Berlin Brothersvalley girls fend off Southern Columbia for return trip to PIAA Class 2A title game
· Yahoo Sports
NEWVILLE, Pa. – The Berlin Brothersvalley girls basketball team edged a very determined Southern Columbia team 65-53 to book its return to Hershey for the PIAA Class 2A state championship game at noon Thursday against Neshannock.
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The semifinal win was contested at Big Spring High School a day later than scheduled. District 7 winner Neshannock edged District 6 champion and 2025 PIAA runner-up Bishop McCort 61-57 in the other semifinal.
“I am so proud of this team and the work they have put in this year,” Berlin Brothersvalley coach Rachel Prosser said. “We did not lay down when things did not to go our way. We just found another way to win. The kids never came off the floor talking about losing, but let us dig deeper and work together. Mercy does not get a lot of recognition because she doesn’t score a lot of points, but she is the defensive glue.”
Berlin Brothersvalley junior Coral Prosser tallied a game-high 26 points, and senior Mercy Sechler added 19.
“This team just stepped up tonight to support each other,” Coral Prosser said. “We weren’t hitting shots like we are capable of, but we played good defense against a very good and strong team. They made a run at us, but we didn’t get down. Free throws down the stretch won us the game.”
Kailee Helwig led Southern Columbia with 24 points and Olivia Jones added 16.
Four-time defending District 5 champion and three-time Inter-County Conference winner Berlin Brothersvalley (25-5) scored the game’s first seven points. Southern Columbia tallied the next five points. Helwig canned a long trey. Sechler and Coral Prosser tallied back-to-back baskets and then Bryn Prosser canned a triple at the buzzer for a 19-15 lead.
In the second quarter, a Bryn Prosser trey capped an 11-2 run and the Mountaineers extended their lead to 30-17. Coral Prosser buried a triple at the buzzer for a 36-20 halftime lead.
The Mountaineers held the Tigers to five points in the second quarter to go up at halftime.
District 4 runner-up Southern Columbia (15-14) canned four straight 3-pointers to cut the deficit to one at 39-38. The Mountaineers went on a 7-2 run only to watch Jones tally two buckets to trim the lead back to one at 46-45 after three quarters.
Southern Columbia produced a 16-2 run.
Coral Prosser and Sechler scored to front a 14-1 run to open the final eight minutes.
The final nine points for the Mountaineers came at the foul line.
Defending state champion Berlin Brothersvalley improved to 3-1 in the semifinals, following wins in 2019 and 2025. The Mountaineers defeated United, York Catholic and Wyoming Seminary before Tuesday’s game. Southern Columbia dropped the District 4 final to Muncy, but rallied to win three straight games against Williams Valley, Shalom Christian Academy and Mountain View to reach the semifinals.
Berlin Brothersvalley won state titles in 2019 and 2025.
The Mountaineers also advanced to the PIAA semifinals in 2023.