MINERSVILLE — The Marian girls’ basketball team left its defense in Hometown on Thursday.
But the Fillies’ defense definitely came to play Saturday night in Minersville.
Abbey Whildin had a game-high 19 points and led Marian’s defensive effort as the Fillies captured the Schuylkill League Division III championship with a 39-28 victory over Shenandoah Valley at Thomas Fitzpatrick Gymnasium.
With Saturday’s victory, Marian (16-6) won its fourth consecutive division championship and faces Division I champ North Schuylkill (20-2) in the league semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Martz Hall. Division II champ Minersville (21-1) takes on wild-card Pottsville (19-3) in the opener at 6 p.m.
The Fillies could have wrapped up the division Thursday with a win at Williams Valley, but lost 71-69 in overtime. Shenandoah Valley pulled even in the division with a 51-37 victory at Weatherly.
The two split their regular-season meetings, forcing the tiebreaker.
“We were real angry and disappointed in ourselves,” Whildin said of the Fillies’ mood following the loss to the Vikings. “But we came together as a team, worked hard the next day in practice because we knew we had to come together to get this win today.
“Today we made sure we kept people in front of us and guarded their best players the way they needed to be guarded.”
Marian certainly did that.
The Blue Devils (19-4), who were looking for their first division title since 2002, shot just 8-for-40 (20 percent) from the floor and turned the ball over 14 times. Shenandoah Valley was only 3-of-25 (12 percent) shooting through the first three quarters as Marian built a 26-14 advantage heading into the fourth.
“Our help-side defense was better and our girls were committed to it,” Fillies coach Paul Brutto said. “They have three girls who can score. It is just a matter of, you commit yourself to defense and were just weren’t committed on Thursday. Fortunately, our kids’ mind-set changed and results changed because of it.”
Whildin was also matched up with the Blue Devils’ Abigail Snitzer, who came in averaging 16.3 points per game. Whilden usually guards Snitzer when the two teams play and Snitzer never got going Saturday. She finished with seven points, including two over the first three quarters.
“She’s a good shooter and she can drive,” Whildin said. “I had to make sure I had a hand in her face but also give her a step because she could also beat me off the dribble.”
Vanessa Whitecavage added 13 points and eight rebounds for Marian, while Whildin had six boards.
Marcella Creasy had eight points to pace the Blue Devils. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Carly Teaschenko added seven points, while Snitzer had nine boards.
Marian didn’t exactly light it up offensively, either, finishing the night 8-for-33 (24 percent) from the field. In fact, the first point of the game wasn’t scored until the Blue Devils’ Kristina Nieddu hit the first of two foul shots with 2:47 left in the first quarter. Snitzer then grabbed the second miss to make it 3-0.
Shenandoah Valley led 6-3 with 1:41 left in the first after a 3 from Creasy. The Fillies then went on a 20-3 run that lasted early into the second half, making it 23-9.
Whitecavage had two, first-quarter 3-pointers, with her second coming from the top of the circle with 3 seconds remaining in the period. Whildin scored seven her points in the second. She scored inside the paint at 2:56 to make it 16-9, and later put in a missed 3 by Whitecavage with 58 seconds remaining. That gave the Fillies a 19-9 lead.
Whildin finished the half by hitting two foul shots following a steal by Gianna Agosti.
“They got up in our face,” Shenandoah Valley coach Chris Conroy said. “I felt we needed to be a little more poised on offense. We just rushed some things in the first half. The first half was a killer. We just couldn’t get anything going, no rhythm. That’s what they wanted to do. They are a great defensive team.”
The Blue Devils used some pressure defense in the fourth quarter and made the game interesting. They cut the deficit to eight twice, the final time coming on a layup by Teaschenko with 2:35 remaining that made it 33-25.
But Marian, which finished the night 21-for-33 from the foul line, hit 13-of-18 free throws in the fourth to seal the win.
Whildin was 7-of-9 from the line in quarter, while Whitecavage was 4-for-6.
Game Summary
Schuylkill League
Division III Tiebreaker
At Minersville High School
SHENANDOAH VALLEY (28) — Demalis 0 0-0 0, Nieddu 1 4-6 6, Teaschenko 2 3-4 7, Gallo 0 0-0 0, Creasy 3 1-1 8, Wargo 0 0-0 0, Snitzer 3 0-0 7, Michalik 0 0-0 0, Parker 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 8-11 28.
MARIAN (39) — Whildin 4 11-13 19, Whitecavage 2 7-10 13, Correale 0 0-0 0, Shaud 0 0-0 0, Agosti 0 1-2 1, Capparell 1 0-0 2, Karnish 1 2-8 4, Stoyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 21-33 39.
SV (19-4) 6 3 5 14 — 28 Mar (16-6) 10 11 5 13 — 39
3-point FGs: Creasy, Snitzer, Whitecavage 2