Lady Maples cruise in 47-17 win at Geibel
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Mapletown鈥檚 Taylor Dusenberry (11) goes up for a layup past Geibel Catholic鈥檚 Maia Stevenson (24) in the second quarter of Monday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic. Dusenberry scored a game-high 21 points in the Lady Maples鈥� 47-17 victory.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Mapletown鈥檚 Krista Wilson shoots in the lane in the second quarter of Monday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic. Wilson scored 16 points in the Lady Maples鈥� 47-17 win.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
The Lady Gators鈥� Morgan Sandzimier (10) attempts to drive the baseline as Mapletown鈥檚 Sydney Byrne (13) defends in the first quarter of Monday鈥檚 Section 2-A game against Mapletown at Geibel Catholic.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
The Lady Gators鈥� Maia Stevenson (24) applies defensive pressure to Mapletown鈥檚 Krista Wilson in the third quarter of Monday鈥檚 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. 鈥� The visiting Lady Maples shut out Geibel Catholic in the second quarter for a 30-4 halftime lead Tuesday night and Mapletown returned home with a 47-17 Section 2-A victory.
Mapletown clinched a WPIAL playoff berth with the victory. The Lady Maples improve to 4-3 in the section and 9-7 overall with three section games remaining against West Greene, Monessen and Jefferson-Morgan.
Mapletown defeated the Lady Rockets in their first meeting.
The Lady Rockets lost to Avella, 65-25.
Geibel Catholic coach Sara Larkin focused the Lady Gators鈥� defensive efforts on shutting down Mapletown center Krista Wilson, and her squad was able to frustrate the Lady Maples鈥� big girl for most of the game through the defensive effort of Maia Stevenson and her teammates.
Wilson finished with 16 hard-earned points. Stevenson led Geibel with nine points.
鈥淲e wanted to shut (Wilson) down. She ate us up in the first game,鈥� said Larkin. 鈥淪tevenson rocked it in the first half.鈥�
Mapletown led 14-4 after the first quarter. Solid defense, transition offense and poor shooting by the Lady Gators in the second quarter extended the visitors鈥� lead to 30-4 at halftime.
鈥淔or the most part, we were able to do what we wanted to do. We were a little sloppy,鈥� said assistant coach Kevin Painter, filling in for Kaitlyn Novak, who was out of town on business. 鈥淲e moved the ball better in the second quarter and got better looks (at the basket).鈥�
Painter said teams having been attempting to take Wilson out of the offense throughout the season.
鈥淎 lot of teams have tried to take away Krista in the last few games we played. We picked up on it and started to shoot outside,鈥� explained Painter.
The Lady Maples鈥� Taylor Dusenberry was able to score points in transition in the second and third quarters to finish with a game-high 21 points.
Geibel came out with more energy in the second half and was able to score 17 points in the final 16 minutes despite a running clock because of the mercy rule.
鈥淣ight and day,鈥� Larkin said of the difference between the first and second half. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough. They鈥檙e intimidated and lost composure a little bit in the first half.
鈥淭hey pulled it back together in the second half. I鈥檓 proud of them.鈥�
While Mapletown is in the thick of the push for a playoff berth, the Lady Gators are still seeking their first second win. Geibel slipped to 0-7 in the section and 2-15 overall.
Larkin, who is in her first year at Geibel, said she has seen improvement throughout the season.
鈥淭heir fundamentals have improved tremendously,鈥� praised Larkin. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I love about this team. They keep going.
鈥淭hey play hard for me.鈥�