Basketball

Lady Mustangs continue to shine

PATTON -- The Portage Area High School girls basketball team boasts plenty of experience as well as talent this season.

The Lady Mustangs are unbeaten so far this season, and they have all five starters -- all seniors -- returning from last year's team that won 17 games.

Portage is one of the teams to beat in the Heritage Conference this year, and Lady Mustangs coach Lance Hudak knows that his team will get the best shot that each of its opponents has to offer.

Portage shook off early trouble Wednesday night and hiked its overall record to 9-0 and its conference mark to 5-0 by clipping Cambria Heights, 48-31, at the Cambria Heights High School gymnasium.

"The Heritage Conference is a great conference, and we know that teams are prepping to beat us and that we will have a target on our backs every single game,'' Hudak said.

Behind six points apiece from juniors Sierra Kirsch and Gracey Vinglish, Heights (3-4, 2-3) broke out to a 15-6 second-quarter lead before Portage -- which had converted only two of 13 shots in the first quarter -- regrouped and went on an 11-point run late in the second period to take a 17-15 halftime advantage.

"The old cliche holds that sometimes your shots aren't falling, but you can always play good defense, and that's what we did tonight,'' Hudak said. "After we got down by nine, we took a timeout and we got our press going.

"We never stopped hustling tonight -- the girls won so many of the 50-50 balls,'' Hudak added.

With Portage clinging to a 25-23 advantage in the third quarter, senior guard Jenna Burkett led a seven-point spurt that put the Lady Mustangs into the driver's seat, 32-23, after three stops.

Burkett, who led all scorers in the game with 16 points, was fouled while hitting a driving shot and converted the free throw into a three-point play to give Portage a 28-23 third-quarter lead.

After sophomore Liana Bagby weaved in to score a short field goal from the left of the key for Portage, senior Ashlyn Hudak came up with a steal and fed Burkett for a layup that staked the Lady Mustangs to the 32-23 advantage.

"The beginning of the game was a struggle because our shots weren't falling,'' Burkett said. "But we pushed back and it was nice to see everybody step up like that -- I don't expect anything less from this team.

"We're a team whose players know how to play basketball with each other, and whose players know how to pick each other up,'' Burkett added.

The third-quarter sequence led by Burkett turned the game squarely and irreversibly in Portage's favor. The Lady Mustangs, who also got 13 points from senior guard Alex Chobany, closed strong by carrying the fourth quarter, 16-8.

"Portage is a great team, and they're the team to beat in this conference,'' first-year Heights coach Isaac Vescovi said. "I'm really proud of how our girls played tonight in what was a very physical game.''

Vescovi, whose team was led by Kirsch's 13 points, said that the Lady Highlanders currently lack depth off the bench, with two key reserves out due to injury or illness. He believed that depth was a factor in Wednesday's game.

"Portage is able to play eight or nine girls, and they kept their press going tonight,'' Vescovi said. "We're playing only six right now, and because of that, I think our girls got tired as the game went along. Every quarter, (Portage) kept getting better than us tonight.''

Vescovi said that his relatively young team -- which has no seniors on its roster this year -- is a work in progress.

"When I took this job, I knew that we'd have no seniors this first year, so we're on a two-year plan to put our game schemes into place,'' Vescovi said. "We're looking to build, and we're looking to get better, and I think that with every game we've played this year, that has been happening for us.''

Both teams are back in action Friday, with Portage hosting Conemaugh Township and Cambria Heights hosting Northern Cambria.

PORTAGE (48): B. Bednarski 2 2-2 6, Cami Burkett 2 0-0 5, J. Burkett 7 2-2 16, Chobany 6 0-0 13, A. Hudak 1 0-2 2, Noll 2 0-0 4, Bagby 1 0-0 2, Cassie Burkett 0 0-0 0, Myhre 0 0-0 0, K. Bednarski 0-0 0. Totals -- 21 4-6 48.

CAMBRIA HEIGHTS (31): Dutko 1 0-0 3, Gaida 1 2-2 5, Kirsch 3 7-7 13, Rogal 1 0-3 2, Vinglish 3 2-2 8, Bender 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 9 11-14 31.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Portage 6 11 15 16 -- 48

Cambria Heights 9 6 8 8 -- 31

3-point goals: Portage 2 (Cami Burkett, Chobany); Cambria Heights 2 (Dutko, Gaida).

Records: Portage (9-0 overall, 5-0 in the Heritage Conference); Cambria Heights (3-4, 2-3). Officials: Mike Andrews, Todd Parker, Mairede Byrne.

JV: Portage, 39-16. High scorers--Britton Myhre, P, 9; Lilly Karlheim, CH, 5.