NEW HOLLAND — While only four high school girls’ basketball teams in the state of Pennsylvania put their gear away truly happy, Minersville coach Jared Homa won’t be spending any time moping around over the next few days.
Neither should his Battlin’ Miners.
Despite a 56-21 loss to Neumann-Goretti — the No. 1 team in the nation according to USA Today — in the second round of the PIAA Class AA state playoffs at Garden Spot High School on Tuesday, Homa and his crew have big plans for the next two seasons.
And with the entire roster returning, Homa and the Battlin’ Miners have every reason to be optimistic.
“Usually after these games that end your season one way or another, you get depressed,” Homa said. “You sit around for a few weeks and you don’t want to do anything. We just can’t wait to go again because of the group we have in there. Our character is off the roof.”
Minersville (26-3) had plenty of reason to remain optimistic through the first 16 minutes of basketball against the Saints, too.
When Adrienne Kroznuskie sank a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining in the first half, the Miners trailed just 23-14 at halftime against a Saints team with four starters signed to play at Division I schools.
However, things started falling apart in the second half as Neumann-Goretti (28-0) outscored Minersville 16-3 in the third quarter and the Battlin’ Miners just couldn’t keep up with the size, speed and athleticism.
“We were happy, extremely happy with our kids’ effort. Very, very proud of them,” Homa said. “Coming out playing the best team in the country, being down only nine points at halftime, we struggled a little bit in the third quarter. It wasn’t because of effort.
“I said this earlier, they’ve given me everything from the day they were in seventh grade. The best part — and I can say this — out of everybody in the state, we return everybody for two years. Nobody else is in our spot.”
Sianni Martin (Towson) and Ciani Cryor (Georgia Tech) led the charge, scoring 12 of the Saints’ 16 third-quarter points. In all, Minersville turned the ball over 21 times (13 in the second half) as Neumann-Goretti closed the third quarter with a 12-0 run, including a pair of 3-pointers by Cryor.
“They got out a little bit in transition the second half,” Homa said. “They hit a couple outside shots that forced us to come out of our zone. Our zone was very, very effective against them. We missed a couple of shots. They got out in transition. We got caught a little bit there.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason. They’re very athletic. They got out and ran a little bit. We’ll learn from it, and we’ll come back strong next year.”
Cryor finished with a game-high 16 points while Martin added 14. Add to that the Saints’ decided height advantage — Olamide Aborowa (University of Texas) stands 6-foot-5 and Felicia Aiyeotan is 6-9 – and it was tough for Minersville to hang in the contest.
“We haven’t seen a team with Goretti’s speed and athleticism, strength and reach the entire season,” Homa said. “I don’t think anybody’s going to see a team like that the entire season. So obviously, we had to shoot a little faster than we’re used to. That’s one of the things we’re really going to have to work on during the summer time.”
Maggie Wigoda led Minersville offensively with six points and seven rebounds, while Kroznuskie added five. Emily Mealey also snagged six boards, but the Miners were outrebounded 43-22.
“It’s a shame that certain things are allowed to go that way,” Homa said. “It seems like there’s certain rules that the public schools play by, and the other way, the rules seem to get bent or people look the other way. We’re not making any excuses. We just have to go out, and every single day, we know we have to get a little better. We have the highest ceiling for anybody in the state.’’
Game Summary
PIAA Class AA Second Round
At Garden Spot H.S., New Holland
MINERSVILLE (21) — Nawrocki 1 0-0 3, Kriston 0 0-1 0, Polinsky 0 0-0 0, Schoffstall 2 0-0 4, Bentz 0 0-0 0, Ebert 0 0-0 0, Nettles 0 0-0 0, Mealey 1 0-0 3, Kroznuskie 1 2-2 5, Wigoda 3 0-2 6. Totals 8 2-3 21.
NEUMANN-GORETTI (56) — Martin 6 0-3 14, Kebbe 1 3-4 5, Cryor 6 0-0 16, Glenn 1 0-0 2, Schoolfield 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Smalls 4 0-0 8, Timbers 2 0-0 5, Russell 0 0-0 0, Aiyeotan 0 0-0 0, Ingram 0 0-0 0, Aborowa 3 0-0 6. Totals 23 3-7 56.
Miners (26-3) 5 9 3 4 — 21 N-G (28-0) 14 9 16 17 — 56
3-point FGs: Nawrocki, Mealey, Kroznuskie, Martin 2, Cryor 4, Timbers