Basketball

Lady Tigers dig huge hole in first in loss

By Ron Musselman

For The Mirror

JOHNSTOWN -- Diminutive Armstrong point guard Emma Paul certainly stood tall against Hollidaysburg Wednesday night.

The 5-foot-3 senior, a four-year starter, scored 23 of her game-high 30 points in the first half as the River Hawks cruised to 54-39 victory over the Lady Tigers in the second round of the PIAA playoffs.

Paul connected on four 3-pointers and several uncontested layups in the opening half of play at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown's Sports Center.

About the only thing she did wrong in a near-perfect 16 minutes against the Lady Tigers was miss the front end of a three-shot foul opportunity.

"Emma Paul is obviously a very good player," Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said.. "She was lights out. I think that took the wind out of our sails a little when she was shooting as well as she did."

The River Hawks raced to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter, as Paul and 6-foot-2 center Kyla Fitzgerald combined for 12 points.

Hollidaysburg, seeking its first second-round PIAA victory since 1994, had six turnovers and made just two of nine shots and trailed 19-4 after one quarter.

Paul, who has made more than 200 career 3-pointers, scored 11 points in the first quarter and 12 in the second to stretch the River Hawks' lead to 35-18 at halftime.

Paul also is the star shortstop on the school's softball team and helped lead Armstrong to a runner-up finish in the PIAA Class 5A tournament in 2021.

"(Emma's) a once-in-a-generation kind of player," Armstrong coach Jim Callipare said. "She does so many things and she does them well. She's the engine that drives our motor. I don't know if there's a better player in (Class) 5A in the WPIAL."

The Lady Tigers trailed by as many as 25 points in the third quarter before making a little run,

Hollidaysburg (23-4), which had its three-game winning streak snapped, scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter and got to within 15 late in the game.

Sophomore guard Makenna Weimert did all of her scoring in the fourth quarter and tied junior guard Lauren Stevenson for team scoring honors with nine.

"The fire was under our belts a little bit too late," Jubeck said. "We needed it for 32 minutes. That fire came when it was about over.

"For the most part, we had a good season. We had been talking since last year about getting back to the district championship and winning it, and we did that. We won our first-round game, but now we got to focus a little more so we can get over this hump."

Armstrong's first-ever journey into the PIAA playoffs will continue Saturday when the River Hawks play McKeesport, a 48-27 winner over Indiana, in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Armstrong (23-3), which also got 13 points from Fitzgerald, has won 18 of its past 19 games, the only loss coming to South Fayette in the WPIAL championship game.

"We feel like we're playing with house money now and we just want to keep it going the best we can," Callipare said. "We came out on a mission tonight. We shut them down; our defense was excellent. We had a good game plan. The kids executed very well. We scored some buckets.

"Emma Paul led the way, again breaking them down with her dribble penetration and making some shots. That's a very, very good Hollidaysburg team., We expected a nailbiter one way or the other. And then we jumped out like that (in the first half). They had a couple of runs and we withstood that."

HOLLIDAYSBURG (39): DiPangrazio 1 0-0 3, Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Yohn 2 0-0 4, Stevenson 3 1-2 9, Vent 3 0-2 6, Padamonsky 1 5-8 7, Sidney 0 1-2 1, Weimert 4 0-1 9. Totals -- 14 7-15-39.

ARMSTRONG (54): Paul 9 8-10 30, Mellish 0 0-0 0, DiGregorio 0 0-0 0, Fitzgerald 4 5-8 13, Yancy 2 0-4 5, Weaver 2 2-2 6, Allensworth 0 0-0 0. Totals - 17 15-24 54.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hollidaysburg 4 14 5 16 - 39

Armstrong 19 16 12 7 - 54

3-point field goals: Hollidaysburg 4 (Stevenson 2, DiPangrazio, Weimert). Armstrong 5 (Paul 4, Yancy).

Records: Armstrong (23-5), Hollidaysburg (23-4).

Officials: Vicki Markiewicz, Teri Piatak, Julie Slavik.

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