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By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
SIDMAN -- After having a stressful week trying to lock up the top seed in the District 6 Class 3A girls basketball playoffs -- and having to win two close games in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Tournament -- Forest Hills wasted no time putting away an old conference foe Thursday night.
The Lady Rangers jumped out to a 23-3 lead and never looked back as they pounded No. 8 Cambria Heights, 62-30, in the quarterfinal round at the Forest Hills Ranger Gymnasium.
"We really wanted to come out and take (Cambria Heights) down quickly," Lady Ranger Anna Burkey said. "We've really been working on (starting strong) out of the gate, getting on our (opponents), and playing well."
Their reward will be a visit from fellow LHAC member Central Cambria -- who eliminated Huntingdon in the other playoff game.
The Lady Rangers not only had an early outburst, but it was also a balanced once as they had eight players record a bucket in the opening stanza. Burkey powered much of that as she got a steal and converted a turnaround jumper for two of her game-high 12 points.
"We knew about (Sienna Kirsch), big scorer," Forest Hills coach Carol Cecere said. "We just came out and do what we typical tried to do with the pressing, and it went in our advantage."
The Lady Highlanders didn't register a field goal until late in the first on a Kirsch bucket on her way to tying for the game's leading scorer with 12 of her own.
"They're big, they're fast, they're strong, and they can shoot," Cambria Heights coach Isaac Vescovi said. "They're an awesome basketball team. That was probably one of our worst quarters of the season, but give them credit. That was their doing that it was our worst quarter."
Forest Hills piled on from there as Arissa Britt came up with a layup with a little under five minutes to play in the half to give the home team a 31-3 advantage.
Later in the frame it was Aivah Maul cleaning up the Ranger rebound for the putback and Olivia McLeary adding a jumper late in the half to give the Lady Rangers a 40-8 lead.
"One of our best assets is that everyone can shoot, everyone can drive, everyone can do what they need to do, and that's what makes our team so strong," Burkey said.
Kirsch scored just before the halftime break, but it wasn't enough to prevent the running clock to start the second half.
While the season has ended for the Lady Highlanders, they are in a spot where they will not be losing a senior to graduation. Vescovi is looking forward to taking advantage of the extra year with this year's team.
"We got the entire team back," he said. "We won four games last year; we won 13 games this year. We're looking to increase on that, keep building good habits for the beginning of the season next year."
CAMBRIA HEIGHTS (13-10): Kirsch 6 2-3 12, Gaida 2 1-2 7, Vinglish 0 0-0 0, Dutko 0 0-0 0, Rogal 1 0-0 2, Bender 0 0-0 0, Karlheim 0 0-0 0, Lamb 0 0-0 0, Nelen 1 0-0 3. Totals 11 3-5 30.
FOREST HILLS (22-2): Britt 3 0-0 6, Burkey 5 0-0 12, Henderson 2 0-0 4, Schriato 2 1-1 5, McLeary 4 0-0 10, Maul 3 0-0 7, Mo. Gdula 2 0-0 5, Spangler 4 0-0 8, Myers 1 4 1, Norton 0 0-0 0, Lashinsky 2 0-0 4, Valko 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 2-5 62.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Cambria Heights 3 7 9 11 - 30
Forest Hills 23 17 16 6 - 62
3-point field goals: Cambria Heights 5 (Gaida 2, Dutko 2, Nelen), Forest Hills 6 (Burkey 2, McLeary 2, Maul, Mo. Gdula)