Big offense in first half, big defense in second half, key CC
D6 3A girls basketball
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EBENSBURG -- If there was any doubt that the Central Cambria girls' basketball team was ready to get back on the floor following last week's Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference semifinal loss against Bishop Guilfoyle Academy, those were gone by the end of the first quarter Wednesday night.
The No. 1 seed Lady Red Devils grabbed three turnovers late in the opening frame in about 20 seconds, and turned them into six points and never looked back as they beat No. 8 seed Philipsburg-Osceola, 54-10, in the District 6 Class 3A quarterfinals at Central Cambria High School.
Central Cambria's reward is another home game with Penns Valley on Monday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals as it looks to punch its ticket to the district final and to the PIAA playoffs
"Definitely a good team win," Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said. "I'm happy we got the whole team in. I thought everybody did a good job. Good energy and good vibes all around.
"The Guilfoyle game, we were proud of our effort. Obviously disappointed in the loss, but we looked at, we learned from it, and we were excited to get back on the court and redeem ourselves."
Central Cambria exploded for an early 11-2 lead, but the Lady Mounties trimmed the deficit to five as Emily Gutskey put away a layup and Ashlyn Warner added a putback. Warner led P-O with six points.
From there the scoring avalanche started as the turnover sequence occurred with two of those baskets from Makenzie Hite for a 17-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
"We came out firing, played with a lot of heart early," Lady Mounties coach Brandon Myers said. "They threw the press on, created some turnovers. That's a great team, they've got some good players, and they're well-coached. We gave it everything we had. We just ran out of gas."
Central Cambria added to the scoreboard in the second quarter as Rowyn Ruddek -- on a bank shot -- nailed the first of her two 3-pointers in the stanza. She scored a game-high 11 points. Paige Alexander added one from long range to give the Lady Devils a 37-10 halftime lead.
The Lady Red Devils defense was stout in the second half as they shutout P-O, 17-0.
A lot of the scoring damage happened during the third quarter as Alexander and Ruddek scored from beyond the arc.
"That's pretty impressive because we rotated a lot," Bracken said. "We got all of the girls in. To hold a team scoreless with your whole team is definitely something to be proud of. When you're rebounding well and you're limiting teams to one look, good things happen."
Central Cambria offensively outshot Philipsburg-Osceola, 22-5, from the field.
"It was no secret of who we knew we were coming to play tonight," Myers said. "They are who they are because of the way they work and how good they are at the fundamentals of the game."
Bracken was happy with how her girls handled the first postseason test as they look to win back-to-back district championships for the first time in school history.
"We just try to keep the mindset that we're not too worried about what our opponent is going to do," she said. "We're focused on what we can do just trying to maintain control of the game and play our game. No matter what the opposing team throws at us we will handle it with poise and confidence."
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (10): Hughes 0 0-0 0, K. Wagner 1 0-1 2, Thorp 0 0-0 0, Gustkey 1 0-0 2, Warner 3 0-0 6, E. Wagner 0 0-0 0, Billings 0 0-0 0, Davenport 0 0-0 0, Muir 0 0-0 0. Totals: 5 0-1 10.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (54): 2 0-0 4, Alexander 3 0-0 8, Grimaldi 4 0-1 9, Ruddek 3 2-2 11, George 3 1-2 7, Snyder 2 0-2 4, Matlin 0 0-0 0, Hite 4 0-2 8, Templeton 0 0-0 0, Frederick 0 0-0 0, McQuay 0 0-0 0, Claar 1 0-0 3. Totals: 22 3-7 54.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Philipsburg-Osceola 6 4 0 0 -- 10
Central Cambria 17 20 14 3 -- 54
3-point field goals: Central Cambria 7 (Alexander 2, Grimaldi, George 3, Claar)
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (6-17), Central Cambria (18-6)
Officials: Jim Page, Nick Roman, Mark Suriky