EBENSBURG —
A slow start by Bishop McCort, keyed by an unexpected Penn Cambria manuever, put the Crimson Crushers in an early hole.
But McCort put its press in motion and quickly climbed out of the abyss, rolling to a 53-44 victory Monday night in a District 6 Class AA first-round playoff game at Bishop Carroll.
“In the last couple games we’ve gotten off to a quick start,” McCort coach John Hahn said.
“We weren’t tight. I think what surprised us, was that they went into a box-and-one on Jill (Kegg). We knew they were going to come out in a zone, but we didn’t look for them to box her right away. I think that threw us out of sync a little bit and then we settled in and ran our stuff and they calmed down.
“They were ready for us.”
Larissa Swank scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Jill Kegg added 11 points while Emily Daley contributed eight boards.
“Swank was huge; she took over,” Hahn said. “She was having a hard time with her eyes. She was on medicine and had a hard time getting her contacts in.”
The two teams had played in the opening week of the season with McCort winning 68-37, but the game was much tighter this time around.
“We played a good ball game tonight,” Penn Cambria coach Bruce Frycklund said. “When we played them earlier this year, they ran us out of the gym.”
The Panthers opened the game with a 10-2 run, keyed by several threes from Megan Wheeler. Penn Cambria ended the first quarter with a 16-7 advantage, including 10 of Wheeler’s 14 points.
“We got off to a good start because we were able to hit some shots,” Frycklund said.
“We were able to reverse the ball back to Megan Wheeler and she hit some shots.”
The Crushers (15-8) began the second quarter on a 9-0 run to even the game at 16 at the 6:04 mark. A pair of free throws by Breanna Mulhern put Penn Cambria ahead again but a Swank putback evened the game again.
There were two more ties and the Panthers took their final lead at 25-24 on a pair of Kaitlyn Krug free throws with 1:53 left.
Baskets by Stephanie Hrbal and Leah Bridges gave McCort its first lead of the game as the quarter ended with the Crushers ahead 28-25.
“They really picked up their defense and got in our face and I think that’s where they won the ball game,” Frycklund said.
In the third, three points from Mulhern evened the game at 28, but Daley’s bucket at the six-minute mark put the Crushers ahead and they never trailed again finishing the third with a 41-33 lead.
McCort led by as many as 12 in the final frame, closing out the game with a 12-11 scoring advantage.
The Crushers defense forced 24 Penn Cambria turnovers, including 12 in the second quarter.
“Our guards played hard and pressured them the whole game,” Hahn said. “Lacey Krouse, Leah Bridges and Beth Sheridan helped keep up the pressure.”
In addition to Wheeler’s points, Brianna Kearney added 11 and Mulhern had 10. Wheeler and Tori Shingler each had seven rebounds for the Panthers, who finished the season 15-8.
Bishop McCort will take on top-seeded Forest Hills at a date and time to be determined.
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