York Suburban girls turn tables on defending District 3 Class 5A champs
What a difference a year makes.
Last year, Greencastle-Antrim was No. 1 in the District 3 Class 5A girls' basketball power rankings and York Suburban was No. 5 when they met for the first time. G-A won that game by four points to close out the regular season.
A few weeks later, the top-seeded Blue Devils won the rematch by 14 points to take the district title.
This year, York Suburban sits atop the district power rankings and G-A was No. 6 when the teams met Thursday night in a semifinal of the Trojans' Holiday Tournament. The Trojans exacted a bit of revenge when they defeated the Blue Devils 50-40 to advance to Friday's final against St. Maria Goretti.
G-A will play Columbia in the consolation game. Goretti defeated Columbia 52-47 in Thursday's first semifinal.
"They're a really good team, and they played a great game tonight," Blue Devils coach Mike Rhine said. "Our kids did everything we asked them to do. We just couldn't get closer."
Like the district final, G-A jumped out to an early lead. But the gap wasn't close to last year's 11 points, and the Trojans turned the tables and led 13-9 after the first quarter.
Lydia Powers led the Trojans' charge, scoring nine points in the opening frame. She finished with 25 points to lead all scorers.
"This year was all about our comeback," Powers said. "We were definitely focusing on defense tonight. Janay (Rissmiller) locking down [Haley Noblit] was huge and everyone did their part."
Like she did last year, Noblit led the Blue Devils in scoring. She finished with 20 points, including three 3-pointers, and was the only player on her team in double digits.
York Suburban used its motion offense and a strong transition to score most of their points within 10 feet of the basket. Rissmiller was on the receiving end of numerous fastbreak opportunities, finishing with 12 points.
Paige Garner took advantage of the shorter Blue Devils to score three buckets down low.
"We wanted to lock down the defensive end," York Suburban coach Jess Weaver said. "We thought we could speed up the game a little bit and increase the tempo to get out in transition, which I thought we did at times. Overall it was just a really good team effort."
Size was not on the Blue Devils' side. With no player standing taller than 5-8, G-A relied on their outside game. They scored nearly half of their points from beyond the arc.
Rhine said the Blue Devils tried to extend the Trojans with their defense and force them to shoot jumpers. But York Suburban's effective motion offense allowed them to move the ball inside.
Down the road
York Suburban and Greencastle-Antrim are guaranteed to meet again. Like last year, the Trojans and Blue Devils will play the last game of the regular season. Greencastle hosts the Trojans on Feb. 7.
They said it
Jess Weaver: "This team is very selfless. One night it's Lydia, one night it's Janay, one night Paige and one night Sophia [Redman]. All they want to do is go 1-0 every night."
Lydia Powers: "The target on our back, I like it. It gives us some fire. It's good for us."
Mike Rhine: "This is a work in progress. You don't have to win every game in December."
Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ydr.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter @ShelStallsmith.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 girls' basketball: York Suburban avenges final loss
