HERSHEY — Shady Side Academy got caught up in a numbers game in Thursday’s PIAA Class 3A championship.
While the Bulldogs featured one of the state’s top players in the classification, their opponent had two of them.
That terrific tandem propelled Loyalsock Township to its first state title, while sending the Bulldogs back to Western Pennsylvania following their second championship loss in the span of a month.
Lacey Kriebel scored 23 points and Alaina Dadzie added 21 to lead Loyalsock Township to a 55-43 win against Shady Side Academy at Giant Center.
Making its first-ever appearance in the PIAA final, Shady Side Academy (28-2) trailed the District 4 champion Lancers, 44-41, after Bulldogs’ standout junior guard Karis Thomas scored on a layup just 25 seconds into the fourth quarter. But it was all Loyalsock Township (30-2) after that. The Lancers limited Shady Side Academy to just one field goal the rest of the way while ending the game on an 11-2 run. The Bulldogs misfired on five of their final six shots while committing three turnovers in the quarter.
“We went on a drought at the absolute worst time of the game,” Shady Side Academy coach Jonna Burke said.
Thomas scored 22 points and was the only Shady Side Academy player to reach double figures. She was 9 of 12 from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers. Leah Buford and Makiyah Mitchell added eight points apiece. Cameron Capel had a team-best 10 rebounds.
But under the lights in the Giant Center, it was Loyalsock Township’s stars that shined the brightest. Kriebel, a 5-foot-10 senior guard and Lock Haven recruit, drilled five 3-pointers and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Dadzie, a 6-1 junior forward who scored 31 points in a semifinal win against Imhotep Charter, was strong in the low post where teammates regularly found her for layups. For the undersized Bulldogs, this was a game where the loss of Cassie Sauer was magnified. Sauer, a standout 6-2 forward, suffered a season-ending injury in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
“We were definitely undersized with that dominant post that they have,” Burke said. “It seemed like we were trying to pick our poison. We were trying to either slow her down and double her inside, but when we doubled her inside, [Kriebel] would get open and was lights out. So then we’d key on her a little more and not double as much so we could stay matched on [Kriebel], and then they’d dump it in with ease. We just didn’t have the size.”
Added Thomas, “It was like pick your poison, basically. It was just a tough time. I give them a lot of credit. They’re a great team.”
This was a tight game for three quarters. Shady Side Academy trailed, 14-13, after one quarter and 30-28 at the half before Thomas nailed a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the third quarter to put the Bulldogs ahead, 31-30. That turned out to be their last lead of the game. Later in the quarter, a Capel 3-pointer tied the game at 37, but the Bulldogs managed to score only six points in the game’s final 11 minutes.
Shady Side Academy actually shot the ball better from the field than Loyalsock Township — 47% to 43% — but the Lancers attempted 12 more shots after pulling down 12 offensive rebounds and forcing 12 turnovers.
It was a disappointing end to what was an outstanding season for a Shady Side Academy team whose only two losses were in championship games. Rebounding from the WPIAL finals loss was especially impressive considering the Bulldogs had to play without Sauer, their second-leading scorer and top rebounder.
“I think we were fortunate to even have gotten to this point after suffering a loss like that,” Burke said.
But with three starters returning next season, along with what should be a healthy Sauer, it’s not hard to imagine Shady Side Academy returning to Hershey in 2026.
“This will definitely fuel the fire,” Thomas said. “It’ll definitely motivate us next season. I’m just looking forward to it.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.