Perkiomen Valley’s girls’ basketball team didn’t just win a state title — they made history, and they did it in style, writes Joseph Santoliquito for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
On Friday night in Hershey, the Vikings delivered a 58-27 mercy-rule victory over Upper St. Clair to claim the PIAA Class 6A state championship — the school’s first basketball title ever.
Senior center Quinn Boettinger, usually calm and collected, was overwhelmed with emotion. “These are tears of joy,” she said, wiping her face after hugging just about everyone in sight. “But it’s also the last time that we’re all together.”
Boettinger, Bella Bacani, Grace Miley, Lena Stein, and Julia Smith have been playing together since third grade. Add Wake Forest-bound Grace Galbavy, who transferred in as a sophomore, and the squad became a powerhouse.
This senior class had fallen to eventual state champs three years in a row. This time, they wrote a different ending — capped by a 19-3 second-quarter run and a curtain call with 29 seconds left.
“What is amazing is that they stayed together,” Coach John Russo said. “I think they stayed together visualizing something like this.”
Now, they go down as the greatest team in Perkiomen Valley history.
Read more about PV’s historic girl’s basketball team in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
