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Lady Marauders still can’t get over hump

With seven games now under their belts in the 2018-19 high school basketball season, the Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic Lady Marauders are seeking to put together a concerted effort for four quarters at a time.

“We’ve kind of extended a challenge to (the players),” Guilfoyle coach Kristi Kaack said Friday afternoon. “We want to be consistent for 32 mintues. We’re trying to get that.”

Friday’s game with Blairsville at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium was another case in point for the Lady Marauders. After battling back from a 23-11 early second-quarter deficit with a 17-point run to take a 28-23 lead, BG watched Blairsville go ahead in the second half and end the game with a 15-4 surge of its own to take a 68-55 victory.

“I’m not necessarily pleased,” Kaack said after watching the Lady Marauders dip to 2-5. “It’s the little things like boxing out and caring for the basketball that are things that we need to improve on, and do that quickly.”

After a free throw by sophomore guard Sophia Warner pulled BG to within 53-51 early in the fourth quarter, Blairsville began its game-ending sprint to the finish line with two free throws by sophomore forward Lexi Risinger to take a 55-51 advantage.

Risinger, who led Blairsville with 20 points, then scored a fast-break bucket off a feed by senior guard Sidney McCully, before McCully made four straight free throws and junior guard Payton Potter converted five free throws, capping off a 13-point run that gave Blairsville a commanding 66-51 lead.

BG couldn’t buy a basket in the final minutes, and Blairsville (6-2) converted 15 of 17 free throws in the final quarter.

“We didn’t put the ball in the basket, and we gave them second and third-chance opportunities, and we put them at the foul line,” Kaack said. “I thought we took ourselves out of the game.”

Blairsville coach Ricc Brown also pointed to the free-throw line, where Blairsville made 21 of 29 in the game and 16 of 20 in the second half, as a big difference.

“We saved our zone press for the second half and we got about 15 steals off that, then we switched to a man(-to-man) defense late in the game, and I think that screwed (BG) up a bit,” Brown said. “And we actually made some free throws in the second half.”

Potter added 15 points and McCully 13 for Blairsville, which led only 44-42 after three quarters before carrying the fourth, 24-13.

BG got a game-high 21 points from sophomore forward Teresa Haigh and 12 from Warner.

“We look at both of them to carry the offensive load for us,” Kaack said. “They’re two kids that you can count on every night to try to do everything they can to help us win games.”

BG’s 17-point second-quarter run came with Blairsville standout McCully on the bench with foul trouble. Warner scored nine points — three traditional field goals and a 3-point bucket — during the surge, while junior forward Jamison Consiglio scored six points on two field goals and two free throws, and Haigh added another bucket.

BG got out well in transition during the rally.

“It started with their senior (McCully) being out of the game,” Kaack said. “We wanted to capitalize, we clogged up the passing lanes, and we got after it on the defensive end and had a lot of steals. We played in transition, and we’re a very good basketball team when we play in transition.”

The score was tied, 30-30 at halftime, before Blairsville opened a 10-point, 43-33 third-quarter lead with the help of a 3-point shot by Potter and two successive field goals off the break by freshman Isabel Pynos.

A 3-pointer and traditional field goal by Haigh helped the Lady Marauders complete a 9-1 run and pull back to within 44-42 entering the fourth quarter, which Blairsville dominated.

Blairsville had a 42-34 edge in rebounds, with Risinger grabbing 14. Consiglio snared 12 rebounds for BG.

“We’re learning every game, but I’m disappointed with the little things,” Kaack said of her team, which hosts Penns Valley tonight. “Those are things we can control, and we’re not doing well enough with them now.”

BLAIRSVILLE (68): Potter 3 7-10 15, McCully 3 7-10 13, Pynos 3 0-1 6, Potts 3 2-2 8, Risinger 7 5-5 20, Emanuel 1 0-0 3, Walbeck 1 0-0 3, Whitfield 0 0-1 0. Totals — 21 21-29 68.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (55): Consiglio 2 2-2 6, Warner 5 1-2 12, Haigh 9 1-2 21, Krug 0 0-0 0, Kilmartin 1 2-2 4, Brunner 1 0-0 2, Homan 3 0-0 7, Scipioni 1 0-0 3. Totals — 22 6-8 55.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Blairsville 17 13 14 24 — 68

Bishop Guilfoyle 11 19 12 13 — 55

3-point goals: Blairsville 5 (Potter 2, Emanuel, Walbeck, Potts); Bishop Guilfoyle 5 (Haigh 2, Warner, Homan, Sciponi).

Records: Blairsville (6-2); Bishop Guilfoyle (2-5).

JV: Bishop Guilfoyle, 50-28. High scorers–Mackenna Emanuel, BL, 6; Blaise Kilmartin, BG, 15.

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