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The Old Forge Lady Devils have turned themselves into a perennial force in Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association girls basketball.
Old Forge has won Class A state playoff games in each of the past four seasons and in each of its last five appearances, going back six seasons. The Lady Devils, state finalists a year ago, have won at least two state games to advance to the quarterfinals in four of the last five appearances.
The latest quarterfinal appearance is the result of a 49-46 win over District 4 runner-up Millville March 7 at Marywood University and a 49-34 victory over District 1 champion Phil-Mont Christian Wednesday night at Bethlehem Freedom High School.
Following the District 2 championship, first-year Old Forge coach Ron Stacchiotti correctly predicted the Lady Devils could “surprise some people in states.”
Old Forge (14-12) rallied in the second half against teams with better records in each of the first two state tournament games to run its winning streak to six games.
Kelci Yesnowski hit a 3-pointer with 3:20 remaining to put the Lady Devils ahead of Millville to stay, 47-45, then hit three times from long range against Phil-Mont Christian.
Tori Tansley had a game-high 16 points against Millville then returned from first-half foul trouble to lead the second-half comeback against Phil-Mont Christian.
Nina Pascolini scored 11 points in the first-round game and went 9-for-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter of the second round to make sure Old Forge held its lead.
The Lady Devils had to rally in both the third and fourth quarters against Millville. They took control earlier against Phil-Mont Christian, using a 16-4 third quarter to move in front, 31-23.
The win over Phil-Mont Christian came in a rematch of last year’s state semifinals.
In Class AAA, the Scranton Prep team, including Madison Ashby, a starting senior guard/forward from Jenkins Township, won one game before being eliminated in the second round.
Ashby had nine points March 7 in a 69-37 rout of District 4 champion Lewisburg in Williamsport. On a night when only three Classics scored, Ashby was scoreless during a 45-28 loss to District 12 champion Archbishop Wood from Philadelphia in a game played in Allentown Wednesday.
Ashby has been part of a strong senior class at Scranton Prep.
“We had 98 wins when they were with us, three league championships in a row, all that other stuff,” Scranton Prep coach Ross Macciocco said of a group that went to the state quarterfinals twice. “It was a great ride and I can’t be any prouder of how they hung in here and played right to the end. It just wasn’t our night.
“But we’ll hang our hat on the body of work as opposed to just one game.”
The Lackawanna League Division 1 champions finished 25-3. All three losses came against teams that advanced to the state quarterfinals — Holy Redeemer, Honesdale and Archbishop Wood.