Mount St. Joseph wins
PIAA state championship

Sports Columnist
By John Knebels

If anyone had a doubt that Mount St. Joseph’s basketball team was good enough to capture a state championship, it wasn’t anyone associated with the program.

Just ask Mercyhurst Preparatory School of Erie, Pa.

Using the time-honored approach of balanced scoring and aggressive defense, the Magic lived up to its nickname by finishing a magical season with a 53-43 PIAA Class AAA state championship victory Saturday night at Penn State University.

It was a tremendous gift for the three busloads of Mount fans that traveled about three hours to show their support.

“It’s a wonderful achievement by a great group of people,” said the Mount’s John Miller, a celebrated head coach at both the high school and collegiate levels. “I am so proud of what we accomplished. Personally, it’s [the most important] moment for me. Being a part of this has been tremendous.”

Miller, always positive and motivational, may have formed the foundation for the Mount’s state title when the Magic lost to Catholic Academies League rival Villa Maria Academy in the District 1 title game last month. Rather than letting the loss detract from their overall confidence, Miller helped the Magic realize that, despite the disappointment of losing districts, they needed to quickly look forward to the state tournament with renewed verve.

“This team believes in itself,” Mount coach John Miller said back then. “It has that something extra that’s hard to describe.”

The Mount almost pulled off a similar feat last year. But the Magic lost in the state semifinals, and fell two wins short of its quest.

Many of the returning players erased the memory of last year’s loss by outplaying a Mercyhurst team that had won 30 games and four previous state titles.

Senior point guard Laura Johnson — who later admitted that winning the state title was first and foremost on her mind and that of her teammates since the beginning of the season — scored a team-high 16 points and smoothly distributed the ball to her inside threats.

Benefitting from the guard play were senior center Sarah McGorry (12 points and 10 rebounds) and junior forward Elle Hagedorn (12 points, seven rebounds). It was Hagedorn, labeled by Miller as “the most athletic player I’ve ever coached,” who frustrated the Lakers during an 8-0 Mount run in the second quarter, making two steals and converting them into two baskets. In the third quarter, McGorry added a huge three-point play to thwart some Mercyhurst momentum.

“It’s great how we all work together,” said Johnson, who will play at Princeton University next season. “It’s never been about statistics. It doesn’t matter who leads in scoring. It’s about who wins on the scoreboard.”

Leading by 38-31 entering the fourth quarter, the Mount remained tenacious on defense and, not surprisingly, considering their opponents’ moxie, transfixed on not allowing the Lakers to inch any closer to four points with four minutes remaining in regulation.

Forced to foul, the Lakers’ strategy backfired when Johnson nailed six free throws inside the final two minutes.

Game over. State championship accomplished. Let the celebration begin.

John Knebels may be reached at: jknebs@aol.com.