GBB: St. Joe’s advances to final in Valley Forge District with win over North Royalton

by Don DiFrancesco
@MayorNEOPrep

PARMA, OHIO– In the second game in the Division I Valley Forge District semifinals, the Jaguars of Cleveland’s St. Joseph Academy roared out to a quick 10-2 lead and took advantage of eight early North Royalton turnovers to build up a 26-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. By the time the Lady Bears were able to establish some offense, it was too little and too late.

SJA’s Molly Dever was the game’s top scorer, getting 18 points in the first quarter and finishing with 25. Colleen Neitzel was next with 17, and Molly Neitzel added 10 points for the Jaguars.

North Royalton’s 6-foot-2 Taiyier Parks started slowly, having just four points at halftime. But she heated up in the second half with 16, giving her 20 for the game to go with 16 rebounds.

The district final on Thursday will feature the top two seeds, Berea-Midpark and St. Joseph Academy. The two teams met previously on Feb. 2, with the Titans defeating the Jaguars 59-42.

#6 North Royalton                              8              7              13            13   =     41

#2 St. Joseph Academy                    26            16            9              23   =     74

North Royalton

Parks                     8-4-20

Harris                   4-1-9

Bockelman          2-0-5

Jursevic                1-0-3

Grospitch             1-0-2

Plagens                 1-0-2

St. Joseph Academy

Dever                      10-1-25

Neitzel, C.             6-2-17

Neitzel, M.           5-0-10

Adler                     3-0-8

FitzGerald            1-2-4

Horansky              2-0-4

Coleman               1-0-2

DeCarlo                 1-0-2

Lenahan                1-0-2