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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
CRESSON -- Johnstown High School girls basketball coach Xavier Thomas has a starting lineup of three sophomores and two freshmen, so he expected some growing pains from his team this season.
The young players on squad have done well in negotiating them, though.
"We've lost some tough games this year but we never collapsed,'' Thomas said. "These kids are young, but their maturity level has steadily grown since the beginning of the season.''
Johnstown took another positive step Wednesday night, carving out a 65-55 victory over Penn Cambria in a District 6 Class 4A semifinal playoff game at the Penn Cambria High School gymnasium.
Wednesday's victory moves the second-seeded Lady Trojans (11-12) into next Tuesday's 6 p.m. district championship game with top-seeded Juniata High School at Mount Aloysius College. Third-seeded Penn Cambria finished its season at 11-12.
"I've always stressed to these players to seize the big moment, and to never be afraid of being great,'' Thomas said. "These kids really wanted this. We're really excited to play against Juniata in the championship game.''
Johnstown -- which got a game-high 20 points from sophomore Naloni Tisinger, along with 16 points from sophomore Zanyona Thomas, 14 from freshman Aubreyonna Nash, and 11 from freshman Marcella White -- broke out to a 19-8 first-quarter lead before a 10-point Penn Cambria run pulled the Lady Panthers to within 19-18 in the second quarter.
Two free throws by Penn Cambria sophomore Makenna McCoy whittled the Johnstown lead to 25-24 early in the third quarter, but Johnstown responded with a 15-2 run of its own to take command again, 39-26.
Zayona Thomas fired in a 3-pointer from the right side to start the rally, and after sophomore Zaniah Reed hit one of two free throws, White registered a traditional 3-point play when she made a layup, was fouled, and converted the free throw to put Johnstown ahead, 32-24.
After Penn Cambria senior Teddi Beck scored a field goal from inside, Johnstown continued the run, reeling off the next seven points.
Tisinger scored on a putback, Nash hit two of two free throws, senior Kylan Kelly made a free throw, and Reed cashed in an inside bucket after a Penn Cambria turnover to complete the Johnstown surge.
"We just needed to make one play at a time, we focused on our defense, and we came up with four or five turnovers to get our run going,'' Xavier Thomas said. "Things got a little tense after (Penn Cambria) closed the gap, especially on their home court, but I trust our kids. It was just a matter of getting some stops, and once we got them, we were good.''
Johnstown used a quick, ball-hawking defene to throw Penn Cambria off-kilter most of the night.
"We've been able to play good defense all year, and we've been putting a ton of work in on our offense,'' Xavier Thomas said. "We know that we can always play defense to get our offense going.''
First-year Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmel had effusive praise for the Johnstown team.
"I think our girls got a little tired in the third quarter, but that's to take nothing away from Johnstown,'' Himmel said. "X (Xavier Thomas) has done a great job with those kids, and they shot the ball very well tonight, especially in the first quarter.
"Hats off to Johnstown -- they made the shots that they needed to make tonight,'' Himmel said.
Tisinger credits the Johnstown team's success to its coaching.
"We stayed locked in the whole time, and we played a very good game,'' said Tisinger, who also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. "Thanks to our coaches, we are well-prepared. It's so exciting to be going to the district final.''
Penn Cambria was led by senior guard Kaylee Harpster's 14 points and 13 apiece from senior guard Izzy Andersen and sophomore guard Makenna McCoy.
Penn Cambria battled for the entire four quarters. After three consecutive Johnstown steals paved the way for three straight layups by Tisinger to balloon the Johnstown lead to 54-35 with 5:13 left in the game, Penn Cambria scored 14 of the game's next 17 points to draw to within 57-49, on an Andersen 3-pointer.
But that's as close as the Lady Panthers -- who were led in rebounding by sophomore guard Reagan Ronan with nine -- could get.
"Our kids didn't back down -- they made it a game,'' Himmel said. "This game won't define our season. I can't compliment our kids enough. This team had only one returning starter from last season, the players were introduced to a brand new system by a new coach, and they still finished with a winning record of 12-11.
"These kids just need more time in my system --we'll learn and get better from this,'' Himmel added. "We'll return two starters next year, and we'll have some freshmen up from this year's eighth-grade team that went 22-0. Some of those kids will bring us some added height which we don't currently have.''
JOHNSTOWN (65): Thomas 6 0-0 16, Tisinger 9 2-2 20, Reed 1 1-2 3, White 3 3-3 11, Nash 3 8-10 14, Kelly 0 1-2 1, Young 0 0-0 0, Hardison 0 0-0 0. Totals - 22 15-19 65.
PENN CAMBRIA (55): I. Andersen 5 1-2 13, Ronan 1 0-0 2, Harpster 5 4-4 14, Vinglish 1 0-2 2, McCoy 5 2-2 13, Beck 1 0-0 2, McConnell 0 0-0 0, Saleme 0 1-2 1, M. Andersen 0 0-0 0, Lemaster 2 1-2 5, Shoemaker 1 0-0 3. Totals - 21 9-16 55.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Johnstown 19 6 19 21--65
Penn Cambria 13 9 9 24--55
3-point goals: Johnstown 6 (Thomas 4, White 2); Penn Cambria 4 (I. Andersen 2, McCoy, Lemaster).
Records: Johnstown (11-12); Penn Cambria (12-11).
Officials: Shawn Sinclair, Courtney Cecere, Brandon Ashurst.