BY ANDREW P. SHAY
HARRISBURG — Conventional thinking can be tossed out the window when it comes to the Steelton-Highspire girls’ basketball team.
Saturday afternoon the Rollers missed 52 shots, misfired on 20 free throws and turned it over 21 times in the second half against Bishop Carroll, the fourth seed from rugged District 6.
Yet Steel-High managed to cruise past the Huskies with relative ease, logging a 68-53 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class A Tournament at Central Dauphin East.
So the question begs, how in the world is that possible? All the important numbers point to a struggle for the Rollers.
There is one key ingredient we failed to mention – rebounds. Final total: Steel-High 75, Bishop Carroll 25.
Steel-High (24-4) plays Girard College, a 59-25 winner over Palumbo, in Wednesday’s second round.
“You get a team that can jump the way they can, it’s hard to play against. Almost every missed shot is a putback,” said Huskies coach Dan Sammarco, whose club was outrebounded 46-17 on the offensive end.
“It takes a lot of energy and effort on the boards with some really athletic girls. They just cleaned it up inside. That’s the bottom line.”
Steel-High was getting at least two, and more often than not three and four chances each trip down the floor. And the Huskies do have decent size.
“We’re not used to this. We weren’t ready for it, either,” Bishop Carroll center Cara Semelsberger said.
“It definitely caught us by surprise. You see their height, but we underestimated how hard they go after the ball.
“Their athleticism is something totally different than what we’re used to.”
Rebounds was only part of the equation, though.
With Bishop Carroll (13-13) in serious foul trouble in the first half, Rollers’ freshman Malia Tate-Defreitas took over in the second quarter.
Finding plenty of open floor to roam, Tate-Defreitas had
16 of her game-high 31 in the second frame to push Steel-High in front 40-17 at intermission.
In addition to her 31 points, Tate-Defreitas also had 17 boards and a half-dozen assists.
“Malia is a real talent. She took over in the second quarter. The floor in the second quarter was her playground,” Steel-High coach Jeff Chisholm said.
“Jess (Williams) had foul trouble, and she took over. She has that killer instinct.”
By halftime the outcome was pretty much decided, but give the Huskies a bonus point for continuing to fight against a Steel-High team that became sloppy and unfocused.
Bishop Carroll outscored the Rollers 36-28 over the final
16 minutes.
“I think my team gets too comfortable when we get up big like that. They think the game is over and they can relax,” Chisholm said. “I don’t want them to relax. I want to play from jump ball to the horn sounds that it’s over. Sometimes we get too relaxed. And that bothers me.”
Krista Krug and Lindsy Sammarco had 21 of their combined 27 points in the second half for the Huskies.
“They were so much more physical than us on the boards. It might be a different story if we shot better in the first half,” Sammarco said. “We picked up some confidence and shot better the second half. But you need to show up in the first half in a state level game.”
Especially against the Rollers.
