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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
LOYSBURG -- Northern Bedford coach Jon Ewart stresses just how important the start of each game and the start of the second half is to his team.
For the Lady Panthers, those two beginnings couldn't have been any more different as one was turnover filled and missed shots.
Meanwhile, the other, which came out of the half, began with a string of 11 unanswered points as NBC was able to seize complete control in knocking off Southern Fulton, 57-39, on Wednesday night in District 5 Class 1A semifinal action.
"We talk about the important minutes in a game," Ewart said. "... To start the game, the first two minutes are important but truthfully in my mind the most important part of the game is coming right out of halftime. Especially, if it's a tighter game, or even if it's a game where it's eight or 10 points. If you come out of the half and really take charge, it puts teams away. So, we made sure we were focused coming out of the half."
The two teams, which split a pair of close games in the regular season did not have a repeat performance.
Although, from the outset, it was hard to tell which one was the most ready for the current edition as the teams turned the ball over seven times apiece in the opening quarter.
The Panthers, who coughed up the ball on their first five offensive possessions, didn't see the ball go through until 5:47 when Alyssa Yeatts scored.
Southern got a Kamryn Pittman shot from five feet out a little over a minute in, but it also gave the ball away on four of the first seven trips.
NBC's Leah Swanseen made a layup with 19.8 left to give NBC a 9-8 edge heading into the second.
After not having played since Feb. 13, the Lady Panthers needed time to shake the rust off and they did as they began the second stanza with a 7-0 start.
"My biggest concern, as I told someone (Wednesday), was that they (Southern Fulton) had a huge advantage having played last Friday," Ewart said. "And, it's been 15 days for us. I'm basketball, when you're used to three days a week -- taking 15 days without a game gets you a little rusty."
NBC's Lauren Heck, who got loose underneath for eight points in the frame, played a pivotal role in the momentum-grabbing burst as the senior had layups on back-to-back trips down the floor before Yeatts banked in a 3-pointer with 6:34 on the clock to double the score at 16-8.
A layup by Southern's Andrea Elder snapped the streak, but the Panthers got two more from Heck and a free throw by Lacy McIlnay to stretch the lead to nine.
"We knew they (Southern Fulton) would be pressing us pretty heavy so we've worked on it for the last week," Ewart said. "(We told Heck), 'hey, you're going to be open. Make that nice cross and you'll be open. We've just got to finish out of that'. She did a fantastic job of that early on whenever they were pressing."
With 1:45 to go, the Lady Indians got within six (21-15) on an Elder bucket before NBC closed with six of the final eight on 3-pointers by Addie Love and Mariah Hall, who led her team with 12 points, to send the second seed into the half up 27-17.
"We knew that play (feed to Heck). We just didn't step up around like we should have to play defense on it," Southern Fulton coach Mina Wilt said. "They (Northern Bedford) did get a lot of points off of that. ... I thought we did better with it in the second half, but maybe by then it was a little too late."
The start to the third quarter could not be more different as Northern Bedford got five straight from McIlnay, and then back-to-back treys from Halle Baker and Hall to give it the largest lead of the night of 21 at 38-17 with 4:49 left on the clock.
While NBC was flourishing, Southern Fulton was floundering as it turned the ball over on four straight possessions to help keep the Panthers' spark going.
Southern's Claire Harvey, who paced all scorers with 21 points, converted a layup to stop the NBC onslaught.
Yeatts immediately pushed the lead back up to 21 on a layup before the Indians reeled off an 8-0 burst to pull within 13 (40-27) as Harvey accounted for four of those points.
That's as close as Northern Bedford allowed the third seed to get the rest of the way as it won the final stanza by a 15-12 margin.
"We want to come out hard every time too," Wilt said. "... We kept trying to push the ball and play our game. I think we failed with the rebounding too as we try to get a rebound and push it down the floor. But they (Northern Bedford) were getting two and three rebounds. That puts us in a bad spot too."
Northern Bedford improves to 15-8 and will meet Berlin Brothersvalley, a winner over Forbes Road, on Saturday at the UPJ SportsCenter for the championship starting at 2:30 p.m.
Southern Fulton, which fell to 15-9, needs to win the consolation on the same day and place at 1 p.m. against the Lady Cardinals to advance to the state playoffs.
SOUTHERN FULTON (39): Harvey 8 5-9 21, Pittman 3 0-0 6, McQuait 0 0-0 0, Stotler 2 0-0 4, Elder 4 0-0 8, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 5-9 39.
NORTHERN BEDFORD (57): Yeatts 4 0-0 9, McIlnay 2 4-5 8, Heck 4 0-2 8, Swanseen 2 2-4 7, Hall 4 2-4 12, Love 2 1-1 6, Baker 2 1-4 7, Detterline 0 0-0 0, Helsel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 10-20 57.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Southern Fulton 8 9 10 12 -- 39
Northern Bedford 9 18 15 15 -- 57
3-point field goals: Northern Bedford 7 (Hall 2, Baker 2, Yeatts, Swanseen, Love).
Records: Southern Fulton (15-9); Northern Bedford (15-8).