Marian's Addy Fritz looks to drive to the basket during Friday's PIAA Class AA girls' basketball quarterfinal against Berlin Brothersvalley at Gettysburg Area High School (Photo by James Gelatko).

GETTYSBURG — The way Berlin Brothersvalley girls’ basketball coach Rachel Prosser saw it, her team was still very much in control of its own destiny.

But the Mountaineers were going to have to overcome very good Marian team to make it a reality.

A game-changing run to open the fourth quarter put Berlin Brothersvalley in command of Friday night’s PIAA Class AA quarterfinal contest at Gettysburg High School, sending the Mountaineers to a 57-46 victory and a berth in the state semifinals.

Coral Prosser scored a game-high 28 points as the District 5 champions (25-2) advance to play District 2 winner Mountain View (24-4), which defeated District 11 champion Williams Valley 32-14.

“We came out on fire, and these girls just determined they weren’t going to be done with their season,” Rachel Prosser said. “I couldn’t be prouder. The experience is amazing. And we haven’t been down. We haven’t experienced that.”

It didn’t seem to faze her team, as it opened the final quarter on a 16-0 run to turn a five-point deficit at the end of the third period into a 52-41 advantage. Berlin closed the game on a 21-5 run.

It was fueled by three treys to open the period as the Mountaineers seized momentum.

The victory was the 23rd straight for Berlin.

Coral Prosser, who hit 1,000 career points in the PIAA Tournament, was 13-of-19 from the foul line. Elena Ritchey added 12 points for the Mountaineers.

“A lot is mental, and when you know you have to do each thing perfectly in order to win, I think that that came out in the fourth quarter, especially on the boards, boxing out, getting rebounds and taking care of the basketball,” Rachel Prosser said.

Berlin Brothersvalley also played stellar defense in the final quarter, holding the Fillies to one field goal, which came with 1:22 left.

“We worked hard all week, and have worked hard all year on defense,” Rachel Prosser said. “They were a different type of match-up for us. I think Coral being in foul trouble made us a little less aggressive in the areas we want to be, but everybody else stepped up.

“I think that each and every one of them were determined that, I’m going to do my part, and it just happened to be Bryn (Prosser) was open, then Coral hit one, Lexi (Foor) hit one. I don’t think they had a doubt in their mind when they let those balls go that they were going to miss. And having that type of confidence is really tough.”

The run came after Marian (23-5) surged ahead in the third period on the strength of 14 points from Addy Fritz, who hit four of the team’s five 3-pointers in the period, with Addy Marek adding the other.

Fritz’s last basket of the third was off an inbound dish from Marek, a bucket that gave Marian a 41-36 advantage entering the final frame.

“It was a tough for her in the first half,” Marian head coach Damian Fritz said. “She couldn’t get anything going, and they did a great job on her and were physical with her. And then she got loose one time in that third and the next thing you know, she hit three or four and found a rhythm. But that’s who we’ve been all year.

“But that fourth quarter, we just couldn’t hang on. We kind of ran out of gas a little bit.”

It marked the end of another tremendous season for Marian, which advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals for the second year in a row.

“We have to be proud,” Damian Fritz said. “We got to the quarterfinals again. When you look at our individual goals as a team, came up short in the Schuylkill League, we came up short in the district final, and tonight it’s just a matter of, what do we have to do to finish.

“Even last year against Marion Center, and this year in the fourth quarter, there’s a two-minute spurt there, and credit Berlin tonight, they shot the ball well, they executed when they needed to, and we weren’t able to in that two-minute stretch there. That kind of just separated it, so credit to them.

“But I’m very proud of our girls, our seniors. I thought they did a tremendous job in the last month of the season holding the program together. They’re great leaders, they’re great kids, and for the underclassmen, I’m really looking forward to what they do over the summer, and a lot of them in the locker room just said, ‘Hey, we’re ready to go. We’re ready to start back up.’ So that’s pretty exciting to hear.”

The Fillies return four starters next season — Addy Fritz, Olivia Serfass, Deanna Pugh and Marek. Fritz and Serfass each finished with 14 points Friday, while Pugh had nine.

Coach Fritz had high praise for seniors Carley Hasara and Olivia Thomas.

“I think when you take away the wins and the losses, it really comes down to your seniors and who they’ve become now when they’re leaving the program versus who they were when they came in,” he said. “Carley and Olivia are going to be good human beings. They’re going to be good daughters, good sisters, they’re going to be really good people, and at the end of the day as coaches, that’s what’s important.

“What they’ve done and how they’ve transformed their lives and who they’ve become, that’s what matters and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

Game Summary

PIAA Girls’ Basketball

Class AA Quarterfinal

At Gettysburg High School

BERLIN BROTHERSVALLEY (57) — Sechler 0-0-2-0, C. Prosser 6-13-19-28, Foor 2-1-2-7, Ritchey 6-0-3-12, B. Prosser 3-0-0-8, Walker 1-0-0-2, Miller 0-0-0-0, Fairman 0-0-0-0, Stoltzfus 0-0-0-0, Visinsky 0-0-0-0, Popovich 0-0-0-0. Totals 18-14-26-57.

MARIAN (46) — O. Serfass 6-2-2-14, Fritz 5-0-0-14, Pugh 2-3-4-9, Hasara 2-0-0-4, Marek 1-2-2-5, Thomas 0-0-0-0, Hannis-Miskar 0-0-0-0. Totals 16-7-8-46.
Berlin (25-2)    9 … 12 … 15 … 21 — 57
Marian (23-5)  7 … 13 … 21 … 5 — 46
3-point FGs: C. Prosser 2, Foor 2, B. Prosser 2, Fritz 4, Pugh 2, Marek.