Lady Raiders derailed
Turnovers doom Waynesburg in loss at Beaver Falls
McMURRAY 鈥� The Waynesburg Central girls basketball team knew it had a tall mountain to climb Wednesday evening in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals at AHN Arena at Peters Township High School.
Yes, the Lady Raiders were fresh off an impressive win in the first round last Friday night at home against Deer Lakes. And, yes, they were sporting a 21-2 regular-season record. What they faced Wednesday was an entirely different situation.
The opponent was Beaver Falls, owner of a 21-1 record and the No. 2 seed in this tournament. Unfortunately for seventh-seeded Waynesburg, the Lady Tigers were able to shake off a slow start and get to their game en route to a 68-45 win that sends them to the semifinals next week.
The Lady Raiders (21-3) drop into the consolation bracket and play at No. 6 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 7 p.m. Friday, with the winner securing a spot in the PIAA tournament.
Waynesburg played on even terms with the Lady Tigers (22-1) for much of the opening quarter as Peyton Cowell was able to work past the tough Beaver Falls defense for six first quarter points as the Lady Raiders forged an early 10-9 lead. But the Lady Tigers closed the quarter on an 8-0 run that was spearheaded by their full-court press defense.
The run became 10-0 in favor of Beaver Falls until back-to-back baskets by Cowell and Emma Blair cut the gap to 19-14 early in the second quarter. But Beaver Falls was undaunted as it went on a staggering 21-2 spurt that was again keyed by its unrelenting pressure defense.
Dreaven Haskins paced the Tigers in the first half scoring 11 points, most of which coming on transition layups.
Beaver Falls forced 15 first half turnovers, which led to a 23-6 advantage in points in the second quarter and a 40-16 halftime lead.
鈥淚f we take better care of the basketball, that鈥檚 a different game in my opinion,鈥� Waynesburg coach Mark Capozzoli remarked. 鈥淚鈥檇 say about 80 percent of their offense comes off turnovers. Cut those down and we would have been right there.鈥�
For the game, the Lady Raiders turned the ball over 27 times.
Waynesburg worked to get closer in the third as it cut a 24-point deficit down to 18 thanks to baskets by Cowell and four points from Blair but could get no closer.
Beaver Falls kept the Lady Raiders at bay thanks to the scoring of Haskins, Kiyah Tymous and Zakyhia Slade as they closed out the second half.
Haskins led all scorers with 17 points while Tymous and Slade finished with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Cowell led Waynesburg with 15 points, freshman Tess Pauley followed with 12 and Emma Blair added nine.