Morrisons Cove Sports Roundup

W-burg Junior High Girls Win ICC North

The Williamsburg High School girls’ basketball team advanced past the first round of the district playoffs in five years March 1, as the fourth-seeded Lady Pirate scored a 49-41 win over fifth-seeded Blacklick Valley in the first round of the District 6 Class 1A playoffs.

Williamsburg jumped out to a 14-8 lead after the first quarter and extended it to 27-14 at halftime. Blacklick Valley won the second-half scoring 27-22 to close the gap but fall short in the end.

Sophomore Kendel Norris paced the Lady Pirates with 14 points.

Freshman Megan Palmer added 10 points, while freshman Ayla Hileman and sophomore Jayla Woodruff scored eight apiece.

LADY PANTHERS OUSTED AT CONEMAUGH TWP

Northern Bedford’s Girls Basketball season came to a conclusion last Friday night in the District 5-AA Quartefinal round.

The Panthers struggled early and could not mount a comeback late in losing by a 59-34 score to host Conemaugh Twp.

“We struggled more than I thought we would with their press,” said Coach Jon Ewart. The Panthers held their only lead of the night, at 5-4, on a Mariah Hall trey midway through the first period.

The Indians scored the rest of the points in the first and took control in the second as they led 26-13 at the half.

Senior Makayla Kochara led NB’s balanced scoring with six points.

“I am thankful to our two seniors for their hard work and help in developing the younger players this year,” concluded Coach Ewart on his 3-10 squad.

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PANTHERS ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS

Northern Bedford advanced to the District 5-AA Semifinals with a convincing 56-29 win over visiting Tussey Mountain last Thursday night.

The Panthers used a big 17-4 second quarter advantage to overcome an early Tussey lead. The Titans led by as much as 3, at 11-8 late in the first quarter before NB went on a run to open up a double digit 26-15 halftime lead. The Titans would never get within 10 points of the Panthers the rest of the way. “We wanted to play a fast up tempo style and it took us a little bit to get it going. Once we began attacking the rim instead of setting for jumpshots we took control,” said NB Coach Randy Meck.

Caleb Diehl had a huge night for NB canning 26 points. Thad Leidy, with 10, was the other Panther in double figures.

NB will travel to Windber Wednesday evening for the District 5-AA semifinals. A win there would propel them to the District 5 Championship Game on Saturday March 13.

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PANTHERS POUND TIGERS, 76-32

The Northern Bedford boys’ basketball team concluded its regular season with a 76-32 pounding of visiting Fannett-Metal on March 1.

The Panthers scored 30 unanswered points before the Tigers got on the board in the final minute of the first period.

NB cruised to a 53-16 lead at the half and all 16 players saw action for the Panthers.

Hayden Foor, with 22 points, led the parade of Panthers in double figures. Caleb Diehl (16), Thad Leidy (15), and Dakota Claar (13) also reached double digits.

“We hit them hard with pressure early and got a lot of easy buckets off of turnovers to put it out of reach early,” NB coach Randy Meck said.

CENTRAL OUTLASTS NB, 45-34

Central and Northern Bedford were locked in a tight back-and-forth game for the first half march 2 until a third-quarter surge by the Dragons gave them enough cushion to outlast host NBC, 45-34 in non-conference girls’ basketball action.

The teams traded leads throughout the first half with the Dragons forging a 23-18 haltime lead, largely due to converting some Panther turnovers in the final two minutes of the half.

Central was paced by Bailey Heuston’s 15-point effort and Katheryn Longenecker’s 12 points.

“Our defense did a nice job of creating some havoc and easy scoring opportunities for us tonight,” said Dragon mentor Drew Ebersole.

Mariah Hall had 11 points to lead NB.

“We are playing better and I hope it carries over to the playoffs,” said NB coach Jon Ewart. “We got sloppy at times and the turnovers and missed offensive opportunities were costly.”

W-burg Junior High Girls Win ICC North

The Williamsburg High School girls’ basketball team advanced past the first round of the district playoffs in five years March 1, as the fourth-seeded Lady Pirate scored a 49-41 win over fifth-seeded Blacklick Valley in the first round of the District 6 Class 1A playoffs.

Williamsburg jumped out to a 14-8 lead after the first quarter and extended it to 27-14 at halftime. Blacklick Valley won the second-half scoring 27-22 to close the gap but fall short in the end.

Sophomore Kendel Norris paced the Lady Pirates with 14 points. Freshman Megan Palmer added 10 points, while freshman Ayla Hileman and sophomore Jayla Woodruff scored eight apiece.

• BG 73, WHS 58: The young Lady Pirates battled top-seeded Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School on March 4 in the District 6 Class 1A semifinals. WHS led 15-2 in the first quarter and was in front 15-8 after one. BG took command in thesecondquarter with a 21-7 run. BG outscored WHS 36-26 in the second half en route to a 73-58 victory.

Freshman Ayla Hileman led Williamsburg with 16 points. Sophomore Jayla Woodruff added 14 points. Freshman Megan Palmer scored nine first-half points before leaving with a leg injury in the second quarter. She never re-entered the game.

Central Falls to Bellefonte

The Central High School girls’ basketball team saw its nine-game wining streak come to a halt March 1, as the Lady Dragons fell on the road to Bellefonte 37-31.

Bellefonte jumped out to a 15-4 lead after one quarter and extended it to 10 at halftime, 22-12. A late fourth-quarter push by Central came up short.

Central was led by three players scoring seven apiece – junior Katheryn Longenecker and freshmen Bralyn Ellis and Morgan Knepp.