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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
EBENSBURG -- Bishop Guilfoyle Academy sophomore Anberlyn Petrecca started her high school career as an offensive force last season before her scoring average dropped in the second half of the season.
Perhaps she experienced a sophomore slump a little early, because it seems she's gotten it out of the way.
Petrecca scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds for the Lady Marauders Wednesday in a 66-56 win over Central Cambria.
"We're trying to get her to start around the rim first, because she is such a special player because she can play outside and inside," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Kristi Kaack said. "We're talking to her about scoring around the rim first and then being able to step back and shoot that outside shot. I thought tonight she did both really well."
Petrecca scored 14 of her 18 points in the first half and her basket to begin the third quarter put Bishop Guilfoyle ahead by 18 points.
That's when she picked up three fouls over the next four minutes and was forced to go to the bench.
With Petrecca out and several other Lady Marauders facing foul trouble, Central Cambria worked its way back into the game.
Aubrey Ruddek's 3-pointer with 7:13 to play cut BG's lead to 45-42.
Petrecca came back into the game with 6:25 left and helped the Lady Marauders extend the lead back to six before Central Cambria's Katie George took a charge to foul Petrecca out of the game with 3:36 left.
Alaina Long made a jump shot with 3:20 left to make it 51-49, but Bishop Guilfoyle responded with a 6-0 run on Stella Yeskey's layup and a jump shot and two free throws by Maurie Querry.
"I'm very proud of the effort my girls gave," Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said. "We were down 16 at the half, and we made some little changes. I feel like they really bought in and did a great job in the second half. We had them right where we wanted them, just a couple things didn't go quite as planned. They also shot free throws really well. They are a very good basketball team, but I'm very proud of the effort our girls gave tonight."
Six players scored at least eight points for the Lady Marauders, including Layona Williams, who had 10 points off the bench.
"She's working her way back in after being out with an injury," Kaack said. "She's another dynamic player. She does a nice job getting to the rim, but she also has a really nice outside shot. It just brings another dynamic to the team kind of like Anberlyn where she can do multiple things for us."
George led the Lady Devils with 12 points, and Long scored 11.
"Anybody could be top scorer any night," Bracken said. "I think that's because we have a great group of girls and a lot of depth. We have a great group of younger girls too that didn't get in tonight that make our practices competitive."
While Central Cambria's depth helped get it back into the game, BG's depth kept it ahead.
"We played a lot of different kids tonight, and we felt like at different times someone else was picking us up," Kaack said. "That's the sign of a good team. I still thought collectively we were a little flat on the defensive end. That's something we're going to focus on, but it's nice to have that depth so if someone isn't doing it, we can sub someone else in to get the job done."
Bracken looked back on a five-point second quarter as the point the game shifted.
"We want to keep fine tuning things," Bracken said. "Defensively, sometimes we have really great nights and others I think we could be better. I think that we are scrappy and really hustle. I think we can rebound better, but tonight I thought we did a good job. We were outsized, but we rebounded well in the second half. Offensively, we had one bad quarter, so we have to work on putting together four good quarters and make sure we're peaking at the right time."
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (66): Adams 1 0-0 2, Querry 2 5-6 9, Ruggery 3 4-4 10, Petrecca 7 3-4 18, Yeskey 4 0-0 8, Williams 4 0-0 10, Haigh 3 2-3 9, Homan 0 0-0 0, Gofus 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 24 14-17 66.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (56): Al. Sheehan 2 3-4 9, Ab. Sheehan 1 0-0 3, A. Ruddek 2 0-0 5, Long 4 2-2 11, Link 2 4-4 8, Barra 2 3-5 7, George 3 5-6 12, R. Ruddek 0 1-2 1. Totals -- 16 18-23 56.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bishop Guilfoyle 18 18 9 21 -- 66
Central Cambria 15 5 16 20 -- 56
3-point goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 4 (Williams 2, Petrecca, Haigh); Central Cambria 6 (Al. Sheehan 2, Ab. Sheehan, A. Ruddek, Long, George).
Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (8-1); Central Cambria (6-4).
Officials: Brock Kauffman, Ray Wotkowski, Shawn Sinclair.