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By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
MORRISDALE -- Wednesday night there was a little bit of figuring out the game for the Williamsburg girls' basketball team in their PIAA Class 1A second-round matchup against Elk County Catholic.
But once Laney Prough drained a putback to spark a 17-2 run the Lady Pirates never looked back as they drubbed the Lady Crusaders, 54-30, at West Branch High School.
That sets up a rubber match on Saturday as the Lady Pirates will face Berlin Brothersvalley at a site and time to be announced later today. The Mountaineers beat St. Joseph's from the WPIAL on Wednesday night.
Both teams split their first two matchups as Williamsburg won a close one at home while Berlin captured the Inter-County Conference championship game.
"We didn't turn back after we got some of the nerves out to start," Williamsburg coach Amy Hileman said. "We just clicked tonight. I'm so proud of our defensive effort. Every shot that they took was pretty much a contested shot. That gets to you after a while. Elk County is a good offensive team. They really work the ball, but we moved well on defense."
Leeanna Royer helped set off the explosion with a runner, and Ayla Hileman capped off the opening stanza with an NBA-range 3-pointer to give Williamsburg a 14-4 lead after the first.
In the second quarter, the run continued as Hileman added another from downtown to give her squad a 20-6 advantage.
She led all scorers with 16 points -- 12 from 3-point land --followed by Royer with 15
Elk County Catholic was held without a bucket in the second until about the midway point, as Sami Straub hit a floater that broke the drought. Syd Alexander led the Lady Crusaders with 10 points.
At the start of the second half, it was freshman Levada Gorsuch making her presence felt as she took a pass from Regan Prough for the layup to make it 28-10 early in the third. She scored eight of her 14 points there to give the Lady Pirates three in double figures.
"(She) really has stepped into this role," Amy Hileman said. "The varsity level is very physical. She has room to grow, but she's making her presence known. We push her hard in practice. We knew she had big shoes to fill because we lost Kendel (Norris) and Jayla (Woodruff).
"Playing in the summer at the (Blair Regional YMCA) and going against alumni, and tough teams there, it makes you grow up pretty quick."
Williamsburg held Elk County Catholic to single digits in the first three quarters to get the separation the Lady Pirates needed.
Hileman is looking forward to the chance to grab the season series against Berlin this weekend.
"We're going to be hungry to avenge the ICC loss," she said. "It's a physical game every time we play them. We have something we want to prove against Berlin."
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC (30): Mourer 1 0-0 2, Klawhun 2 0-0 5, Straub 3 2-2 8, Alexander 3 3-3 10, T. Newton 1 3-5 5, Pistner 0 0-0 0, P. Newton 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-10 30
WILLIAMSBURG (54): Hileman 5 2-2 16, Royer 5 5-7 15, Gorsuch 5 4-4 14, L. Prough 2 0-0 4, R. Prough 1 0-0 3, Ranali 1 0-0 2, Carper 0 0-0 0, A. Colbert 0 0-0 0, Frye 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 11-13 54.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Elk County Catholic 4 6 3 17- 30
Williamsburg 14 11 14 15 - 54
3-point field goals: Elk County Catholic 2 (Mourer), Williamsburg 5 (Hileman 4, R. Prough)
Records: Elk County Catholic (26-3), Williamsburg (26-3).
Officials: Jordan Forester, Ethan Vipond, Bill Barton