Until a few weeks ago, the last time Mount St. Joseph Academy won the Catholic Academies basketball championship was in 2015. That 2015 squad went through the District 1 playoffs and then into the PIAA state tournament, where the Magic won their first game and then bowed out in the second round.

The Mount’s 2025-26 squad finished up the same way. The Mounties captured the AACA title, advanced out of the District 1 tourney, and won their PIAA opener against Southern Lehigh High School. On March 11, they ended their season with a 60-26 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg High School in the round of 16.

Like the Mount in District 1 and Southern Lehigh in District 11, Lampeter-Strasburg was seeded fifth coming out of its district, Central Pennsylvania’s District 3.

With their victory on a neutral court at Coatesville High School, the Pioneers raised their overall record to 20-9, while the Mount ended its season at 21-6.

Beforehand, the Mounties had been impressed when they watched film of Lampeter-Strasburg, a young team that has no seniors in starting roles. Maybe the Magic were a little too impressed, as they got knocked back on their heels at the start of the game. The Pioneers created turnovers and penetrated to the basket all too easily. After five-and-a-half minutes, Mount St. Joseph trailed 12-3.

The Magic recovered late in the period, with sophomore Carly Derouin nailing a pair of three-pointers and her classmate Delaney O’Brien making a jumper from near the foul line. The Magic were back within two points of the leaders, 13-11, before Lamp’s Jillian Groff scored off a steal at the end of the period to make it 15-11.

After they’d recovered from their early swoon, it seemed as if the Mounties had found their footing and could stay close to the Lancaster County ballclub.

That impression vanished in the second quarter, as the Pioneer defense pressured and trapped to fuel their transition scoring as the MSJ offense vanished. Lampeter-Strasburg took command of the contest by scoring 19 points in a row.

Finally, the Magic moved their side of the scoreboard with a trey by Derouin. That would be the only Mount St. Joe field goal for a span of more than 20 minutes that stretched from late in the first quarter into the middle of the fourth period.

The Pioneers benefited not only from the quickness and tenacity of their guards, but also from a strong performance in the paint by their junior post player, Morgan Dombach. They led 34-14 at halftime, and 50-18 at the three-quarter mark.

With 4:07 remaining in the fourth frame, sophomore Katie Eichenhofer converted off of an offensive rebound for only the second Mount field goal since the opening period. She scored twice later on, and senior Morgan Cross made good on a fast break in the final minute.

With 35 seconds to go, Magic head coach Matt Feeney brought Cross and her classmate Bridget Horgan off the court as they received their final hurrah from the Mount St. Joseph fans.

Derouin finished with a team-high nine points for the Magic, and Eichenhofer scored six. For the Pioneers, Dombach, junior Elaina Hostetter and sophomore Lucy Boyd deposited a dozen points apiece.