By Emma Hladik and Sydney LoPresti, Staff Writers
The women’s basketball team took down Washington College and John Hopkins University to be crowned the 2021 Centennial Conference Champions.
The Bullets matched up against the Washington College Shorewomen on the night of Friday, February 25. Having secured the number one seed in the conference tournament and a first-round bye, a win would advance them to the Centennial Conference championship game.
The Bullets maintained a steady lead throughout the game, and the final score was 64-54 Bullets, sending the women’s team to the finals against conference rival John Hopkins University.
In Friday’s game, guard Carly Rice ’22 totaled 22 points and three assists against the Shorewomen, continuing the exceptional play she has shown in the last stretch of her four-year career. Forward Delaney Donohoe ’25 knocked 17 points with four rebounds and three blocks. Senior forward Mackenzie Tinner contributed six points and three blocks while leading the team with 13 rebounds. Finally, Mackenzie Szlosek ’25 was another top performer with seven points and five rebounds.
It was the Bullets’ fifth consecutive season of reaching the conference championship. The battle between John Hopkins and Gettysburg was going to be extremely tough and competitive as the two teams split the regular-season series 1-1.
Gettysburg fans were packed in Bream Gym on Saturday, February 26 for the championship game, and the atmosphere was electric. Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg finished with similar season records, Hopkins with 22 wins and four losses, and Gettysburg with 24 wins and only three losses, giving the Bullets the slight advantage.
The first quarter started with quick baskets by Hopkins but ended with Gettysburg holding a 10-6 lead. Gettysburg then entered a dry period without scoring for seven minutes, and the Blue Jays took advantage, scoring seven points to take the lead. Meghan Barbera ’23 scooped in a layup with about two minutes to go until halftime, which ended the concerning drought for the Bullets. At the half, the game was close, Hopkins maintaining a slight 16-15 lead.
The Blue Jays came out of the locker room hot and staged a 9-0 run during the third quarter and took a ten-point lead in the middle of the quarter. Szlosek got her team going with a jump shot, and then Tinner made four out of four of her free throws, Donohoe also adding one of her own from the line. Despite this, the quarter ended with a 33-28 John Hopkins advantage.
The Bullets held Hopkins’ scoring to just two free throws in the first half of the final quarter, bringing the visitor’s lead back within one at 35-34. Then, the Bullets erupted: Szlosek scored on a fast-break, Rice grabbed a steal, and Tinner hit a layup to make the fans go crazy and take the lead 38-37 with three minutes left in the game. John Hopkins missed their next three shots, and Gettysburg knocked down four free throws to increase their lead to 42-37, with the help of Sophomore Caitlyn Priore. The Blue Jays tried to come back with a Michaela O’Neill three-pointer with 21 seconds left. However, Rice sunk her last free throws, and the Bullets beat the Blue Jays 43-40 to win the Centennial Conference Championship.
“Honestly, I do not think I realized how much of a big deal shooting those free throws were,” Priore said. “Free throws were something I struggled with at the beginning of the season and something I had to work really hard to improve. It felt really rewarding to make those shots, and my teammates were all extremely proud of me and made me feel on top of the world.”
Tinner had a phenomenal game, leading the team with 16 points, five rebounds, two blocks, and receiving the Centennial Conference Championship’s Most Valuable Player award. Donohoe scored 11 points and notched nine rebounds. Szlosek added 10 points of her own and made five rebounds. Players up and down the roster all helped Gettysburg regain the title of Centennial Conference Champions.
After the buzzer sounded, the vivacious student section stormed the court to congratulate the team on becoming champions.
“It felt amazing to win,” Priore reminisced. “It was surreal as winning the conference championship is something we have been working towards since the beginning of the season.”
Gettysburg College will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III Championship at Bream Gym on Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5. The women will play SUNY Morrisville at 7 P.M on Friday.
“We are so happy to be hosting games for the NCAA tournament,” Priore commented. “It is going to be a lot of work to get far, but we’re in it for the long haul. I love my teammates and the bonds I have made with them. We are more than ready for the games ahead and cannot wait to see how far we can go!”
The Swarthmore Garnet topped the Gettysburg men’s basketball team on Friday, February 25. This was the Bullets’ first appearance in the Centennial Conference semifinals in six seasons. Despite a balanced scoring effort from both teams at the beginning of the meeting, the Garnet lit up the scoreboard in the second half to secure the win, and they continued on to play Johns Hopkins in the finals that same weekend.
The two teams were steady in their contributions to the scorebook, the first half having nine ties. The Bullets caught fire early, going on a 10-0 run stamped by a three-pointer from Akim Joseph ’25.
The Garnet battled back, however, and the back-and-forth scoring efforts continued until the first-half buzzer. At that point, Swarthmore was ahead by three.
The crowd filling Johns Hopkins’ Goldfarb Gym buzzed as the two teams returned to the court to begin the second half of play.
Swarthmore came out with vengeance right from the opening whistle. Junior guard George Visconti totaled 19 points in the second half, with nine of them coming from the first five minutes alone. His efforts were complemented by fellow veterans Vinny DeAngelo ’24 and Michael Caprise ’24, who each fell into the double-digit scoring category.
However, Avery Close ’22 and the Bullets were not going down without a fight. Close added 22 points of his own to the final score, but only six of those came in the second half. Junior guard Elijah Williams connected on four three-point shots during the game, helping the Bullets cut down on the double-digit leads the Garnet consistently held. Williams finished the game with 15 points, marking career-highs in scoring, and made threes.
Missed opportunities and turnovers by the Bullets allowed Swarthmore to go on a 13-2 run in the final minutes of the second half, sealing their 80-64 victory. The Garnet made 60.7% of their shots from the field in the half, 52.5% for the game. Gettysburg finished the game going just 36.4% from the floor.
A remarkable season by the men’s team was tragically cut short but could not end without honoring the stand-out players from the season. Avery Close was named to the All-Centennial 1st Team, finishing with 986 total points and a 48% shooting percentage in his career. First-year guard Carl Schaller was honored with the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year award following an outstanding performance for the Bullets this year.
