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Portage girls go cold in loss

By Ed Farrell

For the Mirror

SHARON — For Portage’s proud program, a performance like Saturday’s 66-34 PIAA Class 1A opening-round setback to Kennedy Catholic was a disappointing end to an otherwise successful season.

At Sharon High, the Lady Mustangs made only 10 of 59 floor shots against the Lady Golden Eagles’ length.

“They’re a good team. They played very good man defense (Saturday), and it really limited our penetration,” said veteran Portage coach Lance Hudak. “We’re about dribble-drive and kickin’ it out, and they really limited that with some really good help defense.

“We rely on making the three-point shot — I think we had 167 as a team coming into this game. We rely on that, because we aren’t big; we don’t have that size inside. So we’ve got to rely on our skill, our speed, and shoot the 3-ball.”

Portage finished with seven 3-pointers.

“(Saturday), the shots didn’t fall like they normally do, and I have to credit Kennedy for a lot of that, too, for having a hand in our face. They’re a long, athletic team, and they just got the best of us,” Hudak said.

Malia Magestro made the Lady Mustangs pay at the other end.

The slender sophomore slashed to the basket to score, sinking 8-of-10 free-throw attempts and also dishing out three assists, and stepped out beyond the arc to drain a trio of treys. Magestro mustered a game-high 29 markers.

“She really keeps her composure. She’s really skilled with the ball, has a nice shot, and she finishes. She likes to slash and get there, she lives at the foul line. She’s a very good player,” Hudak said in praise of Magestro.

Also for Kennedy Catholic (19-5), Olivia Schuller secured a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in a sixth-man role, and Allie Suhar snared eight rebounds, while Sydney McKnight and Sophia Berardi divided six assists.

“Allie did a phenomenal job coming off the bench and playing excellent defense,” Kennedy Catholic coach Justin Magestro said. “Sophia really stepped up big … and guarded their best player (Dividock). She was a great rim protector. Olivia really had a monster game off the bench for us as a freshman.”

Eight-time reigning District 10 titlist Kennedy Catholic connected on 22-of-40 floor shots, led by Magestro’s 9-for-15 shooting.

Pacing Portage (16-10) was Kara Dividock, who drilled four from beyond the 3-point arc for 14 points. Also, Taylor Glass garnered eight points and Abbi Riskus ripped a handful of rebounds.

To Hudak’s mind, the defeat did not deter from an otherwise successful season.

“We’re only graduating two beautiful seniors (Kasey Chobany and Isabella Crum). We’re young, and we’re gonna keep reloading at our small, little public school that graduates 65 kids,” Hudak said.

“But we’re a proud program, and we are gonna build off of this,” Hudak said. “There are only 32 teams that made the state tournament, so right there, that tells you something. Just to get out of our district is an accomplishment, with Bishop Carroll ranked No. 1 in the state, and Juniata Valley No. 2. Just to be able to get out of District 6 is a feat in itself, and we’re proud of that.”

The Lady Mustangs trailed by just five after the first quarter.

“Obviously, we’re not happy with (Saturday) and what happened here, but we’ve gotta be realistic and realize that, hey, we won 16 games,” Hudak said. “We made the state tournament, and … our last six losses were by a combined 24 points. And hopefully those six games next year are a different outcome.”

PORTAGE (34) Glass 3 1-2 8, Chobany 2 0-0 6, Wozniak 0 0-0 0, Riskus 0 4-4 4, Dividock 5 0-0 14, Hudak 0 1-2 1, Kissell 0 1-2 1, Teno 0 0-0 0, Crum 0 0-0 0, Giordano 0 0-0 0, Sease 0 0-0 0, Alexander 0 0-0 0, Klein 0 0-0 0, Phillips 0 0-0 0. Totals–10 7-10 34.

KENNEDY CATHOLIC (66) Magestro 9 8-10 29, McKnight 1 0-0 2, Berardi 1 2-4 4, Figuly 2 2-4 6, Utlak 1 0-0 2, Schuller 5 3-6 13, Suhar 1 3-4 5, Lombardi 0 1-2 1, Flanders 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0, Jones 1 0-0 2, Toth 0 0-0 0. Totals –22 19-30 66.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Portage 11 4 12 7 –34

Kennedy Catholic 16 17 17 16 –66

3-point goals: Portage 7 (Dividock 4, Chobany 2, Glass 1); Kennedy Catholic 3 (Magestro 3)

Records: Portage (16-10); Kennedy Catholic (19-5).

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