Greater Johnstown’s girls basketball coach Chuck DiFalco said that it has been quite some time since the Trojans have had a double-digit win season.
That streak ended Friday night as Johnstown beat Richland 48-45.
The Trojans (10-7) scored 19 fourth-quarter points and erased a seven-point Rams (10-8) lead late to get their 10th win of the year.
“Our girls just had a will to win the game,” Johnstown coach DiFalco said. “We haven’t had 10 wins at Johnstown in a while. So I’m just happy for our girls and for our staff. They all did a great job tonight.”
Johnstown dug itself a hole early with 10 first-quarter turnovers which led to an 11-5 Richland lead, but Johnstown cut down on mistakes and carried a 19-18 lead into the half.
Trailing 38-31 in the fourth, the Trojans’ full court press wreaked havoc in the Rams’ backcourt.
Johnstown finally overcame the seven-point deficit with a 9-0 run capped off when Tynesha Smith stole a pass at mid-court and dished the ball to Amber Mangus for a basket and the foul. The 3-point play gave the Trojans a 40-38 lead with 3:30 to play. Mangus hit a deep two on the Trojans’ next trip down the floor and extended the lead to four.
“The flow changed at the wrong time for us,” Richland coach Ralph McGinnis said. “It was a tempo thing, and they had the tempo at the right time and we didn’t.”
McGinnis said that his team’s inability to break the press was disappointing and uncharacteristic team even when one considers their youth. The Rams’ top three scorers—Katie Gehlmann, Sarah Pfeil, and Kaija Holtzman—are all underclassmen.
“We are young and we make young mistakes, but this is the time of season where you start to eliminate some of these things. But we’ll be ok. We’ll rebound from this.”
Gehlmann made it interesting with a 3-pointer late to cut the Johnstown’s lead to three, but Smith and Chartice Wyatt sealed the game for the Trojans from the line in the final minute.
Smith scored 14 points, pulled down 16 rebounds, and had six steals despite missing nearly the entire third quarter with a back injury. DiFalco said that the injury may have been a blessing in disguise as Smith came out fresh in the fourth and scored nine points.
Wyatt scored 8 points in the game, but her defensive activity was a key to victory as she blocked seven shots, and added seven rebounds in the win.
A pair of shooters came up huge for Johnstown in the second half as well.
Clare Svirsko scored 10 third-quarter points to finish with 12, while Mangus scored 12 second-half points after going scoreless in the first half. Johnstown’s Chelsey Meyers also scored for Johnstown.
Gehlmann hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 for the Rams, and Sarah Pfeil added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Holtzman scored 10 and Alexis Donna added seven points in the loss.
Sports
Johnstown girls defeat Richland
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