Lady Leopards fall to West Mifflin in key section battle, 38-34
Ed Thompson
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Rachel Wobrak dribbles past West Mifflin鈥檚 Falyn Carr (15) during Monday night鈥檚 game at Belle Vernon.
Ed Thompson
West Mifflin鈥檚 Emily Buchleitner (13) and Belle Vernon鈥檚 Vienna Bertram (25) lock arms as they fight for a loose ball during Monday night鈥檚 game at Belle Vernon.
Ed Thompson
West Mifflin鈥檚 Lauren Yuhas (0) defends against Belle Vernon鈥檚 Viva Kreis (30) during Monday night鈥檚 game at Belle Vernon.
ROSTRAVER TWP. 鈥� West Mifflin engineered a second-half comeback to defeat Belle Vernon, 38-34, in a Section 3-AAAA girls basketball nail-biter Monday night.
The victory pulls the Lady Titans (5-4, 7-8) into a fourth-place tie with BVA (5-4, 9-5) and gives West Mifflin a sweep of the season series and thus the tiebreaker edge over the Lady Leopards should the two teams finish even in the section standings.
鈥淭hat was a huge win,鈥� West Mifflin coach Scott Stephenson said. 鈥淲e overcame adversity and our leaders stepped up to play some quality minutes.鈥�
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Rachel Wobrak won the opening tip and made the opening basket and foul shot for an early 3-0 lead.
West Mifflin had a rough first quarter, committing eight fouls and several turnovers as the Lady Leopards took a 16-8 lead.
The Lady Titans rebounded in the second quarter and made it a closer game by outscoring the Lady Leopards 7-4 to trail 20-15 at halftime.
The complexion of the game changed in the third quarter.
鈥淲est Mifflin is aggressive in the zone, and when they switched to the zone, it caused us to turn the ball over,鈥� said Belle Vernon coach Ronnie Drennen.
The Lady Titans outscored the Lady Leopards 12-5 in the third quarter, taking the lead when Shelby Genes nailed a beautiful three-pointer.
West Mifflin had a narrow 27-25 lead heading into the final quarter.
鈥淎fter we took the lead in the third, I told them that it was their game in the fourth,鈥� said Stephenson.
Even though the Lady Titans only made three out their 10 foul shots in the fourth quarter, they still managed to hold off the Lady Leopards for the four-point win.
Belle Vernon had plenty of opportunities at the foul line, but only made 12 of 21.
鈥淭he foul shots are something that has hurt us, and we鈥檝e continued to practice those shots,鈥� said Drennen. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have our ups and downs, and tonight was definitely a down, but we鈥檙e going to get better.鈥�
Genes and Wobrak were the only players to hit double digits in scoring.