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By Matt Michelone
sports@altoonamirror.com
JOHNSTOWN -- It was two weeks ago that the Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic girls' basketball team made the trip to the Bradley Center at Bishop McCort, jumped out to an early lead before seeing it slip away late for the Lady Marauders' second defeat of the season.
Fast forward to Thursday night and a comparable scene seemed to be building as the Lady Crushers chipped away at Lady Marauders' lead that was as large as 14 points in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference semifinal.
The good news for BG is that this time, they made that lead stand and went on to stun East Division champion McCort -- handing them their first loss of the season -- 65-58.
"We consistently handled the pressure better," BG coach Kristi Kaack said. "I know that we turned it over at times, but for the most part we did a much better job handling their pressure. Gia Adams especially in that fourth really handled that ball for us and got it across half court."
Much of the first quarter on offense was powered by the Lady Marauders' freshmen. Morgan Ruggery forced a turnover and got a take away for a layup, which was later followed by a Maurie Querry takeaway for a score to help them jump out to an early 10-4 lead.
"I feel like the loss is what motivated us to just come out (and play) like we knew what we needed to do," Querry said, "We couldn't turn the ball over which we did (at times). We just played strong."
Adams loved that her team had another shot at McCort.
"We had another chance at them, and we wanted to make good for it," she said of the Lady Marauders' chance at redemption. "I think we handled the ball really well tonight. All of the team stepped up, made shots when we needed to, (and played) great defense when we needed to."
Querry tied for the leading scorer with 17 points while Ruggery chipped in with 16.
McCort rallied back, though, as Gianna Gallucci knocked down a 3-pointer on her way to scoring a team-high 17 points to help control the deficit at 15-11.
Querry's work continued with a pair of 3-pointers in the second, which helped the Marauders hold off another furious Crusher comeback.
Cami Beppler and Zoe Ferguson each drained a pair of putbacks, and an Elle Berkebile steal cut that margin back to one as the Lady Crushers trailed 28-27 at halftime.
"We couldn't get into our offense (in the third quarter)," Bishop McCort coach John Hahn said. "We thought we had to shoot real quick, and I kept telling the girls we want a good shot. I think we turned the ball over twice which is rare for us. That flipped their switch and we went into a shell for a bit."
The Marauders pulled away from there as they exploded for a 12-0 run to start the quarter. Alana Lightner drew a bonus free throw at one point to help with the run. She finished with 13 points.
Querry also added five points quickly in the outburst as she buried a 3-pointer, and knocked one down off another turnover for a 40-27 lead midway through the third.
McCort responded again as Beppler picked up the and-1 to help slow down the Marauders who led 50-36 after three.
"Definitely take time off the clock and get a good shot, get a layup," Querry said of the second-half rally. "We didn't need any bad shots. What happened last time was that we were shooting too quickly, and they came back."
In the fourth quarter, Adams, coming off a double team, found Lightner for a floater to help put the game away. Adams scored eight points, including one on a critical bucket in the fourth quarter.
"I was just trying to use my quickness," she said. "A lot of the big girls were coming up at me, and I liked having my teammates behind me to support the ball. The whole was just to beat them down the court and set up our offense from there."
The Lady Crushers didn't go quietly, though as Beppler added a jumper from the elbow late to cut the deficit down to two, but that's as close as they got.
Their reward is a trip to Penn State Altoona's Adler Arena on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. when they will take on Forest Hills in the final.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (65): Querry 7 0-0 17, Ruggery 6 4-4 16, Petrecca 3 1-2 7, Yesky 1 2-2 4, Lightner 6 1-1 13, Adams 3 0-0 8, Homan 0 0-0 0, Lechner 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26- 8-9 65
BISHOP MCCORT (58): Bailey 2 1-2 5, Gallucci 5 5-6 17, Zucco 4 0-2 8, Beppler 5 2-3 14, Berkebile 1 0-0 2, Ferguson 2 0-0 4, Preuss 3 0-0 8. Totals: 22 8-13 58.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bishop Guilfoyle 15 13 22 15 - 65
Bishop McCort 11 16 9 22 - 58
3-point field goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 5 (Adams 2, Querry 3), Bishop McCort 5 (Preuss 2, Gallucci 2, Beppler)
Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (21-2), Bishop McCort (22-1).