02/17/25 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Penn Cambria's Sophia Beard drives by Tyrone's Rylan Crowell.

TYRONE — The Penn Cambria girls basketball team began the season by winning three out of its first four games.

The Lady Panthers followed that by losing three out of the next four.

They won two out of the next three, then lost two out of the next three, won two and lost three before winning their regular season finale — so it should have been expected they would enter the playoffs hot.

Though Penn Cambria’s District 6 Class 4A quarterfinal game at Tyrone played out much like its season, that proved to be true after a big fourth quarter helped the fifth-seeded Lady Panthers rally for a 67-52 win over the fourth-seeded Lady Eagles at Tyrone Area Middle School on Monday.

“We have really tough girls,” Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmer said. “I told them at the beginning of the season that this was going to be a rollercoaster ride with highs and lows, especially in the conference we play in. Those girls stayed the course, bought into our game plan tonight, and overcame adversity — our starting point guard Reagan Ronan couldn’t play with the flu and Sophia Beard had an injury during the game, but we stayed the course. That’s a testament to these girls.”

Beyond the sickness and injuries, Penn Cambria had to deal with Tyrone, which beat the Lady Panthers 56-50 in December, finishing the third quarter on a 12-0 run to take a 42-41 lead into the final eight minutes.

“We did a good job of changing up our defense there,” Tyrone coach Mike Whitling said. “We put some pressure on them with a 2-2-1 press. It stalled them out for a bit. We got a couple turnovers and a couple quick baskets. That will change the momentum of the game, but then we got to the fourth quarter. They had figured stuff out, and it didn’t work as well.”

Alayna Woomer, who finished with a game-high 27 points, and Lola Woomer, who had 11 points, scored all 12 points in the run.

Makenna McCoy and Alayna Woomer traded 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter, but with the game tied at 46 — Penn Cambria senior Ava Saleme made sure she took the Lady Panthers back to the top of the rollercoaster.

The senior drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to suddenly put Penn Cambria up by six with 5:20 left, and Tyrone never recovered.

“There was no better moment — it felt great,” Saleme said. “I knew coming into the second half, we had two options — either win or go home. Something had to be done. Everyone plays a role on the team, and I knew that I had to do something to change the pace of the game and get everyone going. That’s what I did, and there was no better feeling.”

Penn Cambria made its free throws down the stretch and finished 24-for-33 from the line with Rachel Fisher going 10-for-14 and Avayah LeMaster finishing 9-for-11. Fisher scored 20 points, and LeMaster had 15, but Himmer thought Saleme’s shots were the difference.

“That’s the game-changing moment right there,” Himmer said. “That’s what I told her when she was sitting next to me at the end of the game. I told her on our next-to-last timeout that she was the reason the game was going to go how it was going to go.”

Penn Cambria will play at top-seeded Westmont Hilltop on Wednesday. The Lady Panthers split with the Hilltoppers this season, winning 55-50 in December and losing 65-50 two weeks ago.

“I’m confident in the way my team is playing right now,” Himmer said. “We’ll be ready. We’ll regroup tomorrow and be ready on Wednesday.”

Tyrone finished the season 11-12 but will lose just one senior.

“Going from being a six-win team to an 11-win team is a big stride in itself,” Whitling said. “With that being said, we had the potential to win 14 or 15 games had we done a few things a little bit better. We’re right there, knocking at the door. We’re playing close games. We just have to flip it over to winning those close games.”

That lone senior, Alayna Greene, finished with one basket and six rebounds.

“She’s the heart and soul of our team this year,” Whitling said. “She brings it in practice every day. She always has a smile on her face, and she’s very positive and upbeat. She will definitely be sorely missed.”

Penn Cambria sealed Monday’s game by outscoring Tyrone, 26-10, in the final quarter after scoring just seven points in the third quarter and falling behind — but it was something the Lady Panthers were used to, so they did not panic.

“There were a lot of highs and lows throughout our season,” Saleme said. “I think our coaches prepared us very well. He’s great at breaking down film and knows what teams are going to do. He prepares us, and he had us ready to play Tyrone again. He said it wouldn’t be an easy atmosphere. Playoff games are like nothing else, so on defense we talked and made sure each other knew who everyone had and got the job done.”

PENN CAMBRIA (67): Saleme 3 2-2 8, Hite 3 1-2 7, McCoy 2 0-0 5, Ave. LeMaster 4 1-2 9, Fisher 4 10-14 20, Beard 0 0-0 0, Andersen 0 0-0 0, McConnell 1 1-2 3, Rabatin 0 0-0 0, Ava. LeMaster 3 9-11 15. Totals — 20 24-33 67.

TYRONE (52): L. Woomer 4 3-7 11, Greene 1 0-0 2, A. Woomer 9 6-9 27, Crowell 1 4-4 7, Lehman 1 1-4 3, Parker 0 0-2 0, Volders 1 0-0 2, Houck 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 14-26 52.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn Cambria 13 21 7 26 — 67

Tyrone 12 14 16 10 — 52

3-point goals: Penn Cambria 5 (Saleme 2, Fisher 2, McCoy); Tyrone 4 (A. Woomer 3, Crowell).

Records: Penn Cambria (11-10); Tyrone (11-12).

Officials: Todd Parker, Keith Redfoot, Dan Solomon.