Makenna McCoy

PORTAGE — It’s not too often that two teams play each other twice in the first week of the season.

However, that’s exactly what played out when the Central Cambria and Penn Cambria girls met on Saturday night for the second time in three days.

On the line was the championship of the 31st Annual Arthur Burkett Memorial Tournament.

After suffering a 10-point loss on the road Wednesday night, the Lady Panthers held off a pair of second half rallies from the Lady Red Devils en route to claiming a second consecutive title with a 51-44 win at the Len Chappell Gymnasium.

“We lost to them (Central Cambria) by 10 points three days ago, and they are very good,” Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmer said. “So, I’m very happy with the way our girls made adjustments, and the intensity and physicality we played with today.”

Leading by eight (30-22) at the half, PC got back-to-back layups to begin the third quarter from Sophia Beard and Reagan Ronan to take a 34-22 edge at the 6:41 mark.

CC used a pair of free throws from Delaney Snyder to kickstart a 12-2 burst to climb back within two (36-34) on two foul shots by Makenzie Hite at 3:28 of the third.

Rowyn Ruddek had five of her 11 points in that span, while Hite buried a 3-pointer right before hitting the free throws.

After nearly a minute of turnovers, which saw the Red Devils commit three, PC’s Avayah LeMaster put a stop to the CC run with a layup off an inbound feed.

Penn Cambria got five straight from Rachel Fisher and another by LeMaster to reclaim its double digit advantage at 45-34 heading to the final frame.

The two teams combined for four miscues to open the fourth but a baseline driving layup and an and-1 make from Central Cambria’s Paige Alexander got things rolling for the Devils.

After Fisher, who totaled 12 points, delivered a driving layup for the Panthers, CC’s Alaina Long made the second of two foul shots then was followed by two makes from the line from Snyder, who led all scorers with 13, to get the Lady Red Devils to within seven at 47-40.

“I thought we made a couple of nice runs there but we just couldn’t finish it,” Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said. “It sucks, but we’ll learn from it. I told them that this early in the season a loss makes you look at things — it makes you grow.”

Beard made good on two free throws to end her night with 10 points, and then Central Cambria hit five straight points (one from Katie George and a three-point play by Hite) to climb back within five at 49-44 with 1:39 remaining.

“We’ve been talking about that emotional rollercoaster of the game, of the season — everything,” Himmer said. “There’s going to be highs and there’s going to be lows. We’ve just got to bide our time, be that even keel team the best that we can — ride everything out.”

That’s as close as Penn Cambria let them get as the Panthers went just 2-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch but the Red Devils turned it over on two possessions with a minute left.

George, who had a game-high 29 points in the 66-56 CC win on Wednesday, ended the game with six.

“That (stopping George) was number one on the list,” Himmer said about his game plan. “… First off, she’s a great girl on top of being one of the greatest players in the league. … Our team goal was to hold her under 12 (points) and we did that.”

Penn Cambria began the game by scoring the first eight points before Long got CC on the board with just under four minutes on the clock.

The Lady Panthers reeled off the next six and eight of the final 11 to stake a 19-5 lead after one quarter of play.

Makenna McCoy, who was named the MVP of the tournament, tallied seven of her 11 points in the first eight minutes.

“I feel like we worked really well together as a team and not really for ourselves,” McCoy said.

Central Cambria began the second stanza with an 8-2 spurt to get within eight at 21-13 but a quick five straight points on a 3-pointer from Ronan and layup by McCoy had the lead doubled at 26-13 midway through.

The Lady Red Devils recorded a 9-2 burst headlined by six points from Ruddek, who finished the game with 11, to close the gap to six at 28-22 before LeMaster flipped in a shot with four seconds left to give PC the 30-22 halftime lead.

“We knew it was going to be a battle — we know what they do, they know what we do,” Bracken said. “Both teams work hard and hustle. Kudos to Penn Cambria as they came out and hit a lot of big shots early and we dug ourselves a hole. We fought back the whole game, so props to my team for never quitting up until the final buzzer.”

Both teams’ records stand at 2-1 on the young season.

“I think it means a lot (to win this tournament) especially because it’s like the kick off of the season,” McCoy said. “Pretty much, how you do here (can) give you a feel for how the season is going to be.”

In the consolation game, Portage put together a fourth quarter comeback to claim the 52-45 victory over Southern Huntingdon.

Bednarski beat the third quarter buzzer with a trey to pull the Lady Mustangs, which trailed by 10 at one point in the frame, to a single possession at 37-34.

However, the Lady Rockets began the fourth with a 7-0 run to push its advantage to double digits at 44-34.

Portage began to chip away as it recorded a 9-1 spurt capped off by a Bednarski layup to bring the Lady Mustangs within two at 45-43.

Bednarski, who finished with 27 points, drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:30 left to play for a 46-45 Portage edge.

The Mustangs went 6-of-8 from the foul line down the stretch to close the contest out.

Portage, which owned a 19-8 scoring difference in the fourth, got 11 points from Britton Myher, while Ella Young paced Southern with 17 points.

In addition to McCoy, named to the all-tournament team were: Fisher, George, Long, Bednarski and Southern Huntingdon’s Josie Hull.

Championship

PENN CAMBRIA (51): Ronan 3 0-2 8, Beard 4 2-2 10, LeMaster 4 0-0 8, McCoy 5 0-0 11, Fisher 4 2-4 12, Gergely 0 0-2 0, Rabatin 0 0-0 0, Stipanovich 1 0-0 2. Totals — 21 4-10 51.

CENTRAL CAMBRIA (44): Long 1 1-2 3, Alexander 1 1-1 3, Grimaldi 0 0-0 0, Ruddek 4 2-2 11, George 2 1-2 6, Snyder 3 4-4 13, Hite 2 3-3 8, Matlin 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 12-14 44.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn Cambria 19 11 15 6 — 51

Central Cambria 5 17 12 10 — 44

3-point field goals: Penn Cambria 5 (Ronan 2, Fisher 2, McCoy); Central Cambria 6 (Snyder 3, Ruddek, George, Hite).

Records: Penn Cambria (2-1); Central Cambria (2-1).

Consolation

SOUTHERN HUNTINGDON (45): Peterson 2 3-4 8, E. Young 5 5-6 17, A. Young 2 4-6 8, Hull 1 3-4 6, Clark 1 2-2 4, Wingert 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0, Walters 1 0-0 2, Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals — 12 17-22 45.

PORTAGE (52): C. Burkett 2 1-4 5, Myher 3 5-6 11, Bagby 0 1-2 1, Bednarski 8 7-10 27, B. Burkett 1 0-0 2, Burda 0 0-2 0, A. Burkett 0 0-0 0 0, Krestar 0 0-0 0, Irvin 2 0-0 5, Smith 0 0-2 0, Stager 0 0-0 0, Stancovich 0 1-2 1. Totals — 16 15-28 52.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Southern Huntingdon 9 10 18 8 — 45

Portage 7 16 17 19 — 52

3-point field goals: Southern Huntingdon 4 (E. Young 2, Peterson, Hull); Portage 5 (Bednarski 4, Irvin).

Records: Southern Huntingdon (1-2); Portage (2-1).