Just a year removed from winless season, St. Joseph’s girls basketball is headed to states
It’s been quite a year for St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy girls basketball.
On Thursday evening, SJCA took down Bishop Carroll 65-42 in Bald Eagle Area High School’s gym to claim third place in the District 6 Class A girls basketball tournament. The win reserved its spot in the PIAA state tournament.
The victory keeps a now-25-win season alive, just one year after a winless 0-17 record.
St. Joseph’s coach Bethany Irwin, who took over the program prior to the 2022-23 season, remained humble about her hand in the squad’s miraculous turnaround after Thursday’s win.
“Really, the girls that came out last year, girls that had never played before just so they could start a team, I give all the credit to in the world,” said Irwin, who previously coached over two decades at State College. “I don’t take any of this credit.”
Last week, St. Joseph’s lost just its second game of the 2023-24 season, a 56-42 defeat against Williamsburg. Irwin’s squad fell to 24-2 on the season at the time, with its only two losses coming against the same team.
For Irwin and the Wolfpack, watching game film has been one of the biggest keys to moving past its losses. On Thursday, the veteran coach paid respect to Williamsburg by noting that it’s an opponent she wants her players to learn from.
“Williamsburg has played such tremendous defense, team defense. I said, ‘We gotta start doing that,’” Irwin said.
Coming into its Leap Day matchup with Bishop Carroll, St. Joseph’s was at risk of its season ending. With a loss, it would finish in fourth place in the district tournament, missing out on the state tourney. With a win, its dominant season would stay alive.
In the end, a strong first-half effort allowed the Wolfpack to glide to victory. Functioning as the home team in the neutral site, SJCA built a 36-22 halftime advantage behind a trio of sophomores.
A back-and-forth first quarter, which ended at 15-14 in St. Joseph’s favor, kept the playoff matchup close initially. But in the second, forward Jacee Cunningham made a few aggressive drives to the hoop, forward Aubrey Yartz dominated the paint with some second-chance points, and guard Naomi Crispin orchestrated the team’s offense with slick ball-handling and a few buckets of her own.
By the end of the third quarter, that trio — Cunningham, Yartz and Crispin — had combined for 39 of the team’s 49 points.
“I think we settled down a little bit,” Irwin said.
St. Joseph’s held onto its momentum, playing with a slower pace and taking care of the ball in the fourth quarter. Yartz continued to own the inside area offensively, finishing with 24 points.
Crispin, the daughter of former Penn State men’s basketball player — and current assistant coach — Joe Crispin, was a new addition to the program this season after her family moved to the area.
Her basketball background was clear on Thursday as she dropped dimes to her teammates and ran her squad’s offense.
“Naomi was making some phenomenal passes,” Irwin said. “She just fit right into this system, and she trusts everybody. She wants everybody to succeed.”
With the win, St. Joseph’s finished third in the District 6 Class A tournament and will now move on to states. The Wolfpack are scheduled to play the No. 2 team out of District 7 on March 9 at a venue to be determined.
For a program that didn’t even play an official season two years ago, Irwin and the Wolfpack have found an incredible amount of success in 2023-24 — but they’re not done quite yet.
“It’s been fun. And they’re not tired. This is a long season, and I go into practice every day, and they’re just laughing, having fun. The chemistry is there,” Irwin said. “Let’s see how long this ride can last.”
