Lady Warriors make field of 32
By Philip Cmor pcmor@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: February 27, 2008
MURRYSVILLE — Everett’s road to the PIAA basketball playoffs almost got stopped in Bedford.
The bus the Lady Warriors were taking from their home to Franklin Regional High School had to be discarded in Bedford. Then it looked like they might have to change buses again because of a faulty heater.
“I told the kids when the bus broke down, it was just more adversity,’’ Everett coach Keith Moyer said. “We’ve been through it all year with injuries and a lot of things going on behind the scenes that people that aren’t on the team don’t know about.’’
“It makes a good story,’’ senior guard/forward Andrea Layton said.
It’s a story whose final chapter has yet to be written. The Lady Warriors earned a shot at defending state runner-up Villa Maria later this week with a 51-43 win over Riverside in the Class AA play-in round Tuesday night.
The Lady Warriors almost squandered a double-digit second-half lead but came through at the end. Everett, which was sent to the preliminary round by virtue of a loss in the District 5 championship game, improved to 23-4.
“Our composure in the fourth quarter as opposed to our composure in the third quarter [was the difference],’’ Moyer said. “They pressured us, and we lost our composure a little bit. But, in the last 31/2 minutes, we had five players on the floor that wanted to make a play.’’
Foremost among them were sophomore Jess Beegle, senior point guard Amy Miller and Layton. Beegle scored a team-high 21, Miller finished with 14, and Layton scored 10 off the bench.
Leah Prisuta’s three-point play after a steal cut what had been an 11-point Everett lead to 39-37 with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter.
However, on a Riverside possession, Miller managed to track down a loose ball in the backcourt and take it in for a three-point play of her own to push the lead back out to five. Then Layton made a free throw after stealing a long pass and made two more foul shots after rebounding a missed Riverside 3-pointer.
Beegle wrapped things up by going 4-for-4 at the line in the last 22.9 seconds.
It was the second straight year the Lady Warriors had to beat the eighth-place team from District 7 to advance to the main PIAA tournament. That might have played to their advantage.
“We were all pretty relaxed tonight,’’ Miller said. “I think the experience had a lot to do with [weathering Riverside’s run]. In the fourth quarter, we didn’t panic.’’
The bus problems might have further helped to take the edge off as Everett prepared to take on a team that started two 6-footers and a 5-foot-10 player with no one taller than 5-9.
“I was a little mad,’’ Beegle said.
Beegle took out her anger on the Lady Panthers with nine points in the first half — nearly matching her season average of 12.4 — as Everett grabbed a quick lead. Beegle was the top sub for the Lady Warriors last year but has stepped up offensively because Layton, the team’s leading scorer a year ago, tore her ACL just before the season.
Layton, though, has continued playing with a knee brace. In addition to her heroics at the end, she also scored seven in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired to give Everett a 25-15 lead at the half.
“I just have to use my experience to lead my team,’’ Layton said. “I’m still part of the team. I still have to do my part, no matter how big or small it is.’’
“I’m glad she’s still out there with us and still contributing,’’ Miller said.
Riverside ended the season 18-9 despite 24 points and 11 rebounds by forward Amy Gatnarek. The Lady Panthers were never able to assert their height advantage offensively or on the boards — where it outrebounded Everett by just one, 40-39 — nor were they able to get consistently hot from the perimeter.
“We had eight turnovers in the first half — that’s too many. We missed a lot of shots, and that you can live with, but we gave up some second chances, and that really hurt us,’’ Riverside coach John Wolf said.
EVERETT (51): Miller 5 3-6 14, J. Beegle 7 6-7 21, Rush 0 0-0 0, Foor 0 0-0 0, Nave 2 0-0 4, An. Layton 3 3-4 10, Northcraft 1 0-0 2, Clark 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 12-17 51.
RIVERSIDE (43): Mulneix 0 0-0 0, Prisuta 3 2-3 8, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Perkins 1 1-2 3, Gatnarek 10 4-6 24, Ke. Osborne 2 0-0 6, Trozzo 0 0-0 0, Ka. Osborne 0 0-0 0, Morgan 1 0-0 2. Totals — 17 7-11 43.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Everett 10 15 7 19—51
Riverside 6 9 14 14—43
3-point goals: Everett (Miller, J. Beegle, An. Layton); Riverside (Ke. Osborne 2).
Records: Everett (23-4); Riverside (18-9).
Officials: Hugo Berardi, Gene Franks, Ed Zboyvosky.
