Lady Panthers, with one senior, take home title
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JOHNSTOWN -- Northern Bedford senior Addie Love hoisted the District 5 Class 1A girls basketball championship trophy on Thursday night in the middle of the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown Sports Center court.
She and her fellow teammates celebrated briefly, posed for some photos and then went to share the moment with their friends and families. It was an accomplishment Love, the lone senior on the team, savored.
"This is truly icing on the cake for my basketball career,'' Love said after the Lady Panthers downed Fannett-Metal, 41-20, in the championship game. "This is what I was working for all my life and especially my last three years on varsity.''
Love was part of the last two Northern Bedford teams that lost on the same court in the finals to Berlin Brothersvalley. With Berlin moving up to Class 2A this season, the window was opened for the Lady Panthers.
But after losing four key players from the 2023-24 team, Northern Bedford was no lock to take the next step.
"We lost a lot (of experience) from last year,'' Northern coach Jon Ewart said. "I definitely saw (winning a championship) as a possibility, as far as single-A goes with things. But I wasn't necessarily the most confident.''
The Lady Panthers experienced some growing pains throughout the season, getting off to a 2-5 start at the Christmas break and were 3-8 in mid-January. But a three-game winning streak propelled the team to a strong finish to the regular season, and Northern dominated the competition in its three district playoff games.
"We definitely had our ups and downs, like most teams have,'' Love said. "Some of them were unexpected and some were expected, but we persevered. We knew we were a better team than what we played at times, and we knew we were better, even when we were playing our best. We kept our heads up, kept our confidence up, and that's what led to today.''
On Thursday, the Lady Panthers never let Fannett-Metal pose as a scare to their title hopes. Northern beat the Lady Tigers, 60-26, on Feb. 10, and came out with high confidence in the rematch.
A strong man-to-man defense took Fannett-Metal out of its game early. The Lady Tigers were forced to take some bad shots and ended up going scoreless (0-for-9 from the field) in the first quarter as Northern gained a 13-0 advantage.
"They're good,'' Fannett-Metal coach Randy Hammond said of Northern Bedford. "They play a tough man-to-man defense, and we struggle with man-to-man. We knew it would be a battle, and we just didn't have it tonight -- a lot of missed shots.''
Fannett-Metal was able to get its offense going a bit in the second quarter and trailed 17-7 with less than 3 minutes to go in the half, but two drives to the basket in the final 30 seconds by Northern junior Alyssa Yeatts pushed the lead to 23-10 at the break.
Northern stepped up the defense again in the third quarter, holding the Lady Tigers to 1-of-10 shooting, to take a 34-13 lead heading to the final quarter. With 2 minutes left in the game, Northern's starters were all on the bench just waiting for the clock to expire.
Yeatts led Northern (12-12) with 15 points, and Love scored 10.
"We, as a team, take pride in our defense,'' Love said. "I personally love defense more than offense at times. We have a quick group of girls who push each other. And I have to give our (junior varsity) some props, because they push us more and more every practice. They're a big part of where we are. ... We've meshed really well on defense and know where each other is at, and we communicate a lot.''
Northern will now try to accomplish something it did last season, win a state playoff game. The Lady Panthers will host District 3 No. 5 seed Mount Calvary Christian on Saturday, March 8. Fannett-Metal, which dresses just six players, advances to inter-districts for the first time since 1988, facing District 7 third seed Aquinas Academy.
"At the beginning of the season -- the girls hate it, probably -- but I have them write down their goals for the year,'' Ewart said. "The girls coming back from last year wanted to get back in and win another state playoff game. So they're building those expectations for themselves, and we'll get ready for (Mount Calvary Christian).''
Game notes: Northern Bedford won a Class 2A championship in 2022 but hadn't won a Class 1A title since 2007. It was the Lady Panthers' ninth overall district championship ... Sadie Wolf led Fannett-Metal (11-13) with eight points ... Fannett-Metal finished 6-of-47 (13%) from the field, while Northern was 15-of-46 (33%).
FANNETT-METAL (20): Wolf 3 1-4 8, Hasenbuhler 0 0-2 0, Helman 0 1-2 1, Hoffman 0 1-2 1, Arnold 2 2-4 6, Waite 1 1-2 4. Totals -- 6 6-16 20.
NORTHERN BEDFORD (41): Baker 0 2-2 2, Love 3 2-6 10, A. Yeatts 6 1-2 15, Detterline 0 0-0 0, Be. Gable 3 0-0 6, Barton 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 2, H. Yeatts 1 0-0 2, Bl. Gable 0 2-2 2, Troy 0 0-0 0, Reasy 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 15 7-12 41.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Fannett-Metal 0 10 3 7 -- 20
Northern Bedford 13 10 11 7 -- 41
3-point goals: Fannett-Metal 2 (Wolf, Waite); Northern Bedford 4 (Love 2, A. Yeatts 2).
Records: Fannett-Metal (11-13); Northern Bedford (12-12).
Officials: Pete Hall, Craig Stahl, Darius Deshong.