Heroic effort: Durbin pours in 31 but Lady Pioneers fall to Portage
West Greene鈥檚 Anna Durbin attempts a jump shot against Portage during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College. Durbin scored a game-high 31 points but the Lady Pioneers lost, 60-51. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Katie Lampe heads up court after making a steal against Portage during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Kasie Meek battles two Portage players for a loose ball during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
West Greene's Lexi Six pump fakes to get Portage's Ashlyn Hudak up in air during Wednesday night's PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
West Greene's Brooke Barner (40) and Madison Gaso trap Portage's Ashlyn Hudak聽during Wednesday night's PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene coach Jordan Watson has a discussion with an official during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game against Portage at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Portage鈥檚 Alex Chobany (10) defends West Greene鈥檚 Anna Durbin during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College. Chobany had a team-high 17 points in the Mustangs鈥� 60-51 win. Durbin scored a game-high 31 points for the Lady Pioneers.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Katie Lampe gets off a 3-point attempt despite the defense of Portage鈥檚 Cami Burkett (22) during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College. Lampe scored nine points on three 3-pointers but the Lady Pioneers lost, 60-51.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 BreAnn Jackson grabs a loose ball during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game against Portage at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Brooke Barner attempts a shot as Portage鈥檚 Ashlyn Hudak defends during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Anna Durbin is ahead of the pack as she takes off on a fast break during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game against Portage at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Kiley Meek pulls down a rebound against Portage during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene coach Jordan Watson draws up a play during a timeout in Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game against Portage at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Katie Lampe (left) and Portage鈥檚 Cami Burkett leap for the ball during Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene players and coach Jordan Watson react after the Lady Pioneers鈥� 60-51 loss to Portage in Wednesday night鈥檚 PIAA playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
CRESSON 鈥� In playoff basketball one small lapse can be crucial in the outcome of a game.
West Greene suffered one of those lapses late in the second quarter when it saw a five-point lead disintegrate into a four-point deficit against Portage on Wednesday night.
The Lady Pioneers never recovered from the quick turn of events and the Mustangs went on to a 60-51 victory in a PIAA Class A girls basketball first-round playoff game at Mount Aloysius College.
Anna Durbin poured in a game-high 31 points for West Greene but it wasn鈥檛 enough to give the Lady Pioneers their first state win in program history. West Greene has qualified for the PIAA playoffs five times in the last six years but doesn鈥檛 have a win to show for it.
While Durbin did most of the damage for the Pioneers, Portage (22-5) had a more balanced scoring attack led by Alex Chobany with 17 points, including a 12-of-15 performance from the foul line. Arianna Wozniak and Brooke Bednarski followed with 13 and 11 points, respectively. The Mustangs also got seven points each from Sydni Sossong and Ashlyn Hudak.
The Lady Pioneers (18-5) held a 24-19 lead late in the second quarter but Portage got a jump shot by Hudak, a 3-pointer and two free throws from Chobany and two foul shots from Wozniak to cap a nine-point run in seizing a 28-24 halftime lead.
鈥淭hat was the big turning point in the game,鈥� West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. 鈥淲e missed a layup, ran one play wrong and they got a couple baskets there. I think there were 32 seconds left, we tried to hold for one shot, didn鈥檛 do it, turned it over.
鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 finish the half. We should鈥檝e had the lead or been tied at halftime.鈥�
Portage coach Lance Hudak credited his team鈥檚 defense for turning the tide.
鈥淥ur kids play defense,鈥� Hudak said. 鈥淭hat was key there.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e an unselfish group. Each night somebody else is stepping up, doing big things for us. I鈥檓 really proud of our kids and their effort.鈥�
The funk the Lady Pioneers were in at the end of the second quarter carried over into the second half. The Mustangs opened the third quarter with a 14-2 run to give them their biggest lead, 42-26.
Most of Portage鈥檚 baskets in the spurt came on drives and dishes for easy layups while West Greene was missing shots from in close at the other end.
鈥淲e started the third quarter poor,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why. We didn鈥檛 come out of the locker room well.
鈥淥verall, we just missed too many bunnies. We had to have missed 20 layups. That鈥檚 40 points.鈥�
Portage was up 44-31 after three quarters and held a seemingly safe 15-point lead, 54-39, with 2:22 left in the game.
The Lady Pioneers kept battling and whittled the gap down to seven twice.
Katie Lampe hit a 3-pointer and Kasie Meek made one of two free throws to make it 54-47 with 1:13 remaining and Durbin, who had 16 points in the fourth quarter, sank two foul shots to make it 56-49 with 54 seconds left but West Greene could get no closer.
鈥淗eck of a game by West Greene,鈥� Hudak said. 鈥淲e knew how tough they were. We鈥檙e just happy we got out of here with a win.鈥�
Watson wasn鈥檛 surprised his team fought to the final second.
鈥淥ur shirts always say Press Greene, 32 minutes of hustle,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e compete till the end. We believe we have a chance till the end.鈥�
Durbin鈥檚 31-point effort included a pair of 3-pointers and nine free throws in 12 attempts. Lampe followed with three 3-pointers for nine points. Lexi Six and Kiley Meek tallied four points apiece, Brooke Barner had two points and Kasie Meek capped West Greene鈥檚 scoring with one point.
鈥淭hese seniors have had a great career,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淭his senior class of Anna Durbin, Katie Lampe, Brooke Barner, Kiley Meek, BreAnn Jackson and Jordan Karvan, who was hurt this year, has won 82 games. They won four section titles and went undefeated in our section four times. Anna got 1,000 points.
鈥淥bviously it didn鈥檛 end the way we wanted it to. But there鈥檚 a lot to be proud of.鈥�