Beard

CRESSON — When Penn Cambria opened a 19-point lead early in the third quarter against its county and Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference girls basketball rival Central Cambria Tuesday night, a one-sided victory for the Lady Panthers appeared to be in the offering.

Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmer knew better.

“We play in the toughest conference in the area,” Himmer said. “I put it right up there with the WPIAL. Night in and night out, it’s tough to play in this conference.”

Central Cambria managed to whittle its deficit to just three points, 49-46, with under two minutes left, before Penn Cambria was able to hold on for a 52-46 victory at the Penn Cambria High School gymnasium.

After a driving layup by junior standout Katie George — who finished the night with a game-high 25 points — pulled Central Cambria to within 49-46, the game was in the balance before Penn Cambria sophomore forward Sophia Beard drove the lane and scored an all-important bucket to give the Lady Panthers a two-possession, 51-46 lead with 1:27 remaining.

“I basically came down and hit a spin move and made (the shot),” said Beard, whose 13 points led a balanced Penn Cambria attack that also included 11 points from junior guard Avery Lemaster and 10 from sophomore guard Avayah Lemaster, who also corralled a game-high 11 rebounds.

“Everybody was hyped,” Beard added. “It was a really good moment.”

Avery Lemaster hit one of two free throws with 36 seconds left to provide the final margin of victory for Penn Cambria, which finished the regular season with a 17-5 record, including a 13-5 mark in the LHAC.

Himmer agreed that Beard’s field goal was pivotal.

“We were struggling offensively, and she managed to get through and provide a game-changer for us,” Himmer said.

With Beard scoring nine first-quarter points, Penn Cambria bolted to a 23-12 lead after one period. The Lady Panthers led by 10 points, 32-22 at intermission, then started the third quarter with a nine-point run that included a baseline jumper and a 3-point field goal by senior guard Makenna McCoy, and field goals by Beard and Avayah Lemaster.

“We talked tonight about wanting to set the tone early, and all eight of our girls bought into that,” Himmer said. “We had a great crowd here tonight, and our players seemed to feed off that.”

Nonetheless, Central Cambria would not agree to go off quietly into the night. Thanks largely to George, who scored 10 points in the third quarter and a total of 14 in the second half, the Lady Devils (17-5, 14-4) made a game of it, despite entering the fourth quarter down, 49-40.

George’s putback was followed by senior Alaina Long’s bucket off an inside feed from George, who then scored her driving field goal that made it a 49-46 game.

“Credit to Katie George for what she does,” Himmer said. “She put that team on her back tonight.”

It was only a shame for Central Cambria that the Lady Devils were faced with such a substantial third-quarter deficit.

“Katie had a really nice game,” Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said. “Penn Cambria had a really good start tonight – the kind of start that we wanted to have – and it was a comeback game for us all night.

“Our players showed a lot of fight tonight, but as a team, you definitely don’t want to have to dig yourselves out of that big of a hole,” Bracken added.

Penn Cambria earned the top seed for the District 6 Class 4A playoffs and will host either Westmont Hilltop or Juniata next Wednesday night.

“I’m just happy for our girls, playing their last regular-season home game, and starting and finishing strong,” Himmer said.

Central Cambria visits Bishop Guilfoyle Academy Thursday night for a semifinal-round matchup in the Laurel Highlands Conference tournament.

“We’re taking one game at a time, and we only wanted to think about Penn Cambria tonight,” Bracken said. “Bishop Guilfoyle has a very good program, and we know that playing them will definitely be a battle.”

CENTRAL CAMBRIA (46): George 8 7-9 25, Long 1 1-2 3, Ruddek 1 0-0 2, Grimaldi 0 3-4 3, Alexander 1 2-2 5, Hite 0 2-4 2, Snyder 3 0-0 6, Frederick 0 0-0 0. Totals – 14 15-21 46.

PENN CAMBRIA (52): Ronan 3 1-2 9, McCoy 2 0-0 5, Beard 6 0-0 13, Avayah Lemaster 4 2-6 10, Rabatin 1 0-0 3, Andersen 0 0-2 0, Fisher 0 0-0 0, Avery Lemaster 5 1-2 12. Totals -21 3-8 52.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Cambria 12 10 18 6–46

Penn Cambria 23 9 17 3–52

3-point goals: Central Cambria 3 (George 2, Alexander); Penn Cambria 7 (Ronan 2, Beard 2, Rabatin, Avery Lemaster, McCoy).

Records: Central Cambria (17-5 overall, 14-4 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Penn Cambria (17-5, 13-5).

Officials: Shawn Sinclair, Brock Kauffman, Chad Walsh.

JV: Central Cambria, 37-33. High scorers–Aubree Rickens, Megyn Stipanovich, PC, 13 apiece; Camryn Matlin, Ella McQuay, CC, 5 apiece.