By HUGH CONRAD
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Conemaugh Valley Blue Jays jumped out to a big lead Wednesday night at Hollidaysburg High School, and then saw Tussey Mountain charge back to tie the game.
However, the Blue Jays staved off the Titans with a 21-11 fourth-quarter advantage to advance to the PIAA Class A quarterfinals with a 58-45 victory.
The Blue Jays took advantage of their inside game in the first half as they built a comfortable lead, 25-14. Senior Beth Kendera, a
6-foot-1 center, scored eight points in the second quarter, and Jen Percinsky (7) and Taylor Gruss (6) were keys to Conemaugh Valley’s first-half lead.
“It’s a very big win,” Gruss said after putting together a double-double with 19 points and
11 rebounds. “We just pushed the ball inside. We knew that with Beth being 6-1 and me being 5-8, we had 4 or 5 inches on all
of them. So, we knew to get it inside, and if it didn’t fall at first, it would eventually.”
But the key for the Blue Jays was their defense, a 3-2 zone that held Tussey Mountain’s leading scorer, Rachel Zimmerman, to one 3-pointer in the first half.
Conemaugh Valley increased its advantage to 16 points in the third quarter, taking a 34-18 lead after Nikki Ledwich hit a layup with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
Then the Titans caught fire.
Zimmerman scored 16 points in the third quarter, including four shots from beyond the arc.
She hit three of them in a span of just over a minute at the end of the third quarter, pulling Tussey within three at
37-34.
The Titans (23-4) tied the game as Krista Swope hit a 3-pointer from the corner for a 37-all tie, leading Conemaugh Township coach Teri Cruse to call a timeout to regroup.
“We called a timeout, and we talked to the girls, and we said, ‘Listen, they’re going to score points. The only difference was that at that point, we weren’t scoring,’ ” Cruse said.
Gruss hit a layup and Katelyn Emigh drained a 3 for the Blue Jays to put them back in command, and they went 8-for-11 from the free-throw line in the last quarter to seal the win.
Tussey Mountain coach Todd Gates said that Conemaugh Valley responded well to his team tying the game.
“They went on a 5-0 run right away,” Gates said. “We missed a couple of critical shots right after we came back and tied it up, and our foul shooting was not very good (Wednesday night).”
The Blue Jays will face Bishop Guilfoyle, which defeated them in the District 6 semifinals, for the chance to advance to the PIAA semifinals.
In addition to Gruss’ 19 points, Kendera added 13 point and five rebounds.
Zimmerman’s 22 led Tussey Mountain.
