PIAA GIRLS CLASS A BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

FIRST ROUNDMarian Catholic (District 11 champion) vs.Northeast Bradford (District 4 runner up)RECORDS: Marian Catholic (24-2); Northeast Bradford (21-6)TIPOFF: Saturday, March 8 - 6:00 p.m. at Martz Hall (Pottsville)HEAD COACHES: Marian Catholic - Paul Brutto (23rd season); Northeast Bradford - Paul Burgert (3rd season)HOW THEY GOT HERE: Marian Catholic - Beat Lehigh Valley Christian 61-21 in District 11 quarterfinals, beat Williams Valley 49-34 in semifinals, beat Shenandoah Valley 47-22 in championship game; Northeast Bradford - Beat Bucktail 59-43 in District 4 quarterfinals, beat Mansfield 54-46 in semifinals, lost to Millville 66-36 in championship game.PROBABLE STARTERS: Marian Catholic - Gabby Green, 5-3, senior, (7.5 ppg, 3.1 apg, 22 three-pointers); Emily Sofranko, 5-3, senior, (4.6 ppg, 3.5 apg); Lindsay Nemeth, 5-3, senior, (5.1 ppg, 30 three-pointers); Abbey Whildin, 5-7, junior, (7.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg); Savanna Krusinsky, 5-10, sophomore, (9.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg). Northeast Bradford - Calla Johnson, 5-5, senior, (8.6 ppg, 6.1 apg, 4.8 rpg, 18 three-pointers); Maddy Johnson, 5-4, junior, (6.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 23 three-pointers); Lydia Werner, 5-8, sophomore, (11.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 19 three-pointers); Angelia Laudermilch, 5-8, senior, (10.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 16 three-pointers); Alyssa Coon, 5-9, senior, (5.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg).KEY RESERVES: Marian Catholic - Vanessa Whitecavage, 5-3, sophomore, (5.8 ppg, 25 three-pointers); Ashley Fannick, 5-5, junior, (2.8 ppg); Brenna Karnish, 5-8, freshman, (2.3 ppg); Northeast Bradford - Alyssa Turner, 5-4, junior, (3.7 ppg); Kara Hallett, 5-10, junior, (3.2 ppg).COMMON OPPONENT: Mount Carmel is the only common opponent for both teams this season. Marian defeated Mount Carmel 50-37 on December 28, while Northeast Bradford lost to Mount Carmel 67-36 on December 7 (the Panthers' first game of the season).GAME NOTES: Marian Catholic - After missing the PIAA playoffs last season, the Fillies return to the State Tournament for the 17th time in Paul Brutto's 23-year head coaching tenure at Marian ... Since the 1991-1992 season (Brutto's first year at the helm), Marian's state playoff record is 38-15 with four state championship game appearances (1997, 2003, 2005, 2008) and one state championship (2008) .. Marian is 13-3 in first round state playoff games ... Marian has a 2-1 record against Northeast Bradford in the state tournament (a 45-37 win in 1999, a 48-28 win in 2008, and a 55-51 loss in 2000) ... The last time the Fillies were in the state tournament (2012), they advanced to the Class A semifinals where they suffered a 62-49 loss to Steelton-Highspire ... Saturday's contest marks the sixth consecutive game the Fillies have played at Martz Hall (4-1 record) ... Marian averages 49.69 points per game, and gives up 29.46 points per game ... While Marian doesn't have any players averaging in double figures, seven different Fillies have led the team in scoring during various games this season ... Krusinsky averages 9.8 points per game to lead Marian ... Marian has held its opponents to under 30 points in half (13) of its games this season, including six of its last eight contests ... In Marian's three District 11 playoff games, the Fillies have completely taken away their opponent's top scorer (Lehigh Valley Christian's Reghan O'Brien - 6 points, Williams Valley's Cassidy Pinchorski - 0 points, Shenandoah Valley's Abigail Snitzer - 5 points); Northeast Bradford - Northeast Bradford is the Northern Tier League Division II champion .. The Panthers qualified for the State playoffs last season, but lost their first round game to Steelton-Highspire 91-51 ... The scouting report on Northeast Bradford is that they like to play up-tempo as a team, generating steals on defense with a press, while using quick ball movement and good outside shooting on offense ... The Panthers have a very balanced offense with all five starters averaging between 11.2 and 5.8 points per game ... Northeast Bradford is undersized, although they should have a slight height advantage over Marian, but they are very active on the offensive boards ... Northeast Bradford averages 49.5 points per game, and gives up 37.3 points per game ... Point guard Johnson was the Northern Tier League Small School MVP. Laudermilch was named to the Northern Tier League Small School First Team ... Laudermilch led the team in scoring in all three District 4 playoff games, averaging 14.3 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game ... Saturday's game will be the Panthers first trip to Martz Hall. Located in Rome, PA (near the New York state border), Northeast Bradford will have a long road trip to Pottsville of approximately 117 miles (two hours and 45 minutes).NEXT OPPONENT: The winner of Saturday's game will advance to Wednesday night's second round game against the winner of Old Forge (19-3, District 2 champion) and Harrisburg Christian (25-2, District 3 third seed). Old Forge will be the favorite in that contest. According to PennLive's PIAA Class A girls basketball state rankings, Old Forge is ranked #5 in Class A, while Marian is ranked #6 in Class A.QUOTABLE: "We're expecting an up-tempo type of game on Saturday. They're a helter skelter type of team, where most of the teams that we play are a little more disciplined. Northeast Bradford likes to shoot the ball early and often and they're not really interested in running a set offense. They like to jack up three-pointers as quickly as they come, so we need to be able to rebound well and limit them to one shot every time down the court. I don't think they have the depth that we have, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage. Also, I think our defense will give them problems. In the last couple of games, our defense has really clamped down on teams and hopefully that continues this weekend. They seemed to struggle with Millville's press so hopefully our pressure defense can force a lot of turnovers and generate a lot of easy layups and points in the paint. As long as we play up to our capabilities, we should be fine." Marian head coach Paul Brutto.COMPILED BY JASON BORIS