3-pointer, then a converted a rebound at the buzzer.
McGrath had two baskets and Brockwell hit a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 22 before Kiernan’s three-point play with 6:08 left in the second quarter.
After Decker hit two free throws to make it 26-7 with 5:16 left in the half, the Lady Sabers did not score again until Decker’s steal and layup with a second left in the third quarter.
During that 13:15 scoreless stretch, Jenkintown ran off 17 straight points.
Mulvaney had 6 of the 11 straight to end the second quarter, including again beating the buzzer with a putback, this time when she tracked down her own miss for a 37-7 halftime lead.
Brockwell had two 3-pointers in the second quarter and two more in the fourth.
The District 2 title was the fifth straight and the state tournament appearance was the third straight for Susquehanna.
