Dec 1, 2025
EBENSBURG — Bishop Carroll Catholic and Saint Joseph Academy, it is safe to say, have seen a great deal of each other during the last two girls basketball seasons.
Bishop Carroll eked out a 57-52 win against the Wolves in a Christmas holiday standalone game on Dec. 27, 2024. The Huskies followed with a 68-63 victory in a District 6 Class 1A semifinal matchup on Feb. 22.
All this makes it even safer to say the championship round matchup in the Bishop Carroll Catholic tipoff tournament Saturday night was greatly anticipated and welcomed.
Bishop Carroll sophomore Emily Lucko agreed the two District 6 Class 1A powers have forged a healthy rivalry in these recent years.
“All their fans are so nice. There’s no bad blood. It’s a fun rivalry to have,” the tournament’s Most Valuable Player said after she led Bishop Carroll to a 62-51 victory against the Wolves at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School.
Lucko scored a team-best 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and added three steals in the title game. She scored a total of 31 points in the post-Thanksgiving event and grabbed 20 rebounds.
“Starting off from our game (Friday), we were trying to get our intensity up. We got the win, which boosted our confidence,” Lucko said. “And then coming into this game we were trying to have energy from the start and keep that throughout the entire game.”
“For the second game I think our team came through. (We had) a lot of ups and downs. We had the lead. We (prefer to) go 1 through 15, we couldn’t go that deep tonight. But I think everybody’s ready to go, and I think we held up in the test tonight. Saint Joe’s is a great team. I’m sure we’ll see them again down the road,” Huskies coach Nick Smith said.
Bishop Carroll led by as many as 14 points in the second half. The Wolves turned to a full-court press midway through the third quarter. The press made the Huskies uncomfortable and prevented Smith from using his entire lineup.
“Saint Joe’s is a really tough team. (They have) good defenders. They are really aggressive. I think they relate well to us in that way,” Lucko said.
“This is a learning game as well, second game of the season. We don’t know how to play with the lead. We don’t know how to play behind. We’re learning every game; we’re learning every practice. They fought to the end. And I’m proud of them,” Smith said.
“It was a great tournament for us to come to and play different competition to what is offered to us in practice. So, it was a good thing. We can walk away with a lot of good things,” Saint Joseph’s coach Bethany Irwin said.
Juniors Adelyn Myers and Ava Pablic added 12 points apiece for the Huskies. Myers led Bishop Carroll with 11 rebounds. Sarah Miller, a senior, produced four steals.
Aubrey Yartz led Saint Joseph’s with points. Naomi Crispin hit three 3-point field goals to account for part of her 15 points. Jacee Cunningham added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Cambria Heights held DuBois scoreless in the third quarter and easily won the third-place game, 55-21.
“We talked at the half about coming out strong, especially our defense,” Highlanders coach Eric Thomas said. “To give up four in a half is pretty good. So I was really pleased with that. I thought we gave a nice solid all-around team effort.”
Cambria Heights freshman Julie Karlheim scored a game-high 15 points, followed by classmate Brienna Kirsch (12 points) and senior Kinley Rogal (10).
Avery Fontaine led the Beavers with seven points.
CHAMPIONSHIP
SAINT JOSEPH’S (51): Luckovich 2 0-0 5, Crispin 5 2-3 15, Cunningham 4 2-2 10, Yartz 9 0-0 18. Himes 0 0-0 0, Fetzer 1 1-2 3. Totals — 21 5-9 51.
BISHOP CARROLL (62): Delauter 1 0-0 3, Lucko 7 5-6 20, Miller 3 2-2 9, Ad. Myers 5 0-0 12, Pablic 4 1-2 12, Olienyk 1 0-0 2, Av. Myers 2 0-0 4. Totals — 23 8-10 62.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Saint Joseph’s 15 9 10 17 — 51
Bishop Carroll 14 15 16 17 — 62
3-point field goals: Saint Joseph’s 4 (Crispin 3, Luckovich), Bishop Carroll 8 (Pablic 3, Ad. Myers 2, Delauter, Lucko, Miller).
Officials: Terri Piatak, Vicki Markiewicz, Collin McGuinness.
Team records: Bishop Carroll (2-0), Saint Joseph’s (1-1).
CONSOLATION
DuBOIS (21): A.Kennis 2 0-0 5, T.Fontaine 2 1-2 5, A.Fontaine 2 2-2 7, Gray 1 0-1 2, Woods 1 0-0 2. Totals – 8 3-5 21.
CAMBRIA HEIGHTS (55): Rogal 4 1-2 10, Bender 2 0-0 4, L.Karlheim 4 0-1 9. J.Karlheim 5 5-6 15, Kirsch 5 0-0 12, Abrams 2 2-2 6, Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals – 22 8-11 55.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
DuBois 10 7 0 4 – 21
Cambria Heights 14 11 18 12 – 55
3-point field goals: DuBois 2 (A.Kennis, A.Fontaine), Bishop Carroll 3 (Kirsch 2, Rogal).
Officials: Taylor Gruss, Courtney Cecere, Jamie Boyles.
Team records: Cambria Heights (1-1), DuBois (0-2).
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