Villa Maria Begins Quest for District 1 Title Friday

Of all the successes the Villa Maria basketball program has accomplished over the years, there is one thing the Hurricanes have yet to enjoy — a home District 1 AAA Tournament game.

All of that is about to change Friday at 7 p.m., when the number one seeded Villa will host Merion Mercy, the eighth seed, in a second-round playoff game on the Hurricanes' home court.

Usually, first-round games are played at the home of the higher seed. But due to only a handful of AAA girls teams, the first round has limited play. This year, because fewer and fewer schools are stepping up to host games, District 1 decided to expand the home court advantage to the second-round for AAA games.

Villa had a bye the first round and enters play facing the Golden Bears, who defeated Marple Newtown in the first round by a 54-33.

"It will be nice," Hurricanes coach Kathy McCartney said Wednesday night, "just to have a game. We're been off for a week and a half."

Indeed, Villa's last bit of competition came Feb. 15 when they lost a heartbreaker of an Athletic Association of The Catholic Academies final to Mount Saint Joseph's, 47-45, when the Magic hit a shot at the buzzer for the win.

The Hurricanes' opponent, Merion Mercy, comes into the contest with an 8-14 record and lost twice to Villa during the regular AACA season by finals of 51-44 on Jan. 23 and 44-32 on Feb. 3.

Against Marple, the two teams battled for a short while before Merion pulled away and staked claim to the win.

The Bears are led by Natalie DiCocco, who has been their top scorer most of the season, and Sam Siegfried, who netted 17 points in the win over Marple Newtown. Catherine Moretto also contributed 10 and has formed the base for the Merion offense with Siegfried and Moretto.

Villa Maria, now 18-6 on the season, are led by:

• Brooke Angelos, 5'7" senior guard

• Lisa Mirarchi, 5'7" sophomore guard

•  Kellie O'Rourke, 5'8" junior guard

•  Kristen Walheim, 6'0" junior forward

•  Maddie McTigue, 5'10" junior forward

Angelos is the key on offense, but Mirarchi has stepped up and given the Hurricanes a lift numerous times this season, including at the AACA semi-final win over Nazareth Academy. Villa has defeated some big opponents this season, including perennial AAAA standout Downingtown East, District 3 powerhouse Allentown Central Catholic and the Catholic League's Archbishop Ryan.

A win by Villa Maria on Friday would send them to the district semi-finals on March 1 against the winner of St. Basil and Pope John Paul II at Wissahickon High at 7:30 p.m.

The district final is slated for March 5 at Villanova at 6 p.m. with three teams—the district finalists and whomever wins the playback game between the semi-finalist losers—going to the PIAA state tournament.