Cardinal O'Hara coasts into semifinals

"I just tried to be a leader on and off the court," said Johnson, who finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. "We tried to make them play our game, and we made sure we stayed in control the whole game."

The Rams (22-7) did a little better in the third quarter behind Precious Martin, who scored five of her team-high nine points in the period. But the Lions still maintained a 45-19 cushion after three quarters, and subbed out most of their key players before the start of the fourth.

"It was effort from the whole team," said Johnson, a University of Delaware recruit. "We just went hard and played physical."

The Lions will move on to play Spring-Ford in Tuesday night's semifinals in a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Inquirer rankings.

The Rams defeated Dover Area, 67-45, Friday night.

"They've played well all year," McGinty said. "We're going to get a couple of tapes on them, and see how they are."

Central Dauphin   6 6 7 5 – 24

Cardinal O'Hara   16 17 12 15 – 60

CD: Precious Martin 9, Shatara Parsons 5, Amanda Stauffer 4, Jayneisha Davis 4, Alexis Hartwick 2.

CO: Shanice Johnson 18, Lisa Mintzer 14, Mia Farmer 12, Libby Lannan 5, MacKenzie Rule 4, Sam Arnicone 3, Kim Whelan 3, Christina Manning 1.

Contact staff writer Austin Odenbrett at aodenbrett@philly.com.