For the second time in as many years Cumberland Valley will play its final game of the season attempting to win its second state hoops championship in school history and first since the Eagles beat Oakland Catholic in 2002.
The fact this talented group of Eagles, led by head coach Bill Wolf, made the climb back to the Class AAAA final isn’t a bracket busting surprise.
Once Cumberland Valley lost in the District 3 semifinals to Dover, though, it put a formula in place that has become a familiar scenario for Wolf and long-time assistant Jim Poole.
With a high quality team, the absence of district success has spelled state tournament magic. This is the third time since 2008 a team with Wolf as the head coach and Poole as one of his assistants has failed to reach the district title game, then subsequently went on the play for a state title.
It’s a highly unusually against-the-grain formula for success at the top level of high school girls’ basketball in Pennsylvania. But it’s not an accident, either.
“We just seem more together as a team in the state playoffs. It shouldn’t be this way, but in districts it just doesn’t feel the same,” sophomore guard Kelly Jekot said. “Plus representing your community and school at the highest level is important.
“That first win in states really seems to give us the momentum we need. Honestly, states is when it really matters.”
Winning a district championship is important. But that type of success can be a blessing, but also a curse. Being able to re-focus and keep your eye on the bigger prize, earning a shot at the state title, has torpedoed many a potential state championship contender.
And Wolf has first-hand experience with this when he was at Central Dauphin.
In 2008 the Rams, led by Maryland All-American Alyssa Thomas and point guard Gabby Singer, lost in the District 3 semifinal round but went on to claim the PIAA Class AAAA championship by beating Mt. Lebanon.
With both stars still on the roster the very next year, CD won the District 3 title but was upset by Downingtown West in the second round of the state tournament.
Thomas’ senior year, 2010, the Rams once claimed District 3 gold medals but came up one step short of the state final when Mt. Lebanon beat CD in one of the best high school girls’ basketball games you’ll ever see.
“Winning a district title is a very big feather in your hat. And when you win that there is a little bit of a letdown. Because no matter what happens, you still have that feather in your hat,” Wolf said. “But that’s not the ultimate prize. As bad as we wanted to win a district championship, the key for us has been getting these girls to re-focus and understand there’s a bigger prize out there. And that if we can win it, nobody will remember whether we won or didn’t win a district title.”
It’s a fine line - the ability to keep your eye on the right prize. But Wolf has been able to help this group of Eagles overcome those district shortcomings and use them as fuel to create success on the biggest stage.
“We just seem to be more together in the state playoffs, working together as one on the floor and everybody on the court showing leadership at some point when we need it,” said senior forward Maddie Torresin, who averages 15.5 points and six boards a game.
“And Coach Wolf is very smart in those clutch moments of a game at this level. He knows what to say to us on the court to keep us focused when the game is right there for anybody to take.”
A year ago the Eagles lost in the second round of District 3-AAAA tournament to CD East, then battled back through the bracket to earn the No. 5 seed from the district on their way to a PIAA runner-up finish.
This season Cumberland Valley was upset 45-38 by Dover in the semifinal round of districts to once again put this club in re-focus mode.
“I feel like we had the wrong mindset going into that Dover game. We had already made the state playoffs, and we didn’t give it our all knowing we were already going to play in the bigger tournament,” junior guard Taylor Sneidman said. “If we’re going to choke we might as well do it in districts. That sounds horrible, but its true.”
Choke? It’s not a word you often hear from competitive athletes. But all three CV players, Sneidman, Jekot and Torresin, we spoke with at practice Wednesday said it was the best way to describe those district losses the last two years.
Cumberland Valley would get another crack at Dover in the PIAA quarterfinal round, and this time around it was all Eagles. CV used suffocating defense to grab a seven-point lead after one quarter and went on to record a solid 45-36 victory.
“As emotional as some of those losses can be at times, you have to put that last loss behind you and ultimately see the goal at the end,” Wolf said. “We had qualified for the state tournament, so that loss against Dover was inconsequential in some ways. We still have more to play for. As bad as you want to win a district title, that’s not the only prize out there.”
There’s a formula that Wolf’s used during his high school coaching tenure once the playoffs roll around. He read it once in a book authored by legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzweski, and it has nothing to do with what happens in the game.
It’s all about those extra practices the longer a season drags on and mindset.
“Coach K from Duke wrote in a book I read once that when you get into the playoffs the kids have to really be looking forward it,” Wolf said. “And that’s what is going to separate teams moving forward.
“What we’ve tried to create is a climate where when we go into the state playoffs we still want our players to be excited about coming to practice.”
The results speak for themselves as the Eagles prepare for a second straight meeting with Spring-Ford in the state title game.
But the players haven’t missed the message Wolf and his staff emphasize this time of year, either.
“Coach Wolf does adjust. He knows the state playoffs isn’t an easy road,” Jekot said. “So after we lost each time in districts he backed off some in practice because he knows states is going to be an even tough road.”
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