Eden Christian无毛视频檚 depth keys 51-40 win over Lady Gators
HERMINIE 无毛视频� Geibel Catholic had the will to win but Eden Christian had the depth and the latter won out Monday night.
Emmie Smith scored 15 points and Ella D无毛视频橧ppolito added 12 as the Lady Warriors gradually wore down the Lady Gators in claiming a 51-40 victory in a WPIAL Class A first round girls basketball playoff game at Yough High School.
Emma Larkin, the WPIAL无毛视频檚 second-leading scorer, poured in a game-high 27 points for Geibel, which ended its season at 16-7.
无毛视频淭hat just comes down to depth and fresh legs,无毛视频� Lady Gators coach Sara Larkin said. 无毛视频淚t makes it tough when you无毛视频檙e pretty much playing with five versus eight or nine deep for them. That无毛视频檚 what got us in the fourth quarter. We were there through three and it just got away from us.无毛视频�
Larkin scored the game无毛视频檚 first five points, including the first of her three 3-pointers on the night, before Eden Christian answered with six straight. Ava Henderson无毛视频檚 3-pointer put the Lady Gators back in front, 8-6. Allie Emswiler无毛视频檚 jump shot for the Lady Warriors was matched by Ava Partridge to give Geibel a 10-8 lead after one quarter.
Eden Christian began crashing the offensive boards and outscored the Lady Gators 9-4 in the second quarter to take a 17-14 halftime lead. The Lady Warriors went in front to stay when D无毛视频橧ppolito无毛视频檚 two free throws broke a 13-13 tie with 4:05 left in the half.
无毛视频淭he balls were hitting our hands and we weren无毛视频檛 getting control of it,无毛视频� Sara Larkin said. 无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 know if that无毛视频檚 nerves or anxiousness or what but the ball can无毛视频檛 hit your hands and then have them come in and get a rebound. There were a couple possessions where they were getting six, seven shots at a time. You can无毛视频檛 win like that.无毛视频�
Eden Christian opened the third quarter with an 8-3 run to go up 25-17. Larkin scored four straight points to whittle the gap down to 25-21 with 4:09 left in the frame but Geibel would get no closer the rest of the way.
The Lady Warriors got eight points from D无毛视频橧ppolito and nine from Smith in the third quarter to build a 37-29 advantage and led by as much as 14 in the fourth.
Emswiler wound up with nine points and Alex Nacey chipped in with eight for Eden Christian in a balanced attack.
Geibel无毛视频檚 only other scorers besides Larkin were Partridge with seven points and Henderson with six.
Larkin, who accounted for all 15 of the Lady Gators无毛视频� points in the third quarter, was an uncharacteristic 10 of 21 from the foul line including just three of 10 in the first half.
无毛视频淪he无毛视频檚 never shot that bad from the free throw line,无毛视频� said Sara Larkin of her sophomore daughter. 无毛视频淚t wasn无毛视频檛 like they were bad shots. I don无毛视频檛 think it was nerves. Maybe it was a little too much adrenaline early in the game.
无毛视频淪he doesn无毛视频檛 give up and none of them do. They all fought to the very end. Sometimes you无毛视频檙e out-skilled or outmatched. The better team won tonight but not for a lack of effort on our part.无毛视频�
Geibel (16-7) came into the game as the No. 7 seed with Eden Christian 10th, but Larkin disagreed with those seedings. The Lady Warriors (9-13) entered the game on a seven-game losing streak but that stretch included two defeats to top-seeded Union and one each to No. 2 Aquinas Academy, No. 3 St. Joseph and Class AAA No. 3 Beaver Falls.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 not a No. 10 seed, let无毛视频檚 be honest here, I don无毛视频檛 care what their record is,无毛视频� Sara Larkin said. 无毛视频淭hey may be because that无毛视频檚 where the WPIAL placed them but that无毛视频檚 not a No. 10 seed.
无毛视频淲e knew coming in this was going to be competitive and they probably had the edge on us and we were going to have to fight to get that victory.无毛视频�
The Lady Gators, whose无毛视频� lone senior is Victoria Brown, will return all five of their starters next season.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 proud of these kids,无毛视频� Sara Larkin said. 无毛视频淓very year that I无毛视频檝e been here 无毛视频� this is my third season 无毛视频� they have improved. The first year we got two wins and we had to really focus on fundamentals and trying to build a foundation. Then the second year, 11 wins and we made it to the playoffs. This year, second in the section.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e gritty, they want it, they all fight, they无毛视频檙e all working together. The chemistry is there. We无毛视频檒l get there. We无毛视频檝e got a young team. I feel we无毛视频檒l continue to just chip away at it, make progress and come back next year even stronger.无毛视频�