PATTON — Portage girls basketball under Lance Hudak is known for its full-court press and chaotic style of quick play.

That energy seemed to be missing Tuesday in a Heritage Conference tilt with Cambria Heights, which opened the game on a 13-0 run and never looked back in a 57-44 triumph.

“Do I attribute it a little bit to being cooped up the last couple days and not being in the gym?” Hudak said. “We came out looking like that. But Cambria Heights is in the same boat. That was not a good start to get down 13-0.”

Cambria Heights built its lead to 20 in the first half behind a balanced effort led by Kinley Rogal, Lilly Karlheim and freshman Brienna Kirsch.

Fellow freshman Julia Karlheim added six points and 14 rebounds.

“Bri put up 20 tonight with five 3-pointers, and for a freshman those are great numbers,” Cambria Heights coach Eric Thomas said. “Julia works underneath and is our leading rebounder. To have those freshmen do what they have been doing is pretty special.”

The victory kept the Lady Highlanders in the hunt for the second playoff spot on their side of the Heritage Conference. Cambria Heights needs to beat Northern Cambria and win on the road at Portage Friday and hope the Lady Mustangs lose to either United tonight or Conemaugh Township on Thursday.

Portage could still be the top seed on its side of the conference playoffs if it wins out.

“This is a big week for us,” Hudak said. “We’re playing four straight. We have played ourselves in a position to be in the conference playoffs and the district playoffs. We have to have a short memory and wake up tomorrow and be ready to battle United out in Armagh.”

Kirsch scored 11 of Cambria Heights’ 13 points to start the game, and her layup with 4:58 to play in the first quarter led to a timeout by Hudak.

“We were down big, and they were scoring in transition against the press,” Hudak said. “My thinking was to get out of it and pick it up at halfcourt and try to make some stops that way, but tonight I am not sure if that was a good adjustment either. We like to play fast and make teams uncomfortable, but tonight it didn’t go our way.”

Lilly Karlheim, who scored 16 points, opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but Portage responded with eight straight points to cut the Lady Highlanders’ advantage to 37-27.

But Rogal scored six of her 12 points down the stretch of the third quarter to extend the lead up to 22.

“We did come out in the third quarter and played well to get it down to 10,” Hudak said. “But then they made a couple plays, and there were a couple missed opportunities on our end, and we were looking at 16 again. We just didn’t put it together tonight. We didn’t shoot very well and didn’t defend very well, but I just told the girls what was really glaring was the boards. They had many second or third chance opportunities, and we were really limited to one shot.”

Rogal and Markie Bender serve as the senior leaders for Cambria Heights.

“Kinley has really become a finisher this year where last year she got those drives but wasn’t always finishing,” Thomas said. “This year, she usually is finishing. Lilly (Karlheim) is getting it together after struggling earlier in the season, and her defense is looking really good. Markie (Bender) is such a hustler. She doesn’t score a lot of points usually, but she does a good job rebounding.”

The Lady Highlanders do not sub out often but appeared to be the team with more energy throughout the night.

“For the style that we play, they know they have to be in good shape,” Thomas said. “We pretty much go man-to-man for full games and look to run when we can. They do a great job of putting the work in.”

Cambria Heights improved to 10-8 and 8-6 in the Heritage. The Lady Highlanders lost by nine to Marion Center and by two to Penns Manor — the top two teams on the other side of the conference. They also lost to PIAA Class 1A state powers Saint Joseph’s by seven and Williamsburg by 10 and lost to the current top team on their side of the conference United twice — once by two and once by one.

“When you look at our conference losses, I think I added those up once and it was under 20 points if you added up how much we have lost all the games together was,” Thomas said. “We have lost a lot of games by one or two and have been right in games and just not finished. I’m hoping that it corrects itself at the end here. This is when you want to be playing your best ball, and I think we are playing pretty good ball right now.”

PORTAGE (44): C. Burkett 1 1-2 3, Myher 2 2-2 6, Bagby 2 0-0 5, Bednarski 4 2-4 11, B. Burkett 0 0-2 0, Irvin 2 0-2 5, Stancovich 0 0-0 0, Krestar 5 0-0 12, Burda 1 0-0 2, Smith 0 0-0 0, A. Burkett 0 0-0 0, Harsh 0 0-0 0, Noel 0 0-0 0, Myers 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 5-12 44.

CAMBRIA HEIGHTS (57): Rogal 6 0-0 12, Bender 1 1-2 3, L. Karlheim 5 5-6 16, J. Karlheim 2 2-2 6, Kirsch 7 1-1 20, Abrams 0 0-0 0. Totals — 21 9-11 57.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Portage 6 13 11 14 — 44

Cambria Heights 18 16 18 5 — 57

3-point goals: Portage 5 (Krestar 2, Bagby, Bednarski, Irvin); Cambria Heights 6 (Kirsch 5, L. Karlheim).

Records: Portage (11-7, 9-4 in Heritage); Cambria Heights (10-8, 8-6 in Heritage).

Officials: Jarryd Burkett, Christopher Walter, Jill Helsel.

JV: Portage, 45-18. High scorers–Burda, P, 12; Ryan/Lidwell, CH, 6.