Lauren Blanco hit two clutch free throws with 12 seconds left to give Eisenhower a crucial Region 3 win over Cochranton Monday at Eisenhower High School.
The Knights (7-11, 5-4 in the region) led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals just wouldn't go away, cutting the lead to a single point before Blanco stepped to the line.
"I told the girls it was their game to lose," said Eisenhower coach Dave Allenson. "They decided they didn't want to lose this one."
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Brian Hagberg
Looking for three
Lauren Blanco looks to hit a 3-pointer for Eisenhower during their Region 3 girls basketball game against Cochranton Monday at Eisenhower High School. Blanco's 20 points helped lead the Knights past the Cardinals 34-31.
Both teams came out playing solid half-court defense, with neither team getting a good look at the basket. Cochranton held a 7-4 lead, but Lauren Sherry's late field goal pulled the Knights to within one, 7-6, at the end of the first quarter.
Following a Cardinal field goal, Blanco was able to complete a 3-point play to pull the Knights into a tie, 9-9, early in the second quarter. Brooke Stanton hit a field goal on Eisenhower's next possession for its first lead of the game. Cochranton was able to hit two free throws to regain the lead at 15-14, but Sherry's 3-point play gave Eisenhower the lead for good, 17-15, heading into the half.
Blanco hit two 3-pointers early in the third quarter to push the Knights' lead to 8 at 27-19, but the Cardinals were able to take advantage of foul trouble by the Knights to pull within four, 27-23, at the end of the quarter.
"We weren't rebounding," Allenson said. "We fouled them and let them score with the clock stopped."
A field goal from Sherry and two free throws from Blanco pushed the Eisenhower lead back to eight, 31-23, with six minutes to go in the game. Cochranton went on an 8-1 run to cut the lead to one, 32-31, with just 28 seconds left, forcing Eisenhower to call a timeout. Blanco was fouled on the next Knights' possession and converted both free throws to seal the win.
Blanco led all scorers with 20 points. Sherry added seven points and Stanton chipped in with three points.
Eisenhower, fighting for third place in the region, faces a critical cross-county road game Thursday at Youngsville.
Cochranton won the junior varsity game 24-19. Kiersten Maine led the Knights with six points.
COCHRANTON (31): Saunier 0 10-10 10, Bernarding 3 0-0 6, Dickson 2 0-0 4, McCurdy 2 0-0 4, Loper 1 1-2 3, Ward 1 0-0 2, Offi 1 0-0 2, Quickel 0 0-0 0, Knauff 0 0-0 0, Totals 10 11-12 31
EISENHOWER (34): Lauren Blanco 6 6-9 20, Lauren Sherry 3 1-2 7, Brooke Stanton 2 1-2 5, Alli Blanco 1 0-0 2, Lyssa Knapp 0 0-0 0, Courtney Flynn 0 0-0 0, Halie VanOrd 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Peterson 0 0-0 0, Totals 12 8-13 34
Cochranton 7 8 8 8 - 31
Eisenhower 6 11 10 7 - 34
3-pointers: C-none; E-L. Blanco 2
Junior varsity game
COCHRANTON (24): Bernarding 2 2-2 7, Vincent 1 3-7 5, Offi 2 0-1 4, Quickel 1 0-0 2, Dickson 1 0-1 2, Knauff 1 0-0 2, Boekenhauer 1 0-2 2, Kasbee 0 0-0 0, Everett 0 0-0 0, Totals 9 5-13 24
EISENHOWER (19): Kiersten Maine 3 0-0 6, Danielle Bradish 2 0-2 4, Bailey Burch 0 3-4 3, Courtney Flynn 1 0-0 2, Ashley Barnett 1 0-0 2, Brooke Stanton 1 0-0 2, Emmaleigh Hishman 0 0-0 0, Chelsea Parmenter 0 0-0 0, Totals 8 3-6 19
Cochranton 11 0 10 3 - 24
Eisenhower 2 4 6 7 - 19
3-pointers: C-Bernarding; E-none
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Saegertown 48, Youngsville 25
Saegertown outscored Youngsville 16-5 in the fourth quarter as the Panthers stopped any thoughts of an Eagles rally for a 48-25 win Monday at Saegertown High School.
Saegertown was able to take advantage of Youngsville (6-11, 0-9) miscues in the first half, building a 24-9 lead heading into the locker room.
"The first half was really sloppy, we had too many bad passes," said Youngsville coach Allison Kitchel. "We didn't look to score."
Youngsville tried to mount a comeback in the third quarter, outscoring Saegertown 11-8 and pulling to within 10 points. But the undefeated Panthers proved to be too much for the Eagles to handle in the fourth quarter.
"We were a totally different team in the third quarter," Kitchel said. "The first half killed us though."
Jorie Clark led the Eagles with 10.
The Eagles will look to rebound on Thursday in a cross-county matchup with Eisenhower.
"We need to come out and play all four quarters (against Eisenhower)," Kitchel said. "We're capable (of winning), but it's all up to the girls."
Saegertown won the junior varsity contest 21-17. Elise Dunn and Vicky Hagg both had four points for Youngsville.
YOUNGSVILLE (25): Jorie Clark 3 2-3 10, Katie Chuzie 1 0-4 2, Jess Jameson 2 0-0 4, Amber Fox 3 3-5 9, Lindsey Lyon 0 0-2 0, Katie Gustafson 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Maille 0 0-0 0, Totals 9 5-14 25
SAEGERTOWN (48): Hanley 0 1-2 1, Janerett 4 2-2 12, Levis 2 1-2 5, Brunot 2 1-2 5, Kapanick 4 0-0 8, Rider 8 1-1 17, Parker 0 0-0 0, Eckert 0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0-0 0, Totals 20 6-9 48
Youngsville 4 5 11 5 - 25
Saegertown 12 12 8 16 - 48
3-pointers: Y-Clark 2, S-Janerett 2
Junior varsity game
YOUNGSVILLE (17): Sammi Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Katie Gustafson 0 0-2 0, Kelsie Anderson 0 1-2 1, Katelyn Maille 0 1-10 1, Jorie Clark 1 0-0 3, Cierra Ohl 1 0-3 2, Jess Jameson 1 0-0 2, Jenna Bower 0 0-1 0, Elise Dunn 2 0-5 4, Vicky Hagg 2 0-0 4, Totals 7 0-9 17
SAEGERTOWN (21): Moore 1 2-4 5, Vogt 1 0-0 2, Lily 2 1-2 5, Caldwell 3 0-0 6, Eckert 1 1-2 3, Parker 0 0-0 0, Newman 0 0-0 0, Snyder 0 0-0 0, Totals 8 4-8 21
Youngsville 9 2 2 4 - 17
Saegertown 3 3 11 4 - 21
3-pointers: Y-Clark; S-Moore
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Brockway 48, Sheffield 33
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
The Sheffield girls posted one of their best halves of the season, taking a 22-11 lead into the break, only to be outscored 37-11 in the second half, including 19-2 in the third quarter, on their way to a 48-33 loss to the Brockway Rovers at home on Monday night.
Sheffield seemed to control the tempo early, jumping out to a 6-3 lead, of which four points came from Kristie Steffan. That score would be the score after the first quarter. Brockway came out sharp in the second and took its first lead at 8-7, but Sheffield responded to take the lead at 10-9 and extend it to 11 points by the break.
Brockway came out hot in the second half and started the quarter on an 11-0 run to tie the game at 22. After Brockway took the lead at 24-22, Abby Labesky hit a jumper to tie the game up at 24. That would be the only basket that the Wolverines would score in the second and the Rovers rattled off six more points to take a 30-24 lead after three. Brockway doubled up the Wolverines 18-9 in the fourth to seal the victory.
Steffan was the long Wolverine in double figures. She finished with 12 points in Sheffield's bid to win two in a row. Ashley Davidson had seven and Abby Labesky chipped in six markers.
Sheffield coach Mike Bancroft thought that his girls played "solid... but we came out flat in the second half and we didn't take care of the ball," he said of his team, which is 2-17 overall. "We wanted to control the pace of the game and we did a good job of it in the first."
The Wolverines will have to put the loss behind them quickly as they will take on Curwensville tomorrow night at Sheffield High School.
Sheffield took an exciting double-overtime game from Brockway by a score of 29-26. Sheffield held the Rovers scoreless in the second overtime to secure the win. Kerrin Swartz led Sheffield with eight points.
"The J.V. played real solid and won their second game in a row," said Bancroft. "It went double overtime and they never quit."
BROCKWAY (48): Hawkins 1 2-2 4, Wright 0 0-0 0, Moyer 4 2-2 10, Guilyard 5 3-4 13, Vokes 0 0-0 0, Crawford 2 0-0 5, S. Brosky 1 3-4 5, Sabatose 3 4-4 11, Brosky 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 14-16 48.
SHEFFIELD (33): Hannah Vile 0 2-2 2, Kristie Steffan 3 6-7 12, Ashley Davidson 3 0-0 7, Abby Labesky 2 2-8 6, Juli Ely 2 0-0 4, Lacey Bjorkquist 0 0-0 0, Brittany Summers 0 2-2 2, Hanna Fitch 0 0-0 0 Sami Pollock 0 0-0 0, Marhia Edwards 0 0-0 0.
Brockway 3 8 19 18 - 48
Sheffield 6 16 2 9 - 33
3-pointers: B-Crawford, Sabatose; S-Davidson,.
Junior varsity game
BROCKWAY (26): Capetta 3 0-4 6, Vokes 1 1-2 3, Felczak 3 1-3 7, Anderson 1 0-0 2, Wright 1 0-0 3, Carlson 0 0-0 0, Gould 1 0-0 3, Brosky 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 2-9 26.
SHEFFIELD (29): Lacey Bjorkquist 1 0-0 2, Brittany Summers 1 0-0 2, Hanna Fitch 1 1-2 3, Sami Pollock 0 0-2 0, Kerrin Swartz 3 2-5 8, Hannah Vile 0 1-2 1, Ashley Davidson 1 1-4 3, Abby Labesky 1 2-8 4, Marhia Edwards 0 0-0 0, Juli Ely 1 4-4 6. Totals: 9 11-27 29.
Brockway 12 2 5 3 4 0 - 26
Sheffield 9 3 5 5 4 3 - 29
3-pointers: B- Wright, Gould. S- None.
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Girard Alliance 51, TCCS 25
GIRARD - Tidioute Charter is 1-17 overall after losing its 10th straight Monday.
"Turnovers killed us," said TCCS coach Craig Parrett, whose Bulldogs trailed 24-8 at the half.
Cassie York contributed 15 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
TCCS (25): Cassie York 5 5-7 15, Jen Buckley 0 0-0 0, Robbi Kitelinger 0 0-0 0, Loralee Lindemuth 0 0-2 0, Lacy Wolford 1 0-0 2, Alexis Morrison 3 0-0 6, Haley Moore 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 5-9 25.
GIRARD ALLIANCE (51): Sargent 11 0-0 22, Egli 1 1-2 3, Will 1 0-0 2, Kaufer 4 1-2 9, Sydow 7 0-0 15. Totals 24 2-4 51.
TCCS 6 2 9 8 - 25
Girard 14 10 16 12 -51
3-pointers: T-none; G-Sydow.