BY JIM PENNA
JOHNSTOWN — Bishop Guilfoyle entered Wednesday night’s District 6 Class A semifinal against Conemaugh Valley with a perfect record.
But the Marauders weren’t about to overlook the Blue Jays, and it showed in a 66-32 victory at Richland High School.
“The report was we would have to come out and be ready for this team and take control early because those two girls (Taylor Gruss and Beth Kendera) are a real dynamic couple of players for Valley,” Bishop Guilfoyle coach Mark Moschella said.
The scouting report was dead on for the state’s top-ranked team, as the Blue Jays did look to work inside early to Kendera, a
6-foot-1 senior. But stopping Bishop Guilfoyle (24-0) with a simple height advantage is a tall order.
“We came out and gave up the ball a few times to start, and it just seemed to get us out of our game and, despite the setback, it did not have to,” Conemaugh Valley coach Teri Cruise said. “You could see a few of the girls pressing early.”
After allowing the Blue Jays to score from inside the paint on their first trip down the floor, Bishop Guilfoyle came up with three straight steals that turned into points on the other end of the floor. That helped the Marauders jump out to a 17-6 lead.
“These girls have worked hard, and we have promised them they will have the very
best scouting report,” Moschella said. “Do the work and come out and follow the game plan and these good things will happen.”
Kendera and Gruss led the Blue Jays with 10 and 9 points, respectively, but it was no match for the Bishop Guilfoyle’s Alli Williams (17), Halee Adams (16) and Kaleigh Floyd (14).
“We had good shot selection (Wednesday night),” Morchella said. “That sort of balanced scoring is always an indication of good shot selection. We managed to come out and play our game and slow things down on a very good ball team (Wednesday night).”
The Blue Jays remain alive in the district playoffs, and Cruise hopes they can take something from the loss.
“They have hung in there in rough starts all year, but (Wednesday night) they let a rough patch throw them,” she said. “We just have to stick to our plan when things don’t go well. We will learn from this.”
