Katie Melvin never shrunk nor shirked off what she felt responsible for. The 5-foot-9 Harriton High School guard actually stood there sturdier than most pro or major college athletes do when it comes to being accountable—and this was a high school freshman.
Melvin felt she could have played better against Upper Merion Wednesday night in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class AAA playoffs. But this season was a good time to get Melvin and fellow Harriton freshman Sabrina Tabasso—because they have three more years and there will be far more good nights ahead in their future than bad.
Chalk up this playoff meeting with Upper Merion as a learning experience, then. The Rams got off a good start, but Upper Merion countered to walk away with a 43-33 victory. The defeat ended Harriton’s season at 8-15, while Upper Merion advances to the second round.
Find out what's happening in Bryn Mawr-Gladwynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Tabasso led Harriton with 12 points, followed by Melvin’s 10—all scored in the fourth quarter and making it a competitive game—and senior Betsy Hurtado added six points.
“I got into early foul trouble, and that threw me off,” said Melvin, who seemed to forget the incredible moves she made and how marvelous she was in the fourth quarter. “Once I got into foul trouble, I think I might have taken myself out mentally a little bit. I think we could have won this game, but we hurt ourselves defensively and I lacked discipline.”
Find out what's happening in Bryn Mawr-Gladwynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Harriton got out to a 6-2 lead and then were outscored 35-11 over the next two quarters. But when Upper Merion built a 37-17 lead, it seemed all was lost. That’s when Melvin began her magic, almost singlehandedly pulling the Rams within striking distance before her three first-half fouls caught up to her and she fouled out with 1:59 to play and the Rams trailing, 41-29.
“There were two things there--they turned up the pressure and we didn’t respond,” said Rams’ coach Carla Coleman, who’s going to have a nice team returning next season. “This is new to these girls, after going 1-21 last year. I was disappointed in the way we played defense. We worked a lot on that. We go as Katie goes. Katie and Sabrina are young. They’ll learn the intensity of the playoff level.”
The shame of it is that Hurtado can’t play another season with the talented freshman tandem.
“I know, it stinks,” Hurtado said. “I’ll miss them. I’ll miss all of this. It’s why I got a little choked up after the game. We really worked hard this whole season, and we came together. I knew what it was like to lose, and this year we win our first Central League game. We went to the district playoffs; we did a lot of things. I’m happy we got this far. That’s the way I have to look at it. I’ll miss it.”
