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Central Cambria knocks off unbeaten RV for title

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Central Cambria players (from left) Abigail Sheehan, Keira Link, Katie George, Alaina Sheehan and Alaina Long run toward the arms of assistant coach Becky Bard after the final buzzer in overtime on Friday night at Mount Aloysius College.

CRESSON — Over the past decade, the Central Cambria girls basketball team has given a lot of top teams in the area a scare in the postseason, but the Lady Red Devils have often come up just short in the end.

Friday night against undefeated and top-seeded River Valley in the District 6 Class 3A championship game — it looked like another trip to the heartbreak hotel.

Central Cambria led by six points with just more than 1 minute to play in regulation, but three free throws by Lady Panthers star Ava Persichetti tied the game with 27.8 seconds to play. The Lady Devils then had a chance to win the game at the free throw line with 1.8 seconds left but missed both shots.

River Valley took a one-point lead with 23.2 seconds to play in overtime, but Central Cambria senior Abigail Sheehan recovered from slipping down to one knee, kept her dribble and threw a lob pass to fellow senior Keira Link, who confidently took the ball to the basket and scored with 7.6 seconds left.

When Persichetti’s shot at the buzzer rolled off the rim, the Central Cambria community let all that pent-up frustration out with a huge roar as the Lady Red Devils celebrated a 54-53 win at Mount Aloysius College.

“It is a surreal feeling. I could cry right now,” Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said. “I am so immensely proud of my athletes, our girls, for their perseverance and commitment to the school that we have had. This year and years prior. I want to give a shoutout to all my players from the last 11 years, because they set the tone for this. They set the stage. They set the expectations high. Hopefully this is the first of many, but this is a credit to all my players. I love them all, and I’m really proud of the effort, the win and all of the years that have led to this.”

The championship was just Central Cambria’s second in program history and the first in more than a quarter of a century.

“This one is so special, because our school hasn’t won it since 1998,” Alaina Sheehan said. “To have won this with this team is so special.”

Central Cambria will now host WPIAL sixth-place finisher Keystone Oaks on Friday, March 7 in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.

River Valley came into the game 26-0 as the Heritage Conference champions and was outscoring its opponents by more than 30 points per game.

But Central Cambria never trailed by more than two points the entire game.

Leading by three with 3:07 to play in regulation, the Lady Red Devils got a 3-pointer from Katie George to go ahead, 47-41.

“My teammates always put confidence in me,” George said. “My coaches always give me the green light.”

From there, Central Cambria tried to go into a stall, but Alessia LaMantia stole the ball for River Valley and converted a three-point play through contact. After two missed free throws, Persichetti was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and made all three shots to tie the game.

“We had our opportunities in regulation,” Bracken said. “We talked before the game that it was going to be a game of runs. We knew we would have good runs and bad runs, but we had to keep our heads and believe in each other. I might have been a little bit panicked — but they leaned on each other. They were positive they could do it the whole time. Kudos to them for grinding it out and getting the win.”

George was fouled with 1.8 seconds left but wasn’t able to convert on the free throws.

“The gym was loud,” George said. “I’m not used to that. My teammates picked me up and helped me get through the rest of the game. Everyone was saying to keep our heads up and that we had to play hard, because it was like a whole new game.”

Along with Link, George was a vital part of the victory — scoring 14 points off the bench and helping Central Cambria’s bench outscore River Valley’s, 20-3.

“We knew if we let down or gave up, it would go really bad for us,” Link said. “We stuck together and got in the huddle and told each other to not freak out or anything.”

All six of River Valley’s overtime points came from the free throw line. For the game, the Lady Panthers went 22-for-25, but Central Cambria held Persichetti, Indiana County’s all-time leading scorer and a Division I Richmond signee, to zero field goals in the second half or overtime. She finished with 19 points.

“Ava is the best player I have ever coached against,” Bracken said. “She’s very impressive. It was definitely a task preparing for her. Our plan was to double her every time she had the ball and put Keira Link on her when she didn’t have the ball. I thought Keira did an amazing job tonight. She understood her assignment and made it tough for Ava, and I thought my girls did a great job communicating when to double and when to rotate. They did an excellent job.”

Link made a free throw, Alaina Long made a jumper and Ava Barra had a layup in overtime to set the stage for Link’s game-winning shot.

“We knew we were coming in as the underdog,” Alaina Sheehan said. “We knew we really had to come together to win this, and that’s what we did.”

Persichetti drove to the baseline and got an off-balance shot to bounce off the rim twice before it fell to the ground as the buzzer sounded.

“She’s a great player who has had an awesome season,” Alaina Sheehan said. “We just wanted to make sure we boxed out so they didn’t get another chance.”

CENTRAL CAMBRIA (54): Al. Sheehan 3 0-0 8, Ab. Sheehan 0 0-0 0, A. Ruddek 0 3-4 3, Long 3 0-2 7, Link 7 2-5 16, George 5 2-4 14, Barra 3 0-0 6, R. Ruddek 0 0-0 0. Totals — 21 7-15 54.

RIVER VALLEY (53): Persichetti 5 8-9 19, Dunlap 2 2-2 6, Kitner 1 0-0 2, LaMantia 3 2-3 10, Cole 3 7-7 13, Twincheck 0 3-4 3. Totals — 14 22-25 53.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Cambria 13 11 14 9 7 — 54

River Valley 12 11 13 11 6 — 53

3-point goals: Central Cambria 5 (Al. Sheehan 2, George 2, Long); River Valley 3 (LaMantia 2, Persichetti).

Records: Central Cambria (18-8); River Valley (26-1).

Officials: Dan Gales, Todd Parker, Wayne Warfel.

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