Berks Catholic got a bit of revenge on Big Spring with a 48-30 win in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal game Friday at Wolf Gymnasium.
The third-seeded Saints (20-5) dominated play in the second half to avenge their 2021 district loss to the Bulldogs (18-5) and advance to the semifinals against seventh-seeded Bermudian Springs on Tuesday at home at 7 p.m.
“It’s a nice feeling to win,” senior Caroline Reedy said. “I think that we feel pretty good, especially because last year we lost to them in the same exact situation so it’s nice that we won this year to make up for it.”
Berks Catholic outscored sixth-seeded Big Spring 28-8 in the second half and made three 3-pointers during the third quarter to all but put away what had been a closely contested game in the first half.
“I thought in the second half on both ends we just turned it up,” Berks Catholic coach Bob Birmingham said. “We played defense the way that we’re capable of and I’m real proud of them for doing that. It was recognizing who their shooters were and who their offensive threats were and that was the big thing.”
Aaliyah Dabney had five points for the Saints in the first quarter and the Bulldogs held a 10-9 lead after one. Dabney finished with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds.
Big Spring was the more sloppy side on offense in the second quarter. The Bulldogs turned it over on several possessions and struggled to get rebounds at both ends.
Dabney continued to score and the Saints went on an 11-4 run to take the lead with about two minutes to go in the half.
The Bulldogs did not go into the locker room quietly, however, and scored eight unanswered in the closing minutes of the half to take a 22-20 lead.
Dabney led the Saints with 11 points at the half. Maylei Noreika and Laney Noreika each led Big Spring with six points midway through the game.
The Saints offense erupted in the third quarter. Sydney Brown scored the opening bucket of the half for Berks Catholic to tie it at 22-22.
“On offense we started to play like we trusted each other,” Reedy said when asked about the Saints’ second-half adjustments. “We played like a unit.”
The Saints then went on a 13-5 run in which they made three consecutive 3-pointers. Reedy, Caraline Herb and Madison Langdon each hit one of the 3s. Reedy finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
“We take good shots,” Birmingham said. “Usually we assist on about 75-80% of our field goals. It’s just finding the right person and finding the open person. We have five or six kids that can all shoot 3s and we let them do it because they’re confident in it.”
Berks Catholic led 35-27 after the third quarter and the Saints defense made sure to put the Bulldogs away in the fourth.
“We saw that they definitely got frustrated from the second quarter,” Dabney said. “So we kind of just built on that. We forced them to the opposite hand, made them feel uncomfortable and kind of fed on that.”
Excellent defensive rebounding by Reedy and Dabney limited Big Springs’ second chance opportunities. The two also had several steals that led to fastbreak points for Berks Catholic. The Saints outscored the Bulldogs 13-3 in the fourth quarter.
Berks Catholic, which lost in the semifinals during the county playoffs, has its sights set firmly on bringing home a district trophy.
“Nobody wants to lost in counties,” Dabney said. “I love my team, we don’t want to see each other lose. But definitely winning today, especially how we did, is an amazing feeling, and going forward we’re going to play hard every game.”
Source: Berkshire mont