Lady Panthers keep season going
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RIDGWAY -- After falling behind 6-0 and trailing by as many as eight points late in the first quarter of Saturday's PIAA Class 1A first-round playoff game against District 9 runner-up Ridgway, the Northern Bedford girls basketball team found its footing, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
The Lady Panthers stormed back from an 18-10 deficit to tie the game by halftime (23-23), then held Ridgway to just eight second-half points in a 44-31 victory.
"We said all week in practice, 'long bus ride, we have to weather that first-quarter storm.' We knew it would come," Northern Bedford coach Jon Ewart said. "We just didn't want to let it get to double digits. A double-digit deficit was not going to be good for us. And we never let it get that far."
Ridgway senior Jenna Kasmierski drilled a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead an offense running on all cylinders in the first eight minutes. But the Lady Elkers offense disappeared after the promising start as Northern Bedford's defense held the hosts in check over the final three quarters.
Ridgway hit on just 5-of-36 from the field, a 13.9 shooting percentage, in the final 24 minutes of play. And Kasmierski was limited to just two more points the rest of the way.
"We gave Kasmierski, she's a heck of a shooter, a couple open looks," Ewart said. "We didn't close out as high as what I'd like to out of that. But the rest of the game we just locked ourselves in defensively. I'm very, very proud of our defensive effort."
Northern Bedford's Mariah Hall was the catalyst for the visitors as she tallied 22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
"She is definitely our go-to," Ewart said. "She doesn't necessarily vocally lead as much as I'd like her to, but she leads by example and the girls feed off her a little bit. She was, I'm sure not calm, but she looked pretty calm out there with the ball in her hands."
Hall kept her team in the game early on, scoring 10 or their 12 first-quarter points, and canned a pair of 3s in the second to help the Lady Panthers erase the eight-point deficit and go to the half tied 23-23.
"I knew (Hall) was a heck of a player, but she was a lot faster than what I saw on video watching her," Ridgway coach Jason Schreiber said. "She just had nice touch, a nice shot, she could drive. She was a really, really solid player.
"But their team was well prepared. They were good. We didn't answer. We started off really well and then we kind of fell off a little bit and just couldn't get things going again."
Northern took control in the second half with a 14-5 third quarter that could have been 14-2 had it not been for Lady Elker Gabrielle Amacher's off-balance trey at the buzzer.
Lady Panther Lacy McIlnay asserted herself in the paint in the third with seven of her nine points to take some of the offensive pressure off Hall, who netted four in the frame.
"We made an adjustment with our approach to the zone." Ewart said. "We decided to put her at the high post. She's a pretty consistent 15-foot jump shooter and she started hitting a few of those. And then of course, they had to help and she was able to dish and we had some shots at other places."
McIlnay was also a force on the boards as she led a dominant effort by the Lady Panthers, totaling 12 rebounds and helping Northern Bedford outrebound the Lady Elkers 13-6 in the third and 42-27 in the game.
"We rebounded our butts off," Ewart said. "We worked like crazy on the glass. Our post players (Lacy) McIlnay and (Lauren) Heck and (Alyssa) Yeatts got great position. And part of that offensively is we knew when our teammates were going to shoot. We were able to get ourselves in position and get a second opportunity."
In the fourth quarter, Ridgway was held to just three points, which were all scored by Sophia Fullem, who ended the day with seven points and eight rebounds.
"In the end they played really well," Schreiber said of Northern Bedford. "They took it to us, especially in the second half, and that's the way the game goes."
Ridgway ended its season with a record of 20-7.
Northern Bedford improved to 16-9 and advanced to the second round. The Lady Panthers play Union, a 59-18 winner over Port Allegany, Wednesday at Hempfield Area High School in Greensburg at 5:30 p.m. Union is the defending PIAA Class 1A champion.
NORTHERN BEDFORD (44): McIlnay 3 3-4 9, Yeatts 0 0-0 0, Heck 0 3-4 3, Swanseen 2 0-2 4, Hall 8 3-4 22, Love 2 0-2 6, Baker 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 15 9-16 44.
RIDGWAY (31): Bon 1 1-3 3, Vargas 1 0-0 2, Ellenberger 1 0-2 2, Amacher 2 0-0 6, Kasmierski 4 0-0 11, Fullem 3 1-4 7, Zameroski 0 0-0 0, MacAfee 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 12 2-9 31.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Northern Bedford 12 11 14 7 -- 44
Ridgway 18 5 5 3 -- 31
3-pointers: Northern Bedford 5 (Hall 3, Love 2); Ridgway 5 (Kasmierski 3, Amacher 2).
Records: Northern Bedford (16-9); Ridgway (20-7).