With all five starters returning from last season’s team, Carroll has some unfinished business ahead of it this year, and the Lady Huskies have been doing their part through the first half of this season to stay on pace.

Carroll improved to 16-1 overall and 12-1 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference by placing four players in double figures Thursday night, en route to posting an 82-51 victory over Johnstown at the Bishop Carroll High School gymnasium.

Thursday’s team effort left first-year Carroll coach Nick Smith plenty satisfied.

“They’re making me look good,” Smith quipped. “We played a heck of a game for all 32 minutes tonight. We played good defense, we had good offense, we moved the ball around. I couldn’t be happier with tonight’s effort.”

01/21/26 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Bishop Carroll's Adelyn Myers beats Greater Johnstown's Zayona Thomas to a loose ball.

It is efforts like Thursday’s that will keep Carroll in contention in the PIAA Class 1A girls state tournament playoff field again this year.

“Our goal is to get back to where we were last year, and win the game that we lost,” said Smith, who took over Carroll’s coaching reins this season after veteran coach John Strittmatter directed last season’s Carroll team to the state semis. “But we also know that it will be a difficult task, because the Laurel Highlands Conference is a very competitive conference night in and night out.”

Junior Adelyn Myers scored a game-high 21 points for Carroll and collected nine rebounds to share game-high honors in that category with junior teammate Ava Pablic, who also scored 14 points for the Lady Huskies.

Sophomore forward Emily Lucko chipped in 17 points for Carroll, while senior guard Madison Delauter scored 12.

“It’s always a good game for us when we spread the ball around,” Smith said. “We trust our players to make good decisions out on the floor, and we trust them to score points.”

Carroll took command of the game with a 13-point first-quarter run that expanded their 8-5 lead to 21-5.

Delauter started the surge with a 3-pointer, and Myers added three consecutive buckets on a put-back, a fast-break layup, and a jumper from the key before Lucko hit two free throws and junior Avery Myers scored from the paint to conclude the run.

“We just kind of had that slow start, and they were playing so well,” Johnstown coach Xavier Thomas said of the first quarter. “Any of their five starters is able to score the basketball, and the biggest thing is that everybody was able to make shots for them.

“We struggled on the offensive boards and missed several layups, and they capitalized on their end,” Thomas added. “When we got behind, our players started pressing and trying to make things happen.”

Carroll converted 29 of its 51 floor shots for a sizzling 56.8 percent clip and fashioned a 37-27 edge in rebounds. Johnstown (9-7, 7-6), was led by senior center NaLonai Tisinger’s game-high 23 points and 12 points from senior guard Zayona Thomas.

Tisinger and junior guard Marcella White fronted Johnstown in rebounds with seven apiece, while Johnstown converted only 19 of its 59 floor shots for 32.2 percent.

Carroll, which next plays Tuesday night in a conference matchup at Richland, has its sights set on winning both conference and district championships, as well as a state title, later this year.

“Johnstown is a great team but our shots were falling tonight and we had a total team effort,” Smith said. “This is the type of performance that we’re going to need to make a run at this thing this year.”

JOHNSTOWN (51): Zayona Thomas 4 4-6 12, Hardison 2 0-0 5, Tisinger 10 3-6 23, Reed 1 1-2 4, Jeffers 1 0-0 2, White 1 2-2 5, E. Cypher 0 0-0 0, Morrison 0 0-0 0, Wilson 0 0-0 0, Zayla Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals – 19 10-16 51.

BISHOP CARROLL (82): Delauter 4 2-2 12, Pablic 4 4-5 14, Av. Myers 4 0-2 8, Ad. Myers 9 0-2 21, Lucko 4 9-10 17, Miller 3 2-2 8, C. Myers 1 0-0 2, R. Myers 0 0-0 0, Saxion 0 0-0 0, Strait 0 0-0 0, Strittmatter 0 0-0 0. Totals – 29 17-23 82.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Johnstown 9 16 13 13–51

Bishop Carroll 23 18 19 22–82

3-point goals: Johnstown 3 (Hardison, Reed, White); Bishop Carroll 7 (Ad. Myers 3, Delauter 2, Pablic 2).

Records: Johnstown (9-7 overall, 7-6 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Bishop Carroll (16-1, 12-1).

Officials: Don Moss, Brandon Ashurst, Corey Theys.

JV: Johnstown 47-46. High scorers–Emma Cypher, J, 11; Aiyana Saxion, BC, 13