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CRESSON -- The Bishop Guilfoyle Academy Lady Marauders basketball team used freshman guard Layona Williams' heroics to post a 57-50 Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference victory over Penn Cambria at the Penn Cambria High School gymnasium on Friday.
Williams was inserted into the starting lineup Friday night due to another player's injury, and she capitalized, scoring a game-high 22 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter for BG, which bounced back from what had been an eight-point third-quarter deficit.
"This was the first game that I started this season, and I felt really nervous,'' Williams said. "But once I got comfortable, I felt good.''
Williams looked right at home in the starting lineup, giving the 2023-24 PIAA Class 1A state champion Lady Marauders another option in their run to defend their title this season.
"She's a special player,'' BG coach Kristi Kaack said of Williams. "This is just what we expected from her. She had a wonderful last summer in preparing for this season, and she had a great night tonight.''
Sophomore Anberlyn Petrecca scored 12 points for BG (11-2 overall, 9-1 in the conference), as the Lady Marauders wiped out what had been a 34-26 Penn Cambria lead with a 12-point third-quarter run to go ahead, 38-34 after three quarters.
"I really liked the way our players responded tonight,'' Kaack said.
Even so, the game was in the balance well into the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by junior Makenna McCoy gave Penn Cambria a 49-48 lead midway through the fourth before BG again bounced back to take a four-point, 53-49 lead on a 3-point shot by sophomore guard Maurie Querry and an inside bucket by Petrecca off a Williams feed.
BG held on down the stretch, with Petrecca making two foul shots on two trips to the line and Williams adding two more.
Penn Cambria (6-6, 3-5) got 15 points on five 3-pointers from sophomore guard Avery LeMaster, and a game-high seven rebounds from senior forward Addie Hite.
"It was a great atmosphere here tonight, first of all,'' Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmer said. "That (BG) is a really good team -- they're the defending single-A champions. We know that they are good, but I thought that our girls played their butts off tonight.
"We were trying to match their intensity, and (Williams) is a great athlete who did what she is supposed to do tonight, and that's a tribute to her.''
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (57): Ruggery 3 0-0 7, Yeskey 1 0-0 2, Petrecca 5 2-5 12, Querry 2 0-0 5, Williams 7 6-6 22, Haigh 1 0-0 2, Homan 2 0-0 5, Gofus 1 0-0 2. Totals - 22 8-11 57.
PENN CAMBRIA (50): Avery LeMaster 5 0-0 15, Saleme 2 2-2 8, Hite 2 0-0 5, McCoy 1 0-0 3, Ronan 0 0-0 0, Fisher 3 1-2 9, McConnell 1 0-0 3, Beard 1 2-4 4, Andersen 1 0-0 3, Avayah LeMaster 0 1-2 1. Totals - 16 6-10 50.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bishop Guilfoyle 10 13 15 19--57
Penn Cambria 8 17 9 16--50
3-point goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 5 (Williams 2, Querry, Ruggery, Homan); Penn Cambria 13 (Avery LeMaster 5, Saleme 2, Fisher 2, McConnell, Hite, McCoy, Andersen).
Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (11-2 overall, 9-1 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Penn Cambria (6-6, 3-5).
Officials: Anthony Brezovic, Brock Kauffman, Don Moss.