SL Girls’ Quarterfinals: Pressure defense lifts Spartans past Marian
North Schuylkill's Monica Selgrade drives around Marian's Haley Minzola during Saturday's Schuylkill League girls' quarterfinals at Martz Hall (Photo by Justin Reed / Skook News).
North Schuylkill cruises to quarterfinal win
POTTSVILLE — North Schuylkill struggled to find its offense for most of the first quarter of Saturday’s Schuylkill League girls’ basketball quarterfinal against Marian.
The Spartans missed their first eight shots and were scoreless over the first five minutes.
The answer to the Spartans’ offensive woes was its defense.
The Spartans’ pressure defense forced 33 turnovers, many leading to easy baskets at the other end, to spark a 49-31 victory over the Fillies at Martz Hall.
Mya Conti tallied a game-high 21 points, while Monica Selgrade and Gianna Capone each added 12 as the Spartans (16-7) advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals against Division II champion Lourdes at 6 p.m. at Martz Hall.
“The hardest thing this year with this team was to get that every game,” North Schuylkill coach Rich Wetzel said of his defensive pressure. “Games where we didn’t have that, the outcome sometimes didn’t go our way.
“We do what we do. We want possessions. Pressure turns into points. We’re in better shape than most people, and (Marian) was exhausted by the end.”
Marian (12-10) kept things close for roughly nine minutes, trailing 9-7 early in the second quarter.
That’s when North Schuylkill took over.
Conti scored nine of her points and Selgrade added eight in a 20-5 run that broke the game open.
Ten of those points came directly off turnovers as either Conti or Selgrade would leak out of the defensive alignment as soon as Marian would turn the ball over, resulting in an easy basket at the other end.
Marian finished the first half with more turnovers (19) than shot attempts (18) as North Schuylkill took a 29-14 lead into the halftime locker room.
“We play really hard defense. We play fast,” Conti said. “When they bring the ball up, we know who can and can’t handle pressure. We pressure them until they make a turnover, then we get the ball and push it down the floor.
“We all play fast. My teammates really do keep their head up, so if I leak out in transition, everyone is capable of dribbling, so I don’t have to wait out back to bring the ball up.”
The Fillies would get no closer than 12 points in the second half as a 12-2 North Schuylkill run in the third quarter upped the Spartans’ lead to 20 points.
Capone had a great all-around game with 12 points and eight rebounds. The Spartans also held Marian’s two stars in check, as Addy Marek scored nine points and DeAnna Pugh tallied eight.
“We always come here trying to win. We’re always focused and play to win,” Conti said. “This team, compared to the last four years, we are the fastest that we have ever been. We have really good team chemistry, inside and outside of basketball.”
North Schuylkill will look to make the Schuylkill League title game for the seventh straight year when the Spartans take on Lourdes (21-1) in Tuesday’s semifinals.
It will be the first time North Schuylkill has played Lourdes since the 2001 Schuylkill League semifinals. The Spartans and Red Raiders also met for the league championship four straight years from 1993-96, with North Schuylkill winning all four times.
The Spartans have fallen in the league title game the past two years, losing to Blue Mountain in 2024 and Schuylkill Haven last year.
“We expect to win this every year,” Wetzel said. “We don’t come here for second or third. The reason we didn’t win the last two years, we played not to lose instead of playing to win.
“It’s confidence. Confidence doesn’t mean that we’re cocky, confidence means we’re coming here with the mindset that that’s our job. That’s the biggest thing that we’ve had over the past couple of games.”
Game Summary
Schuylkill League Girls’ Quarterfinal
At Martz Hall
MARIAN (31) — Pugh 3 1-2 8, Minzola 1 6-10 8, Hannis-Miskar 1 0-0 3, Knock 1 0-0 3, Marek 4 0-0 9, Decosmo 0 0-0 0, Kwon 0 0-0 0, Bushati 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 7-12 31.
NORTH SCHUYLKILL (49) — Selgrade 6 0-1 12, Conti 9 2-3 21, Capone 4 2-4 12, Ja. Stitzer 0 0-0 0, Digris 1 0-0 3, Gawrylik 0 1-2 1, Urbanowicz 0 0-0 0, Rose 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 5-10 49.
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Final |
| Mar (12-10) | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 31 |
| NS (16-7) | 9 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 49 |
