Lady Warriors rally to defeat short-handed LH
Laurel Highlands had Elizabeth Forward on the ropes, but the Lady Warriors rallied for a 60-56 victory Monday night in Class 4A Section 3 play at Harold 鈥淗orse鈥� Taylor Memorial Gymnasium.
The Lady Mustangs were playing without one of their top players in senior Aryianna Sumpter, but the duo of Miya Harris and Aierra Jenkins more than picked up the slack in combining for 43 points.
Harris scored the game鈥檚 first 11 points and finished with a game-high 25, and Jenkins had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
鈥淢iya and Aierra took control of the game when we needed it,鈥� Laurel Highlands coach Stewart Davis said. 鈥淢iya had a really good defender on her that was pressing up on her the entire game. It shows that Miya can handle the ball and still get her points.
鈥淥nce (Aryianna) Sumpter comes back, we鈥檒l spread the floor and those girls won鈥檛 have so much pressure on them.鈥�
Sumpter was injured Friday in a game against Morgantown, W.Va., in a tournament at University High.
鈥淪he should be out a good week,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淪he鈥檒l take off the next game and probably miss the Christmas tournament we are in down at Latrobe. We will play Latrobe and Indiana, who are two teams that are ranked. We will come back stronger when she comes off the crutches and is ready to go.鈥�
Despite trailing by 11 mid-way through the first quarter, Elizabeth Forward (2-0, 3-3) outscored Laurel Highlands (0-2, 4-3) by nine in the second-half of the period to cut the deficit to 14-12 after the first.
鈥淓F is always going to be in the top of the conference,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭hey are just one of those teams you have to get through. They showed that they wanted to win.
鈥淚 think in the beginning, they looked at us like we鈥檙e down a soldier, and they were kind of laxed and didn鈥檛 know we were going to come at them like we did, and I think we shocked them, and it was a battle.鈥�
The Lady Mustangs extended their advantage to 29-23 at halftime and 39-32 after three quarters before the Lady Warriors outscored the home team, 28-17, in the fourth period.
鈥淚 definitely would have liked to start a little better, but (Miya) Harris is a great player and she got off to a quick start,鈥� Elizabeth Forward coach Noah Yartin said. 鈥淲e just chipped away at it. I have been on our girls about being mentally strong, and they showed that tonight.鈥�
Laurel Highlands had a 44-34 lead with 5:29 left in the game before Elizabeth Forward went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to four.
Jenkins鈥� picture-perfect pass to Harris gave the Lady Mustangs a 46-40 advantage before Mia Sostaric hit a three-pointer.
Michelle Jellison scored two of her team-high 16 for the Lady Warriors and Sostaric gave her team their first lead of the contest with 2:34 remaining at 47-46.
鈥淚 just thought we rushed a little bit,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭hey pressed up on us, we sped up and turned the ball over. Overall, I鈥檒l give credit to EF. We just have to get better in a situation when we are up to hold the ball.鈥�
Laurel Highlands never regained the lead, but cut the deficit to 54-53 with 35 seconds left when Harris banked in a three-pointer.
Chloe Zombek made two free throws and Kaelynn Settles scored inside to push Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 advantage to 58-53 with 14 seconds remaining. Settles put in 15 points.
A technical foul against the Lady Warriors put Harris at the line, and she made both free throws and the Lady Mustangs had the ball with a chance to hit a game-tying three-pointer.
Elizabeth Forward put Jenkins on the line, and after making the first, she intentionally missed the second to give Laurel Highlands a chance, but the Lady Warriors pulled down the rebound and Jellison hit two free throws to ice the game.
Zombek scored 14 points, and was 7 of 8 from the line in the fourth quarter. Sostaric added 12 points.
鈥淐hloe (Zombek) was awesome from the line,鈥� Yartin said. 鈥淚t was Chloe鈥檚 night for sure from the foul line. She鈥檚 a good foul shooter, but she really locked in today.鈥�
The Lady Mustangs will look to get back on track Thursday when they travel to Southmoreland (1-1, 3-5) in a section game at 7:30 p.m.
鈥淢y girls just battled four straight games in five days,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淲e played top-caliber teams that were all playoff teams. The games we lost were by only two points. I think my team is battle tested and they鈥檙e ready. The whole schedule was made up to make sure that we鈥檙e prepared for the playoffs.鈥�