Archbishop Ryan senior Shayna Rodriguez looks for junior teammate Shannon Glenn in a game at Philadelphia University earlier this season. The Ragdolls will return to Philly U on Thursday night for the Catholic League semifinals against Archbishop Wood. TIMES FILE PHOTO
Danielle Skedzielewski pretended it was just like any other moment, even though it was anything but.
The Archbishop Ryan senior forward banked in a tiebreaking, foul-line jumper with two seconds left in Friday night’s Catholic League quarterfinals at Bonner-Prendie, sending the №6 Ragdolls onto the semis and the favored Pandas home on the heels of a 50–48 upset. It was an enormous road victory for second-year head coach Mike McCusker and his veteran team, and for the second time in three years, the Ragdolls advanced to the semifinals, punctuating their statement that they deserve to be in the conversation of top teams in the league on an annual basis.
The Ragdolls will meet №2 Archbishop Wood in Thursday night’s semifinals at Philadelphia University (6:30 p.m. tip). In the second game, Archbishop Carroll will take on the nation’s top team, Neumann-Goretti, with the winners advancing to Monday’s championship game at The Palestra.
After Prendie tied the game at 48 (the Ragdolls had blown a 10-point fourth-quarter lead) at the foul line with 11.8 seconds left, the teams regrouped for a timeout. McCusker’s only concern was beating the press and crossing halfcourt, which the team did; after that, it was move the ball around until somebody had a look, and that somebody turned out to be one of the program’s most experienced players.
“We were coming down the court and I was actually trailing the play, so I expected somebody else to take the shot before I caught up,” said Skedzielewski, who scored seven points in the game. “But I ended up with the ball, and I didn’t really think about the moment because it was a play I would have normally made in any other game. It was a normal, instinctive play, and I just let it go. I watched it and saw it go in, and once it did I didn’t even know how to react. It was just awesome because we wanted that win really badly. We knew we had a great shot to win, and we played together and got it done.”
The win was major validation for the Ryan program, which is often considered second-tier in the league to teams like Wood, Carroll, Prendie, O’Hara and, more recently, Neumann-Goretti. Unlike many of those teams, McCusker pointed out, the Ragdolls don’t have a Division I player on the roster, which made the upset victory even more special.
“When you get a win like that, it makes all the hard work and effort we’ve put in since the summer seem worth it,” McCusker said. “For our program, hopefully this shows people that they can come here and become better players by putting in the time. This is the toughest league in the state, so it really does validate our program.”
Ryan’s other headliners were senior Shayna Rodriguez (team-high 15 points) and juniors Shannon Glenn and Ashley Smink, who tallied 14 and 12 points, respectively. Guards Samantha Hicks (senior) and Sara Ostaszewski (junior) didn’t score, but played exhaustive defense on Prendie’s Alyssa Monaghan, whom McCusker called one of the best players in the entire league.
“I feel like not a lot of people thought we would make it to the Final Four, so I think this shows everyone that they need to look at us differently now,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like we have what it takes.”
Added Smink: “I think Wood is a real good team, but I think we can beat them because we’ve worked so hard to get here. We definitely earned this, and I think it shows all of us that we can get to the championship if we just keep playing together.”
The Ragdolls lost by 18 to Wood as recently as Feb. 3, but much has changed since. Wood coach John Gallagher resigned a few days after that game, embroiled in a scandal over alleged anonymous emails he sent to college coaches in hopes of destroying the NCAA eligibility of rival players from Neumann-Goretti. After Wood ruled the league for years, Neumann-Goretti has held court the last two seasons, losing just one game overall (in last year’s state championship game).
This is not to say the Ragdolls have a cakewalk on their hands. After all, Wood is still 20–3 on the season, armed with senior Aubree Brown, a Drexel signee from Parkwood, and junior Bailey Greenberg, a likely future Division I commit. But if there was ever a time for the Ragdolls to pounce, it’s now; after all, the Wood players are teenagers, and it’s human nature to be distracted by scandal.
“With all of the stuff going on over there, maybe they won’t be as focused since losing their head coach,” Glenn said. “They beat us pretty bad, so if they come out thinking it’s going to be an easy win, our hope is to turn the tables on them. I think in the past when we’ve seen a Wood or O’Hara jersey, we’ve come out scared, but if we play together for four quarters, we can definitely do it.”
But, as Smink was quick to add, “I still can’t comprehend how big this win is, but we can’t come out thinking that just because we beat Prendie that we’re automatically going to win on Thursday.”
On a team with seven seniors, just having another game to prepare for is icing on the cake. And one fact remains, regardless of how Thursday turns out: the Ragdolls are no longer afraid of the moment. After a win like the one they scored on Friday night, how could they be?
“It’s definitely always a goal, to get to this point,” Skedzielewski said. “Ryan never gets looked at as one of the best teams in the Catholic League, and we never get the recognition we think we deserve. That just gives us more desire to prove ourselves and prove everybody wrong that we can compete with the best teams. I think that we showed we can, and as a senior, it’s awesome to realize that the younger girls are playing for you. We’re all playing for each other.”
McCusker, who took over for Jackie Hartzell two seasons ago after Hartzell left to become the head coach at the University of the Sciences, is still basking in the moment, and he couldn’t be prouder for his team, most of all the seniors.
“Coaching girls basketball has its ups and downs, but it’s been a great experience coaching these girls,” he said. “After the Prendie game, I let the seven seniors know how proud I was of them, because I don’t know if any program has seven seniors who come to practice every day and work as hard as they do.
“Any opportunity to be in the Final Four is a great one. We’ve preached all year that when we share the ball, good things happen. I was so happy for Danielle when she made that shot, because she’s earned it and deserves it. Wood has some very smart players, but we feel like we can play with them. It’s a good opportunity for us, and if we play smarter basketball than we did the last time we met, we’ll be right there with them.” ••
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