The girl’s basketball team won their second consecutive District 1 6A championship Saturday, defeating rival Spring-Ford for the fourth time this season in a 62-55 thriller at the Liacouras Center, the home of Temple University’s basketball program, in Philadelphia. The Vikings strumbled initially out of the gate, giving up the first five points of the game to the Rams and finding themselves losing to their bitter rivals by as much as eight points.“We didn’t have enough intensity,” junior Grace Galbavy said of the team’s first-half performance. Despite these initial struggles, the Vikings were able to rally through a bitterly fought first half thanks to injections of energy and scoring from Galbavy, junior Quinn Boettinger, and the team’s sole senior, Anna Stein.After being down in the second quarter, Stein and co. led a momentum shift for PV, increasing the energy and ushering in a scoring run that left them leading at halftime, 28-23.“Our team came together and played as a group rather than individuals, and we all wanted it for each other so we pushed through,” Boettinger, who led the team with 18 points, said.In the second half, however, momentum shifted again. The Rams, led by senior Anna Azzara’s 24 points, stormed back to take a one-point lead in the third quarter. The stage was then set for a chaotic fourth quarter that ended with Galbavy tying the game at 48 with an and-1 layup, but missing the resulting free throw with no scoring response from the Rams. Then came the overtime period, where the Vikings turned on their A-game. Galbavy, after missing the opportunity to win it in regulation, scored another and-1 layup and made the free throw to give the Vikings a lead they would not give up. The team then locked up the Rams, holding them to zero points for an entire minute to begin overtime, allowing them to pad their lead and secure the victory. “Our intensity was definitely up. Once we got into overtime I feel like we knew we were going to win that game. We finally had a chance to win it and we took it.” Galbavy said.This win adds to the Viking’s already impressive season résumé, with a 27-1 record to date, a PAC championship, and now a District 1 win.
