STONEBORO — The Eisenhower Knights made it a clean sweep at Lakeview’s Lady Sailor Christmas Classic on Monday and Tuesday.

After beating Slippery Rock 53-50 in the opening round, Eisenhower drew Cochranton in the championship game and defeated the Cardinals 56-34.

The Knights used a huge second quarter to open up a 31-17 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Eisenhower used its lead and a smothering defense to outscore Cochranton 25-17.

The Knights were led by Clara Steinberg, who led all scorers with 25 points, including three 3-pointers. Lainey Font added 15 points with a pair of 3-pointers.

KNIGHTS HOLD OFF ROCKETS

The Eisenhower Knights defeated Slippery Rock 53-50 in the opening game of the Lady Sailor Christmas Classic on Monday.

Eisenhower senior Clara Steinberg went 5 of 6 from the free throw line in the last two minutes to seal the win for the Knights.

Eisenhower jumped out to a 16-9 first-quarter lead with Steinberg and Lainey Font draining 3-pointers. Samantha Childs and Lainey Belcher each added 4 points and Riley Robinault added 2 points.

The Knights continued their balanced scoring into the second quarter as all five starters scored to open up a 26-19 halftime lead.

Slippery Rock could not get any closer than 7 points, and the defense of Robinault and Belcher created opportunities for steals and forced turnovers leading to a nine-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Eisenhower was up by four points with two minutes remaining when Steinberg was fouled and went 1 for 2 at the line. The Rockets’ Madison Romanovich would score, cutting the lead to three. The Rockets would score again, cutting the lead to one.

Steinberg was fouled with just under a minute remaining and gave her team some breathing room making both free throws moving the lead back to three. Romanovich would cut the lead back to one point.

Steinberg was quickly fouled and with 3.5 seconds on the clock sank both free throws to make the score 53-50 which held up for the final. Slippery Rock was unable to get a shot off after inbounding as the final buzzer sounded.

“It was a great win against an outstanding Slippery Rock team who only had one loss coming into the game,” Eisenhower head coach DJ Steinberg said. “The girls did a great job of sharing the ball, being patient and looking for good shots. We had balanced scoring and Robinault had some great steals and some key rebounds. Just a nice win against a good team.”

Steinberg led Eisenhower with 19 points while Font and Belcher had 12 apiece.

Romanovich would lead Slippery Rock with 33 of her team’s 50 points.

EISENHOWER (56)

Font 6 2 15, Childs 2 0 4, Belcher 3 0 6, Robinault 1 0 2, Steinberg 11 0 25, Scott 1 0 2, Kent 0 0 0, Black 1 0 2. Totals 25 2 56.

COCHRANTON (34)

Custead 0 0 0, McCartney 2 2 7, Shorts 5 0 10, Lyons 2 1 5, Frayer 1 1 3, Mase 1 0 2, Reese 0 1 1, Raymond 0 0 0, Irwin 2 2 6. Totals 13 7 34.

3-point goals–McCartney, Font, Steinberg 3

Eisenhower 13 18 13 12 — 56

Cochranton 11 6 7 10 — 34

SLIPPERY ROCK (50)

Jordan 2 0 5, Drake 0 0 0, Kovacik 3 2 8, Cornelius 0 0 0, Hinkle 2 0 4, Romanovich 13 5 33. Totals 20 7 50.

EISENHOWER (53)

Font 5 0 12, Childs 4 0 8, Belcher 5 2 12, Robinault 1 0 2, Steinberg 6 5 19. Totals 21 7 53.

3-point goals–Jordan, Romanovich 2, Font 2, Steinberg 2.

Slippery Rock 9 10 14 17 — 50

Eisenhower 16 10 16 11 — 53