THE FACTS
Gettysburg (21-6) 68, No. 3 Johns Hopkins (25-1) 59
What: Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball championship
When: Sunday, Mar. 1
Where: Baltimore, Md.
THE SKINNY STORY
Not much is a sure thing in sports. However, Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins from Goldfarb Gymnasium on Centennial Conference women's basketball championship Sunday might be the closest thing. For the ninth straight year, the Bullets found themselves playing a conference. For the fifth straight year, that opponent was the Blue Jays. For the fourth straight year, that game was in Baltimore. And, just like the four matchups over the last four years, the fifth one ended with Gettysburg on top. This time, the Bullets knocked the third-ranked Blue Jays from the ranks of the unbeaten to claim a fifth straight title, 68-59.
THE LEADERS
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Reagan Chrencik (New Hope, Pa./New Hope-Solebury) led the Bullets with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots to earn the tournament most valuable player nod.
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Olivia Jones (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) added 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.
FOR THE FOES
• Emily Collins led the Blue Jays with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• After a scoreless opening 88 seconds, Grace Soltes converted a putback for a 2-0 Johns Hopkins lead.
Amanda Rapel (Stewartsville, N.J./Phillipsburg) hit a jumper on the other end and added a second for a 4-2 lead with 7:14 showing. The rest of the quarter saw eight more lead changes. The Blue Jays twice built a three-point edge but
Ava O'Neil (Chevy Chase, Md./St. John's College) hit a jumper for a 16-15 lead in the final 35 seconds of the period.
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Adeline Standish (Avon, Conn./Avon) converted a layup in the first 19 seconds of the second quarter for a three-point edge and Gettysburg did not trail the rest of the period. Clinging to a 22-21 lead after two Faith Williamson free throws,
Sasha Brody (Lynchburg, Va./Virginia Episcopal School) drove and scored 28 seconds apart for a five-point lead with 4:53 on the clock. Stephanie Theodossakos answered with a triple but Brody hit one of her own to ignite a 6-0 burst over two minutes, opening up a 33-24 lead with 1:59 showing before an Emily Collins three-point play cut the margin to six at the break.
• A Rapel driving layup extended the lead back to eight on the first possession of the third quarter but the hosts put together a run of nine straight points to take the lead on a Lauren Knudson 3-pointer with 6:26 to play.
Briana Robles (Westchester, N.Y./Poly Prep) hit a pair of free throws to put the visitors back in front but Knudson hit another jumper to yo-yo the lead back to Hopkins. One
Reagan Chrencik free throw tied the game at 38-all before a
Kimberly Hopkins (Baldwin, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) three-point play put Gettysburg back in front. Faith Williamson answered with a 3-pointer to retie the game with 3:32 remaining but O'Neil answered with her own trey to take the lead for good. A Chrencik turnaround made it 46-41 and Jones drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key just as the clock expired to take a 49-41 lead to the fourth.
• Two Kendall Dunham free throws and a Layla Henderson layup cut the deficit to 53-49 midway through the final quarter but that was the last run Johns Hopkins had. Chrencik converted a three-point play with 4:06 on the clock to push the lead back to seven. After two Collins freebies made it 56-51, Chrencik hit a jumper to 9-2 game-sealing run that opened up a 65-53 lead with 40 ticks remaining.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg is the only team to win five straight Centennial Conference championships.
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Skylar Reale (Warren, N.J./Morristown Beard) pulled down nine rebounds to help in a 49-38 Bullets' advantage on the glass.
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Sasha Brody and
Ava O'Neil finished with nine points each while
Olivia Jones added seven.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg, which earned the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, will find out its first-round opponent when the bracket is revealed at 2:30 p.m. on Monday. The first round of the tournament will begin on Friday.
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