DAVIDSVILLE - The District 5 Class AA girls basketball playoff game between Everett and Conemaugh Township on Tuesday was a game of runs.
The Lady Indians repeatedly pulled away to a comfortable lead, only to see the Lady Warriors make a run to tighten up the game. The last of the runs by the Lady Warriors came late in the fourth quarter. They cut a 14-point deficit to six points with a little more than 2 minutes left in the game.
However, Everett got no closer. Township had the final run, a 7-0 spurt, to close out a 73-60 victory.
"That was the story of the game tonight," Everett coach Keith Moyer said. "We would make a run, then they would make a run. At the end, their run was just a little bit bigger than ours. Maybe if we had another quarter we would catch up and go ahead, but we kind of ran out of time."
Aubrea Phipps made an inside basket that cut the lead to 66-60, capping the 14-6 run. Lyndy Baer made a crucial basket for Conemaugh Township to end the run. Even more critical for Everett was a missed layup on its next possession. Township followed that with a four-point possession.
Carly Baer made one of two free throws. Her second foul shot was off the mark, but a lane violation on Everett gave her another attempt. Baer missed the additional foul shot, but Kayla Luprek grabbed the rebound for the Indians and scored. A foul was called on the play, and Luprek made the free throw to push the lead to 12 points.
A big momentum change actually occurred just before halftime. The Lady Indians led most of the first half, at times by double digits. However, Everett used a 16-5 run in the second quarter to pull within one point, at 31-30. Phipps scored five points during the run. Logan Brailler also had five points during the streak. Rachel Clark's layup with 2:47 left in the half closed the Township lead to 31-30.
Everett did not score again in the half after Clark's layup. After a Katie Reckner bucket pushed the lead back to three points, Everett missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game. It also missed a layup and had a couple of turnovers, allowing Township to close the half on a 10-0 run that gave the Lady Indians a 41-30 lead.
"That was big," Moyer said. "I thought that we could get the lead. We had an opportunity to, but we missed a couple of buckets, and we didn't defend at the other end. They got it into the post and got a couple of easy ones."
Phipps led Everett with 17 points. Clark added 14 points, and Bailey Morral netted 10 points. Reckner and Luprek led Township with 20 points each.
Everett ended the season with a 10-13 record, bringing to a close the high school careers of Clark and Taylor Hillenbrand. However, the future looks bright for the Warriors, with Phipps and Morral returning, along with a talented group of underclassmen.
"We lose two seniors, who are a big part of why we are here tonight, but we have a lot of young talent coming back," Moyer said. "We have kids that are moving up through the ranks who are also very talented. I think there is a good possibility that we are right back in the hunt again next year."
Township faces Tussey Mountain in the final at 6 p.m. Friday at Pitt-Johnstown
EVERETT (60): Beegle 1 2-6 4, Morral 3 1-2 10, A. Phipps 6 3-3 17, Hillenbrand 0 4-4 4, R. Clark 6 2-2 12, Duvall 1 0-0 2, Brallier 3 3-4 9. Totals - 20 15-21 60.
CONEMAUGH TOWNSHIP (73): Boyer 4 1-2 9, Smith 3 1-2 8, L. Baer 3 0-0 8, C. Baer 2 4-8 8, Reckner 6 8-9 20, Luprek 6 8-13 20, Maurer 0 0-0 0. Totals - 24 22-34 73.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Everett14 16 9 21 - 60
Conemaugh Twp.26 15 13 19 - 73
3-point field goals: Everett 5 (Morral 3, A. Phipps 2); Conemaugh Township 3 (L. Baer 2, Smith).
Records: Everett (10-13); Conemaugh Township (22-2).
