Geibel fights off gritty Lady Rockets, 55-48
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. 鈥� The pesky Jefferson-Morgan girls wouldn鈥檛 go away Monday night, but Geibel Catholic, behind Emma Larkin鈥檚 30-point performance, managed to fend off the visitors for a 55-48 Section 2-A victory.
The Lady Gators (11-3) close the first half of section play with a 4-1 record. Jefferson-Morgan slips to 0-4 in the section and 2-12 overall.
Both teams got off to a slow start with the Lady Rockets holding the early advantage.
Emma Larkin also started slow, but scored nine points in the second half of the quarter. Ava Henderson helped the Lady Gators stay in the game early with five points. Ava Partridge added a field goal as the Lady Gators held a 16-15 lead heading into the second quarter.
鈥淪ome days, it鈥檚 not your day. It was one of those days for us,鈥� said Geibel Catholic coach Sara Larkin.
Geibel extended its lead to 31-21 at halftime by spreading the offense around. Emma Larkin hit a pair of 3-pointers, Jenna Buchheit scored six points and Partridge hit a 3-pointer.
鈥淎va (Partridge) was taking shots she needed to take,鈥� said Sara Larkin. 鈥淲ith the defense teams play on Emma and Ava (Henderson), we鈥檙e playing 3-on-2. The other girls need to be confident and take advantage of what they give us.
鈥淟ast year, with Maia (Stevenson) and Amanda (Hoffer), we were able to take advantage of that.鈥�
Henderson was in double figures with 10 points.
The Lady Gators held a 15-12 advantage in the third quarter for a 46-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Larkin scored 12 points in the quarter, but also picked up her third foul with 4:28 left in the quarter.
Jefferson-Morgan didn鈥檛 go away quietly, however, cutting into the double-digit deficit. Although she picked up her fourth foul, Larkin remained in the game and scored key points to stymy any late run by the visitors.
Sara Larkin did not pull her leading scorer after the third or fourth foul. Emma Larkin鈥檚 first and fourth fouls were offensive charging calls.
鈥淚鈥檓 confident in her ability to be smart,鈥� said Sara Larkin. 鈥淵ou have good games and bad games. (Emma) knows it and has to be better. She was a little frantic out there.
鈥淓mma has to be the leader out there. She was tired and beat up a little. She just needs to be patient.鈥�
Jefferson-Morgan coach Mike Larkin felt his squad did not have a strong shooting performance from the field.
鈥淪hooting was our weakness. It was a combination of selection and getting shots to fall,鈥� said Mike Larkin.
Kayla Larkin led Jefferson-Morgan with 17 points. Ali Ostrich added 12.
The Lady Rockets did a good job of limiting Emma Larkin鈥檚 slashing layups and 3-point opportunities. When Larkin did find a gap in the lane, it closed quickly and the Geibel sophomore had to fight for every foot.
鈥淲e followed through with our game plan. We got a lot of movement back and forth on defense,鈥� said Mike Larkin.
Sara Larkin believes the Lady Gators have improved from the opening tournament, and expects that improvement to continue in the second half of the season.
鈥淔rom the team perspective, we鈥檝e made some good progress. Jenna (Buchheit) is moving better. She just started playing basketball last year,鈥� said Sara Larkin. 鈥淕ionna (Holonich) is being more aggressive.
鈥淚 can see the progression. We鈥檙e moving in the right direction.鈥�