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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- For those of who were there a year ago, the Portage girls basketball team remembered what it was like to lose in a District 6 1A consolation game. You could tell just by how the Lady Mustangs played Thursday night in a dominating 65-24 win over Saint Joseph's.
"Last year left a bitter taste … the whole summer … and how we ended last year, it didn't play well with us," said Portage coach Lance Hudak, whose club was ousted by Williamsburg in the same game a year ago. "We didn't get out last year. These last two weeks, these girls are coming together."
They really came together against the Lady Wolves (20-5), especially Taylor Glass who for most of the night was actually out-scoring Portage's opponent by herself.
"She was really quick. She gets to the hoop and she really made things happen for them," said Saint Joe's assistant coach Carly Onkotz-Wheaton. "She goes to the hoop real strong. We definitely got hurt on the inside game. They drove all over us, especially in the first half."
Portage (16-9) trailed 4-3 early in the first quarter but that ended at the 6:12 mark on an Abbi Riskus layup. Glass, however, was just getting started as she totaled eight points in the frame as the Lady Mustangs took a 15-8 lead after one quarter.
"She was feeling it," Hudak said. "When she's feeling it, that's a good thing. When she is on offensively, she's an even better defensive player."
Using a full-court press and its man defense, Portage continued to build on its lead as Glass scored 10 more points in the second quarter while Riskus added two 3-pointers.
"We saw them on film and we didn't believe they had played many teams that were as fast as us or as skilled as us," Hudak said. "Our goal was to play 94 feet for as long as we needed to because they didn't have that deep of a bench, and it looked like we wore on them as the game went on."
Portage led 31-15 at halftime and Glass had out-scored the Lady Wolves herself, finishing with 18 first-half points. Selena Mann, the Lady Wolves go-to player down low, scored nine of her 15 points in the first half, but Portage was all over here whenever she got the ball.
"We thought Selena could dominate this game, but they were getting the double team on her. They played really aggressive defense, making it hard to get the ball to her," Onkotz-Wheaton said. "When we did got it to her, they doubled down on her."
Portage held Saint Joseph's -- who played without one of their other stars, Denaya Poston-Cooper, out with a knee injury the past two weeks -- to one field goal in the second half, and just nine overall points.
"I jokingly called them little gnats to my girls because that is how they were on defense. They were just really aggressive on the perimeter," Onkotz-Wheaton said.
SAINT JOSEPH'S (24): Simander 0 3-4 3, Mallison 0 0-0 0, Hershbine 1 0-0 2, Mangene 1 0-0 2, Scott 0 0-2 0, Weiss 0 0-0 0, Mann 5 4-8 15, Marsh 1 0-0 2. Totals -- 8 7-14 24.
PORTAGE (65): Dividock 3 0-0 7, Teno 0 0-0 0, Klein 0 0-0 0, Sease 0 0-0 0, Riskus 6 0-0 16, Phillips 0 0-0 0, Hudak 0 2-2 2, Chobany 2 0-0 4, Kissell 0 0-0 0, Alexander 0 0-0 0, Wozniak 0 0-0 0, Crum 0 0-2 0, Glass 13 5-5 34, Giordano 1 0-0 2. Totals -- 25 7-9 65.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Saint Joseph's 8 7 5 4 -- 24
Portage 15 16 20 14 -- 65
3-point goals: Saint Joseph's 1 (Mann), Portage 8 (Dividock, Riskus 4, Glass 3)
Records: Saint Joseph's (20-6), Portage (16-9)
Officials: Ron Williams, Joe Hanna, John Manziel