ST. MARYS — It wasn’t a thing of beauty at times, but the Punxsutawney girls basketball team used a strong defensive effort Wednesday night to knock off St. Marys, 45-34, in a battle of two of District 9’s top teams.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball at times, particularly in the half-court set, but the Lady Chucks forced St. Marys into 18 turnovers — thus creating some easy baskets in transition.
Despite those turnovers, 11 of which came in the first half, the Lady Dutch managed to stay within three points (17-14) into the final minute of the second quarter.
That’s when the momentum swung in Punxsy’s favor as Olivia Burkett and Samantha Griebel hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 27 seconds to send the Lady Chucks to the break with a 9-point lead at 23-14.
Punxsy then started the third on a 6-3 spurt as part of a larger 12-3 run around halftime that pushed the Lady Chuck lead out to 12 (29-17) with 3:15 left in the period.
The Lady Dutch battled back within five in the fourth at 37-32 on an Alexa Schneider bucket with 3:33 to play, but it was all Lady Chucks from there as they ended the game an 8-2 run to win by 11 points.
Punxsy went 6 of 7 at the foul line in that closing stretch to seal the win, which improved the Lady Chucks’ record to 12-0. The Lady Dutch fell to 12-3.
Avary Powell led the way for Punxsy, recording a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Griebel also reached double figures with 12, while Burkett and Chloe Presloid each added seven.
“Obviously, we didn’t play offensively like we wanted to, and a lot of them was due to St. Marys,” said Punxsy coach Mike Carlson. “But, I felt we pressed great and our defense was good, and I though we really made them work.
“I’m a little disappointed offensively, but that will happen especially on the road. Elk (County Catholic) and St. Marys have both been able to this to us — keep us a little lower scoring. But, it’s nice to still be able to come and beat a good team on the road when not playing your best offensively.”
Points came at a premium for both sides in the opening eights minutes.
Burkett hit two free throws just 15 seconds in, but St. Marys’ Jayssa Snelick countered with a 5-2 spurt herself to give the Lady Dutch a 5-4 edge three minutes in. Snelick scored a game-high 16 points.
Both teams went cold over the final five minutes of the quarter. Griebel hitting a 3-pointer with 1:53 on the clock and St. Marys’ Olivia Burkett a bucket with 14 seconds to make it 7-7.
Punxsy got its offense going a little early in the second, thanks to its defense, as Emily McMahan, Presloid and Powell all scored to give the Lady Chucks a 13-7 advantage.
The Lady Chucks led by as many as seven in the frame (17-10) on another Powell hoop before baskets by St. Marys’ Maura Caskey and Snelick cut that deficit to four in the final minute of the half.
That’s when Punxsy responded with the back-to-back treys by Burkett and Griebel to create some breathing room at the half at 23-14.
“Those were big shots (3-pointers), and it was exactly the same thing here last year,” said Carlson. “It was a tight, tight game, and we made a little run before halftime and got up nine last year, and the same thing happened here. We made a run to give us a little breathing room and not make it look as close as maybe it was at that point.”
The teams then traded scores top open the third before hoops by Powell and Presloid made it a 12-point game at 29-17. St. Marys promptly countered with a 7-2 spurt featuring five points by Snelick to get back within seven at 31-24.
However, a basket by Powell in the closing moments of the third put things right back where they were at the half, with Punxsy leading by nine (33-24).
The fourth started with St. Marys’ Izzy Catalone and Burkett trading scores before the Lady Dutch put together another mini-run — this one 6-2 to make it a 5-point game at 37-32 on a bucket by Schneider with 3:33 to play. Catalone finished with seven points.
Punxsy shut down St. Marys from there, though, the Lady Dutch went more than three minutes without scoring. Punxsy rattled off eight straight points, four by Griebel, during that closing stretch to put the game away.
Eckels set the final when she sank two free throws with .2 seconds left.
“We’re going to focus on the positives, and I think we played a pretty good game all-around,” said Lady Dutch coach Michael Franciscus. “We had a few inopportune miscues, but we played pretty well as a team.
“We’re just going to continue to get better every day and try to get them next time. Punxsy is a really good team, and we’re excited to get to play them again.”
Both teams are back in action Friday. Punxsy hosts West Shamokin, while St. Marys travels to Brookville.
PUNXSUTAWNEY 45,
ST. MARYS 34
Score by Quarters
Punxsy 7 16 10 11 — 45
St. Marys 7 7 10 10 — 34
Punxsy—45
Chloe Presloid 2 3-4 7, Danielle Griebel 1 2-2 4, Samantha Griebel 3 4-5 12, Riley Doverspike 0 0-0 0, Avary Powell 6 1-2 13, Emily Dobbins 0 0-0 0, Olivia Burkett 2 2-2 7, Emily McMahan 1 0-0 2, Emily Wisnesky 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 12-15 45.
St. Marys—34
Alexa Schneider 1 0-2 2, Izzy Catalone 2 3-5 7, Olivia Eckels 1 2-3 4, Jayssa Snelick 5 5-7 16, Maura Caskey 2 1-2 5, Molly Hanslovan 0 0-0 0, Rosa DePrater 0 0-1 0, Raechel Braun 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 11-20 34.
Three-pointers: Punxsy 3 (S. Griebel 2, Burkett), St. Marys 1 (Snelick).
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