Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Penn Cambria’s Adelyn Myers puts up a shot over Penn Cambria’s Rachel Fisher.

EBENSBURG — After what was a back-and-forth opening quarter against Penn Cambria, the Bishop Carroll Catholic Lady Huskies showed why they are starting to peak at the right time with the District 6 basketball playoff brackets starting to come into focus.

In a game that had big playoff implications for both teams, the Lady Huskies pulled away in the second and never looked back as they grabbed a 58-39 victory over the Lady Panthers at the Bishop Carroll gym.

Lady Husky coach John Strittmatter was proud of how his rotation — which was missing two players due to illness and injury –answered the challenge.

“I thought our zone was pretty effective tonight, and we were able to rebound off that zone,” he said. “We were able to box out and get them one chance at most shots. We were able to run the floor, and our kids are getting better and better every game. They’re starting to understand the game.”

The win put BC in a prime position to potentially host a District 6 Class 1A playoff game as it is currently No. 3.

The Lady Panthers did get off to a strong start as they took an 8-2 lead, but the Lady Huskies answered with six points from Emily Lucko to tighten the game to a 13-12 deficit. Lucko finished with 11 points.

Once the second quarter hit, Adelyn Myers started the BC explosion as she put away a feed with a little more than five minutes to play in the quarter as she scored nine of her 16 points. That put Bishop Carroll up 27-19 at the half.

“We just stopped making shots,” Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmer said. “We had some great looks, ran our offense — we just didn’t convert. (BC) got out and ran fast break. I don’t know how many fast-break points they had, but they ran the fast break very well.”

During that second quarter, Carroll outscored Penn Cambria, 15-6.

Ava Pablic then took over as she drew the bonus free-throw opportunity with just less than six minutes to play in the third quarter.

It took until a Rachel Fisher free throw in the third for the Lady Panthers to register any points in that frame. Fisher led all Penn Cambria scorers with eight points.

In the fourth, Pablic turned a steal into a bucket and drained a putback. She finished off her scoring with another and-1 as she scored 10 of her game-high 18 points.

“They’re starting to peak at the right time for a young group,” Strittmatter said of his team’s growth. “Most of my kids are sophomores. That’s a good sign. I tried to make the system simple so it’s not complex because they play better that way, and sometimes you have to do that depending on the kids you have.”

Himmer and the Lady Panthers don’t have a lot of time to dwell on the loss as they will play again Saturday afternoon at Tyrone in what could be a playoff preview.

“(Saturday’s) game probably will be the dictation between hosting and playing on the road in the first round of the playoffs,” Himmer said. “That will probably end up being the 4-5 game. The winner probably will get a home game and the loser will end up going on the road.”

Bishop Carroll wraps up the regular season on Monday at Johnstown.

PENN CAMBRIA (39): Ronan 0 2-4 2, Saleme 1 0-0 3, Hite 1 0-0 3, McCoy 2 0-0 4, Ave. LeMaster 2 1-2 5, McConnell 0 0-0 2, Ava. LeMaster 2 0-0 6, Fisher 3 1-2 8, Beard 3 0-0 6, Rabatin 0 0-2 0, Andersen 1 0-0 2. Totals –15 4-12 39.

BISHOP CARROLL (58): Delauter 2 0-0 4, Lucko 5 0-0 11, Miller 2 0-0 5, Ad. Myers 7 0-0 16, Pablic 5 6-9 18, Av. Myers 2 0-0 4. Totals — 23 6-9 58.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn Cambria 13 6 11 9 — 39

Bishop Carroll 12 15 12 17 — 58

3-point goals: Penn Cambria 5 (Saleme, Hite, Ava. LeMaster 2, Fisher), Bishop Carroll 6 (Lucko, Miller, Ad. Myers 2, Pablic. 2)

Records: Penn Cambria (9-9), Bishop Carroll (15-6).

JV: Penn Cambria, 38-18. High scorers–Makayla Bianconi, Bella Bianconi, PC, 9; Lily Strait, BC, 6.



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