BY MIKE MASTOVICH
JOHNSTOWN — Seventeen days have passed since the last time Conemaugh Valley and undefeated Bishop Guilfoyle met in the District 6 Class A girls basketball semifinals.
Blue Jays coach Teri Cruse said her team has a short memory when it comes to that one-sided 66-32 setback. Conemaugh Valley (20-6) has been a different team since then, winning three consecutive games including a pair in the PIAA Tournament.
“I think we’re kind of ignoring it,” Cruse said as Valley prepared for today’s rematch against the Marauders in the state quarterfinals at Hollidaysburg Area Senior High.
Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
“They played extremely well, and from the get-go we played really bad in that game,” Cruse said. “We’re a different team than what we were two weeks ago. You can tell by the atmosphere at games and during practice. We just feel like we’re a different team. That was something that happened a while ago and we’re moving on from there.
“We’ve both played games since then. They’ve had some close ones and some not so close ones. We went into our first game against North Catholic and we’ve been building from there.”
The Jays first had to beat Bishop Carroll, 48-36, in the 6-A third-place game. A solid 54-49 victory over highly touted District 7 runner-up North Catholic followed in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
On Wednesday, Valley defeated District 5 champion Tussey Mountain 58-45.
“Our guards have been playing a lot better,” Cruse said.
“Offensively (junior point guard) Nikki Ledwich and (sophomore guard) Carly Gruss have been shooting a lot more.
“Defensively, (senior guard) Katelyn Emigh has been doing a lot of things well for us.”
The balanced Jays rely on depth. Versatile 5-foot-8 senior 1,000-point scorer Taylor Gruss averages 11.3 points (237), 8.4 rebounds (177), 5.7 assists (120) and 2.5 steals (52). Beth Kendera, a 6-1 senior, has a team-best 13.4 scoring average and hauls in 5.6 rebounds a game (145).
Carly Gruss has 98 rebounds and 43 steals to go with a
5.8 scoring average. Ledwich (6.1 points a game) and Jen Percinsky (6.3) round out a group of five girls with at least 150 points scored this season.
“We’ve been telling the girls we need to keep the ball in our hands,” Cruse said. “We had a lot of turnovers against them right off the bat last time. I think that dictated how things would go. We’re stressing for them to be more patient. You have to score. You have to make that assist pass. If you work it, things will come.”
Guilfoyle is perfect in 27 games and the Marauders are coming off a dominating 58-16 victory over District 7 fifth-place Rochester in Wednesday’s second round. Coach Mark Moschella’s squad has outscored opponents by a combined 301-168 in the playoffs.
Only one team, Kennedy Catholic, has scored more than
40 points in that six-game stretch – a 64-44 Guilfoyle win in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
“As a group, they play well together,” Cruse said.
Alli Williams, a 5-11 senior, averages
15.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.0 steals and
3.1 assists a game. Freshman guard Halee Adams is second on the team with
14.7 points a game. Senior Kaleigh Floyd (7.2), junior Kelsey Livoti (6.3) and freshman Elyssa Ehredt (6.4) also average more than six points a game.
“We’ve talked to different coaches that have played them and have had better success than other teams,” Cruse said. “We have several different things we’re going to try, not necessarily things that focus on Williams. We’ll see what works the best for us and what doesn’t.”
Cruse said the Blue Jays fan base has grown as the playoff run continues.
“We’re getting some more community support,” Cruse said. “It’s nice to see some students coming around now that we’ve advanced a little bit further. We still have that same group that comes game-in and game-out no matter if we’re winning or losing. We get support from other schools, too. We’ve heard from a lot of different coaches.”
