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By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
EBENSBURG -- It was tough for the Central Cambria girls basketball team to come up with big scoring opportunities on Friday during the Dodson Electric "Light Up the Holidays" Tournament championship.
That gave Penns Manor the separation it needed as they Lady Comets grabbed a 49-39 win over the Lady Red Devils at the Central Cambria Gym.
"Their zone gave us some trouble tonight and I'm not really sure why," Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken. "I feel like we've seen zones before. We just seemed off offensively in the half-court offense tonight. I did think we picked it up in the second half, made a nice little run in the end. I'm very proud of them for not quitting, but we didn't have any rhythm in the half-court offense."
While the Lady Red Devils did drain a 3-pointer on the first possession, they went cold and the Comets' offense got going. Tournament MVP Alyssa Altemus, thanks to a fast break put away followed by Josslyn Bennett getting the bonus, put Penns Manor up 12-7 after the first.
Penns Manor's defensive dominance continued causing problems in the second quarter as Altemus, off a steal, got two more fast break chances for a 24-15 advantage at the half. Bennett also added a 3-pointer as she finished with 11 points.
Central Cambria cut into the deficit during the third as Abigail Sheehan and Alaina Long both buried a pair of 3s, but that only brought the Lady Red Devils to within eight at 35-27.
"They're a great shooting team, and that was one of our focuses in the zone," Penns Manor Jason Miloser. "I thought the girls did a good job of extending out and taking away some (shots). They still made shots, but I thought that we did a better job of contesting and did a better job especially in that second half of rebounding the basketball."
The Lady Comets' Katie Bertolino, with an and-1 and a floater later in the third, helped put the game on ice for the winners.
"I don't think we rebounded very well," Bracken said. "We talk about that a lot, and talk about everybody's rebounding, everybody's getting in there. We did not rebound very well. As a group, I think we have rebounded better. I do think this a game we will learn from and we will look back on it in February and we'll thank Penns Manor because we're going to learn and grow from it."
Altemus took a feed for layup with under a minute in the third to make it 35-27. She led all scorers with 19 points.
"They take long shots, it also means long rebounds," Miloser said. "That gave us the chance to get out and run. Once you get some of those easy ones, it seems like now things start to go better for you in the half court. I thought the girls did a great job of executing there. We were being more patient in the fourth quarter, waiting for the good shot. The girls were making good decisions and were able to pull away a bit there."
Bracken is proud of the month the Lady Red Devils produced, but knows more work remains as the season reaches the halfway point early next month.
"We've had some very big wins, good wins so far," she said. "We've had close games almost every night, and we have been successful. I would like to see us coming together a little bit more, improving our half-court offense. We have high hopes and expectations for the playoffs, and to do that, we have to keep working hard, and keep working toward our peak and I don't think we're there yet."
In the consolation game, Portage defeated Everett, 50-40. Kendall Bednarski led all scorers with 22 points followed by Britton Myher with 10. Lyla Levy led Everett with 17.
Mumaw from Penns Manor along with Alaina Long and Keria Link from Central Cambria were joined by Bednarski and Levy on the all-tournament team.
CONSOLATION
EVERETT (40): Colledge 1 0-0 2, Feathers 2 1-2 6, Wood 4 1-2 9, L. Levy 7 2-4 17, M. Levy 1 1-2 3, Robertson 0 0-0 0, Dodetto 0 0-0 0, Bowswer 0 1-2 1, Debolt 0 0-0 0, McCahan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 6-12 40.
PORTAGE (50): Myher 3 3-6 10, Burkett 1 0-0 2, Bagby 3 1-3 7, Bednarski 8 3-7 22, Burkett 1 0-0 2, Irvin 1 0-0 2, Krestar 2 0-0 5, Stancovich 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 7-16 50.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Everett…………………………………………………. 4 12 12 12 - 40
Portage…………………………………………….. 15 15 12 8 - 50
3-point field goals: Everett 2 (Feathers, L. Levy), Portage 8 (Myher, Bagby 3, Bednarski 3, Krestar).
Records: Everett (3-2), Portage (5-4).
CHAMPIONSHIP
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (39): Al. Sheehan 1 0-0 2, Ab. Sheehan 3 0-0 9, Long 3 0-0 9, Link 2 0-0 4, A. Ruddek 3 0-0 6, R. Ruddek 1 0-0 3, Barra 3 0-0 6. Totals: 16 0-0 39.
PENNS MANOR (49): Altemus 7 5-5 19, Bertolino 3 1-1 7, Bennett 4 2-3 13, Mumau 4 1-2 10, Fennell 0 0-0 0, Henry 0 0-0 0, Gillo 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 9-11 49.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Central Cambria………………………………. 7 8 12 12 - 39
Penns Manor……………………………………….12 13 11 14 - 49
3-point field goals: Central Cambria 7 (Ab. Sheehan 3, Long 3, R. Ruddek), Penns Manor 3 (Bennett 2, Mumau)
Records: Central Cambria (6-3), Penns Manor (8-2).
Officials: Shawn Sinclair, Damon Rickens, Pat Kirby