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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
PORTAGE -- On Saturday evening in the championship of the 29th annual Art Burkett Memorial Tournament, Portage jumped out ahead against Central Cambria from the start by as much as seven.
However, the Lady Red Devils pulled within three late in the first quarter.
The Lady Mustangs reeled off a game-changing run that spilled over into the second stanza.
Portage was able to sustain that momentum and capture the title for the second straight year with a 52-35 victory over Central Cambria.
"We just loved our tournament this year getting filled with two neighboring rivals with Penn Cambria and Central Cambria," Portage coach Lance Hudak said. "We knew that this was going to be a tough game. They (Central Cambria) have athletes -- they have the cross country/track teams like we do. These kids can run and get to the balls that maybe some other girls can't. Then they have some big girls inside that really pushed us around and outrebounded us at times. So, we knew we were up for a challenge."
The Mustangs got up 6-0 while CC, which turned the ball over six times, was trying to find its footing against the press.
A jumper from Alaina Long at 5:38 finally got the Lady Red Devils on the board.
A 3-pointer from Ashlyn Hudak, who finished with 12 points, pushed the edge to seven (9-2).
A trey from Long made it 10-7 before Ashlyn Hudak buried another from deep to push it back to six points.
CC's Katie George converted 1-of-2 from the line and all-tournament team member Keira Link scored on a putback at 1:18 to pull her team within 13-10.
Brooke Bednarski drained a pair of free throws for Portage just 15 seconds that kickstarted the 16-1 run.
"I thought we had a bad spurt there (starting) at the end of the first quarter. We just couldn't recover from it," Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said. "Portage is a good team and I think they sped us up a little bit. It took us awhile to adjust to that. Then we seemed to miss a lot of layups and free throws that could have brought us back."
All-tourney member Alex Chobany grabbed an offensive board and put it back to close out the opening quarter for the Mustangs, and then delivered five more points to start the second to put her team up 22-10.
"We came out strong. We came out knowing our strengths and weaknesses and we really built off of that," Portage's Jenna Burkett said. "We knew our press was going to be the thing that was going to help us the most."
Lauren Lockard made the first of two foul shots to account for the lone Central Cambria point in the stretch.
Tournament MVP Jenna Burkett, who sat for a time with two fouls quickly in the first quarter, closed out the Portage burst with the final seven to help move the score to 29-11 with 2:16 left in the half.
"I was getting in my head. I was like, 'You can't foul'," Jenna Burkett said. "But I knew my teammates and my coaches had my back. They were going to do whatever they needed to do to make sure that I was doing what was right (once I went back in the game)."
A pair of makes from the charity stripe by Aubrey Ruddek ended the spurt, while Katie George sent the game into the half at 29-15 on a putback.
Alaina Sheehan got the Lady Red Devils within 12 (29-17) with the first hoop of the second half but that's as close as the contest would get the rest of the way.
Portage led 40-23 after three quarters, and then a transition layup by Jenna Burkett made it a 21-point margin at 44-23 at 7:12 of the fourth.
The two teams finished even in the final stanza at 12 points apiece.
"We have to put the ball in the hoop, and I think we struggled a bit early on," Bracken said. "Then when we started putting it in the hoop, we just couldn't cut it (the deficit). I'm proud of my girls -- I thought they didn't give up. I thought they did an excellent job in the fourth quarter."
For the game, Central Cambria turned the ball over 30 times, while Portage had 14.
"We know these teams are spending a significant amount of their practice time just finding a way to break our press," Coach Hudak said.
The Lady Red Devils had the rebounding edge with 39, including 12 from Ruddek, to the Lady Mustangs' 35.
In the consolation game, Penn Cambria beat Somerset 69-34. Penn Cambria's representative on the all-tournament team, Izzy Anderson, delivered a team-high 18 points.
The other members of the all-tournament team were Central Cambria's Abigail Sheehan and Portage's Cami Burkett.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (35): Al. Sheehan 1 0-0 2, Ab. Sheehan 1 0-0 3, Kudlawiec 1 0-0 2, Barra 0 0-2 0, A. Ruddek 2 2-2 6, Long 3 0-0 7, Link 5 1-3 11, George 1 1-6 3, Lockard 0 1-2 1. Totals: 14 5-15 35.
PORTAGE (52): Hudak 4 1-2 12, Chobany 3 0-2 7, C. Burkett 2 2-2 6, B. Bednarski 3 2-2 8, J. Burkett 6 2-2 15, Noll 1 0-0 2, Bagby 1 0-0 2, C. Burkett 0 0-0 0, K. Bednarski 0 0-0 0, Myhre 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 7-10 52.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central Cambria 10 5 8 12 -- 35
Portage 17 12 11 12 -- 52
3-point field goals: Central Cambria 2 (Ab. Sheehan, Long); Portage 5 (Hudak 3, Chobany, J. Burkett).
Records: Central Cambria (1-1); Portage (2-0).
SOMERSET (34): Fletcher 0 1-2 1, Stanton 1 0-0 2, Re. Holmes 4 0-5 8, Housley 7 6-8 21, Baumgardner 0 0-0 0, Boozer 1 0-2 2, Martin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 7-17 34.
PENN CAMBRIA (69): Anderson 6 1-3 18, Harpster 5 0-0 12, Vinglish 3 0-0 6, Hite 4 0-0 8, Ronan 3 1-4 9, Zupon 0 0-0 0, Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Beck 1 0-2 2, Saleme 1 2-2 4, Rabatin 1 3-4 5, Baney 0 0-0 0, Andersen 1 0-0 2, Lemaster 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 7-15 69.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Somerset 16 7 7 4 -- 34
Penn Cambria 26 22 16 5 -- 69
3-point field goals: Somerset 1 (Housley); Penn Cambria 8 (Anderson 4, Harpster 2, Ronan 2).
Records: Somerset (0-2); Penn Cambria (1-1).