NORRISTOWN — Cardinal O'Hara played smartly and won 49-35 against top-seeded Perkiomen Valley in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs on Friday.
Near the end of the third quarter, the Lions were up by five points and aiming for a final shot. The Vikings' intense defense seemed to stop them, but the Lions passed the ball well until Molly Rullo found her sister Megan outside the three-point line.
In no time, Megan made the shot and got fouled. She scored the free throw, earning a rare four-point play and bringing the Lions into the final quarter with a nine-point lead.
The Vikings, the top seed from District 1, only lost to Gill St. Bernard's private school in New Jersey, and they couldn't get closer than eight points for the rest of the game.
“They were double-teaming, and we got the ball inside,” said Megan Rullo. “Molly passed it to me, I shot and made it. Coach Chrissie always says to help your teammate get the shot, not just yourself. That's exactly what we did, and we made the shots that counted.”
This moment sealed the victory for the Lions, who will face Parkland in the state semifinals on Monday. Parkland beat Archbishop Carroll 48-37 on Friday.
Megan and Molly Rullo scored 14 points each, and Molly did an excellent job defending Vikings' 6-foot-3 center Quinn Boettinger, who only scored four points. Joanie Quinn added 10 points.
Despite being seen as underdogs, Coach Doogan made it clear that her players never saw themselves that way. They outperformed and tired out their taller opponents.
“Everyone in the locker room expected us to win,” Doogan said. “Our O’Hara family expected us to win. I don’t know how many people in the state expected us to win. So, it’s a big win. They’ve had the No. 1 ranking all year and we just believed. These girls love each other and they don’t want their season to end.”
The Vikings had their shining moments. At the beginning, they showed their skill with precise passing and a strong offense with Boettinger passing to her teammates.
Grace Galbavy, the Vikings’ 6-0 guard, was strong on the offensive boards and drove to the basket to give her team a 10-3 lead. However, she only scored five points for the rest of the game, finishing with nine points along with her teammate Bella Bacani. The Vikings seemed to lack energy in the second half of a game that was tied after the first quarter and at halftime.
“They outworked us from the coaching plan to the rebounding, to the turnovers, to the good decisions with the basketball,” Vikings coach John Russo said. “They outworked us in every facet of the game. They’re right there with the good teams that we’ve played. Right there with Carroll, Wood, Spring-Ford, Gill St. Bernard’s, Penn Charter. They’re a good basketball team and they did all the extra stuff tonight to get the win. They won the game on the offensive and defensive glass. They were more physical than we were, and they had a better offensive game plan than we had.”
You couldn't underestimate the pressure the Lions put on Boettinger, who was skillfully passing the ball around the edge in the first half. By the time the fourth quarter came, Boettinger seemed tired, and so did Galbavy. A lot of the credit goes to the 5-foot-10 Molly Rullo, who prevented the big girl from getting to her favorite spots.
“The plan basically was just to play our game, play hard and play tough,” Molly Rullo said. “It was just outplaying them toughness-wise. The guards made entry passes tough. We forced some tough shots. The hustle, that’s non-negotiable for us. Everyone plays hard, everyone plays defense. And just really emphasizing that today really helped us.”
That is Lions basketball, and it served them well. Win the battle of the 50-50 balls, play hard and limit the touches of the opposition.
“They had size on us but Molly did a great job on Quinn and Carly (Coleman) stopped Grace a little bit,” Doogan said. “And the girls wanted it.”
