Eden Christian鈥檚 depth keys 51-40 win over Lady Gators
HERMINIE 鈥� Geibel Catholic had the will to win but Eden Christian had the depth and the latter won out Monday night.
Emmie Smith scored 15 points and Ella D鈥橧ppolito added 12 as the Lady Warriors gradually wore down the Lady Gators in claiming a 51-40 victory in a WPIAL Class A first round girls basketball playoff game at Yough High School.
Emma Larkin, the WPIAL鈥檚 second-leading scorer, poured in a game-high 27 points for Geibel, which ended its season at 16-7.
鈥淭hat just comes down to depth and fresh legs,鈥� Lady Gators coach Sara Larkin said. 鈥淚t makes it tough when you鈥檙e pretty much playing with five versus eight or nine deep for them. That鈥檚 what got us in the fourth quarter. We were there through three and it just got away from us.鈥�
Larkin scored the game鈥檚 first five points, including the first of her three 3-pointers on the night, before Eden Christian answered with six straight. Ava Henderson鈥檚 3-pointer put the Lady Gators back in front, 8-6. Allie Emswiler鈥檚 jump shot for the Lady Warriors was matched by Ava Partridge to give Geibel a 10-8 lead after one quarter.
Eden Christian began crashing the offensive boards and outscored the Lady Gators 9-4 in the second quarter to take a 17-14 halftime lead. The Lady Warriors went in front to stay when D鈥橧ppolito鈥檚 two free throws broke a 13-13 tie with 4:05 left in the half.
鈥淭he balls were hitting our hands and we weren鈥檛 getting control of it,鈥� Sara Larkin said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 nerves or anxiousness or what but the ball can鈥檛 hit your hands and then have them come in and get a rebound. There were a couple possessions where they were getting six, seven shots at a time. You can鈥檛 win like that.鈥�
Eden Christian opened the third quarter with an 8-3 run to go up 25-17. Larkin scored four straight points to whittle the gap down to 25-21 with 4:09 left in the frame but Geibel would get no closer the rest of the way.
The Lady Warriors got eight points from D鈥橧ppolito and nine from Smith in the third quarter to build a 37-29 advantage and led by as much as 14 in the fourth.
Emswiler wound up with nine points and Alex Nacey chipped in with eight for Eden Christian in a balanced attack.
Geibel鈥檚 only other scorers besides Larkin were Partridge with seven points and Henderson with six.
Larkin, who accounted for all 15 of the Lady Gators鈥� points in the third quarter, was an uncharacteristic 10 of 21 from the foul line including just three of 10 in the first half.
鈥淪he鈥檚 never shot that bad from the free throw line,鈥� said Sara Larkin of her sophomore daughter. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 like they were bad shots. I don鈥檛 think it was nerves. Maybe it was a little too much adrenaline early in the game.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 give up and none of them do. They all fought to the very end. Sometimes you鈥檙e out-skilled or outmatched. The better team won tonight but not for a lack of effort on our part.鈥�
Geibel (16-7) came into the game as the No. 7 seed with Eden Christian 10th, but Larkin disagreed with those seedings. The Lady Warriors (9-13) entered the game on a seven-game losing streak but that stretch included two defeats to top-seeded Union and one each to No. 2 Aquinas Academy, No. 3 St. Joseph and Class AAA No. 3 Beaver Falls.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a No. 10 seed, let鈥檚 be honest here, I don鈥檛 care what their record is,鈥� Sara Larkin said. 鈥淭hey may be because that鈥檚 where the WPIAL placed them but that鈥檚 not a No. 10 seed.
鈥淲e knew coming in this was going to be competitive and they probably had the edge on us and we were going to have to fight to get that victory.鈥�
The Lady Gators, whose鈥� lone senior is Victoria Brown, will return all five of their starters next season.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of these kids,鈥� Sara Larkin said. 鈥淓very year that I鈥檝e been here 鈥� this is my third season 鈥� they have improved. The first year we got two wins and we had to really focus on fundamentals and trying to build a foundation. Then the second year, 11 wins and we made it to the playoffs. This year, second in the section.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e gritty, they want it, they all fight, they鈥檙e all working together. The chemistry is there. We鈥檒l get there. We鈥檝e got a young team. I feel we鈥檒l continue to just chip away at it, make progress and come back next year even stronger.鈥�