CRESSON — When you have a shot at a district final, senior leadership can go a long way. For the Penn Cambria Lady Panthers, senior captain Makenna McCoy led the charge Wednesday night against Westmont-Hilltop in the District 6 Class 4A semifinals.

She led her team with 21 points in a 56-40 victory.

“Makenna is a superior shooter,” Lady Panthers coach Josh Himmer said. “When she is on, she’s really good.”

In the first frame, McCoy tallied nine points, all from beyond the arc. Fellow senior Meghan Anderson also went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe in the quarter to give the Lady Panthers a 19-8 lead.

“I think it’s a great team effort,” Himmer said. “We’ve been speaking and talking as a team here for the whole season, that we just want to be us. We did that tonight.”

McCoy also had a bucket in the second quarter, while sophomore Rachel Fisher went 3-for-4 from the line for Penn Cambria (18-5).

“We’re very versatile when it comes time to play the game,” Himmer said. “You’ve got to pick your poison.”

Early on, Westmont (12-9) was able to keep it close until the second half when Penn Cambria started hitting 3s. At the end of the night, the Lady Hilltoppers couldn’t make it happen when it had to get it done.

“Their pressure got to us,” Westmont coach Brittany Eisenhuth said. “We didn’t take care of the basketball, and they shot awesome tonight. ”

With the win, the Lady Panthers find themselves one win from a title now.

“We’ve been there,” Himmer said. “I told the girls, there is a one beside our name. Our confidence right now is at an all-time high.”

Penn Cambria will face Forest Hills in the title game next week. The Rangers beat Tyrone in the other semifinal on Wednesday night.

WESTMONT-HILLTOP (40): Shingler 3 1-2 7, Oneil 3 0-0 7, Lynch 1 1-4 6, Gibbons 2 2-2 7, Rudolph 3 3-4 11. Totals: 13 7-12 40.

PENN CAMBRIA (56): Ronan 2 1-2 6, McCoy 8 0-0 21, Beard 2 1-2, 6, Ava. Lemaster 2 0-0 4, Fisher 2 3-4 9, Anderson 0 3-4 3, Ave. Lemaster 2 0-0 6 Rabtain 0 1-2 1. Totals: 18 9-14 56

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Westmont-Hilltop 8 12 7 13 – 40

Penn Cambria 19 12 7 18 – 56

3-point field goals: Westmont-Hilltop 5 (Rudolph 2, Gibbons, Lynch, Oneil), Penn Cambria 11 (McCoy 5, Ronan, Beard, Fisher 2, Ave. Lemaster 2)

Records: Westmont-Hilltop (12-9), Penn Cambria (18-5).

Officials: Dave Deibert, Mike McDermott, Tony Warynovich