Lower Merion Girls Win The Central League

Lauren Pellicane had a feeling she had something special back in November. The girls’ basketball coach just needed to convince her players of that. The Aces were untested, other than for senior point guard Sheba Hall, and had a few doubts about themselves. But Pellicane knew. She just needed to impress upon them that they were capable of good things this year.

It’s safe to say Pellicane was right.

Lower Merion faced a battle Thursday night against a surging Haverford High School team, pushing back the Fords advances before finally coming out ahead, 49-42, Thursday night behind a game-high 23 points from Lila Jones, including a three-pointer that gave the Aces a six-point edge in the fourth quarter.

The victory gave Lower Merion its second Central League championship in three years—as well as its second-undefeated league season—finishing a pristine 16-0 in the Central League and improving to 19-3 overall. Haverford fell to 14-8 overall and 10-6 in the league—but it’s also a team that made a light-years leap from its 3-19 season last year.

The Aces should be a top-five seed in the upcoming District 1 Class AAAA playoffs.

“It is tough going undefeated; you feel like every team is out to get you,” Jones said. “In the beginning of the season, we knew that we weren’t a favorite. But we all agreed that we had something to prove. Even after the scrimmages, we had something to prove to ourselves. Our coaches kept instilling in our heads that we’re a talented team.

“I think we definitely exceeded what we thought we could do this year. I say that because I’m big enough to come out and say I didn’t think we’d win the Central League in the beginning of the season. I knew there were teams in the Central League that had some players back. I was shaky. I questioned the commitment, even from myself. But we all showed we wanted this and this is what we got.”

Pellicane knew, however.

“I thought we had a chance to go undefeated, I have to be honest,” said Pellicane, who’s directed the Aces to a pretty remarkable 53-3 Central League record over the last 56 league games. “I knew what we had coming back and I thought we had a chance. I believed in these girls more than I think they did in themselves earlier this year. I knew who we had and if we stayed healthy, we had a very good chance to compete every night and a chance to win.

“But what they did this year was amazing. It really was. It’s not easy going 16-0—and Haverford really battled tonight. We led throughout, but they kept coming. What I liked most is that we kept our composure. It takes more than talent to win games like this every single night, it takes mental toughness.”

It started easy and got hard. Lower Merion got out to a 23-10 lead in the first quarter and led by 13 again in the second quarter. But Haverford, led by 10 from junior Jacki Gantz, came clawing back to tie it at 32-32 midway into the third quarter.

Lower Merion held a tenuous lead until Jones hit the trey with 2:30 left to play giving Lower Merion a six-point edge. Hall finished with 10 for the Aces, while Jessie Porter chipped in with seven.

Lower Merion is likely to get a top seed in District 1, where the Aces advanced to the district finals two years ago—the last time they went undefeated in the Central League.

“I’m very proud of these girls and what they this year, and I told them to enjoy the league championship, because we’re 0-0 again after tonight,” Pellicane said.