Running on all cylinders
Lady Gators put together complete game in win over West Greene
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. — In sports, there is potential for letdown in the next game following a solid victory … and those in attendance Thursday night at “The Swamp” on the campus of Geibel Catholic Junior/Senior High School who were supporting the Lady Gators felt a tad bit of apprehension as West Greene came to town.
Geibel Catholic was riding high after a road victory at Serra Catholic on Monday to finish the first half of Section 2-1A play undefeated, but the Lady Pioneers gave the Lady Gators plenty of fits in their first meeting, which had the Geibel faithful fearing a trap game.
Those concerns were put to rest late in the first quarter, as the Lady Gators built a nine-point lead and cruised to a 55-24 triumph.
Geibel improved to 8-0 in the section and 15-0 overall. West Greene dropped to 5-3 and 10-4.
“First and foremost, we are not going to make any excuses,” West Greene coach Ben Brudnock said. “We beat a lot of teams by the mercy rule, and tonight, the shoe was on the other foot. Geibel came out, challenged us to play against a man-to-man defense, and we failed miserably. I failed as a coach, our players failed to take care of the ball, to make the right cuts, to cut with purpose and to finish our shots.
“I told the girls that the mistakes that we made are entirely correctable, but we are not going to make excuses and say it was the bus ride, it was the weather, it was the cold and flu season.
“We just got our butts kicked, and sometimes you get your butts kicked, and in sports, you have to pull yourself up, dust yourself off, rub some dirt on it and get back and play.”
The Lady Gators had a 6-5 edge in the opening period, but freshman Alexa Morgan connected on back-to-back three-pointers for six of her eight points and Mallory Clemmer’s layup in transition after receiving a pass from Emma Larkin increased the home team’s advantage to 14-5 with 2:22 remaining in the first period.
Clemmer scored a game-high 19 points on nine field goals, and was 1 for 1 at the foul line. The sophomore had a double-double with 12 rebounds, and she blocked four shots.
“It helps a lot to have someone like Alexa who can help us with scoring when Emma and I are being guarded closely,” Clemmer said. “We are excited about this win, but we don’t want to get too high. We have a lot of big games left this season.”
Larkin had 15 points on seven field goals and was 1 for 4 at the line. She also had a team-high eight assists.
“She is facilitating amazingly,” Geibel coach Sara Larkin said. “I hate that the press focuses so much on points scored, and I guess it’s easy when you put up the points that you have for the last three seasons, but she’s able to play a true point-guard position, which is what we need her to do.”
Clemmer and Sara Larkin both agreed on the impact Morgan has made for the team.
“We have other kids that can put the ball in the basket,” Larkin said. “I don’t care who scores as long as our score is higher than the other teams.”
Geibel had a 16-7 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Lady Gators picked up where they left off in the second period, as a 10-0 run extended their advantage to 26-7 with 2:59 remaining before halftime.
Clemmer opened the run with a basket inside while being fouled. She converted the and-one for a 19-7 lead before Emaliegh Horn connected on a shot from behind-the-arc for three of her seven points and a 22-7 advantage.
Morgan finished on a layup in transition after receiving a pass inside from Clemmer, and Horn scored on the break after Larkin fired a long pass to her with 3:25 left in the second quarter and a 26-7 lead for the home team.
Ava Shipman stopped the Geibel run with a three-point play at 2:59 of the second period.
“We purposely did not come with any junk defense or overemphasis on certain players because of the supporting cast they have,” Brudnock said. “We just wanted to play straight up, aggressive, extended zone, and the problem is, they chewed us up with the high-low from the baseline, and Mallory (Clemmer) did a great job of resetting from the foul line to the baseline.
“Let’s face it, when you have somebody down low that catches it like her, she can finish, and especially with the supporting cast they have, they are on a roll right now. They showed why they are undefeated tonight.”
The Lady Gators had a 32-12 cushion at halftime, and after outscoring the Lady Pioneers, 16-4, in the third quarter, took a 48-16 lead into the final frame. West Greene had an 8-7 edge in the fourth period.
Kendra Tharp led the Lady Pioneers in scoring with seven points on three field goals, and was 1 for 2 at the line.
Geibel’s Janiah Darnell had four points on two field goals, but she blocked two shots and played solid defense.
“Janiah doesn’t get enough credit,” Sara Larkin said. “That kid is the biggest hustler. She does all the dirty work for us. I know she gets a little frustrated because she doesn’t put the points up, but she is so important to this team. She plays great defense, and she held (Kendra) Tharp to seven points tonight. You can’t ask for anything more from her.”