Fillies win thriller over Lady Leps
Twas the night before the night before Christmas; the Fillies and Lady Leopards were stirring, each seeking an early gift and to play the role of Scrooge to one another. Laurel Highlands (5-1) emerged with a 68-66 non-section victory over Belle Vernon (2-3), but only after withstanding a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Lady Leopards.
The Fillies never trailed and steadily built a 21-point lead three minutes into the third quarter. But, the Lady Leopards doubled their 33-point output of the first three quarters in the final eight minutes, led by senior guard Jocelyn Connelly, whose playing time was being monitored after off-season knee surgery.
Laurel Highlands spread the scoring among all five starters in the opening stanza as they broke from the only tie at 2-2 to lead 14-8. Caitlin Wontroba and Taylor Mathers each scored four points in the quarter.
Belle Vernon’s Jessalyn Timko opened the second-quarter scoring to cut the lead to 14-10, but LH responded with a seven-point run on Bethany Mehall’s three-pointer, Wontroba’s free throw, a Mathers’ layup, and Samantha Lee’s free throw for a 21-10 lead, and the Fillies maintained that margin at 30-19 at the half.
The Fillies went on a 13-3 tear in the first three minutes of the third quarter to widen the lead to 43-22 behind five points from Lee, four points by Mehall and a Wontroba three-pointer.
Laurel Highlands led 49-33 at the third quarter break and 54-37 early in the fourth quarter. But Belle Vernon responded with a 15-1 run even though senior forward Lisa Manderino fouled out and Timko left the game briefly with a leg injury.
Belle Vernon coach Tim Keefer had already decided to shut down Connelly for the night, but had to send her back into the game when Timko was injured. Connelly responded with 13 points down the stretch as the Lady Leopards sliced the lead to 57-54 with over two minutes remaining.
Mathers fouled out with 2:16 left, but Mehall and Lee responded with baskets to build the lead to 63-55.
Belle Vernon battled back to within 63-59 before Jenna Ermino sank two free throws to restore the Fillies’ six-point lead. After Timko sank a three-pointer for BV, Wontroba made two free throws, Connelly drove to score, and Wontroba made two more free throws with 11 seconds left that gave LH the winning margin before the Leps’ Amanda Gorecki scored at the buzzer to set the final score at 68-66.
Laurel Highlands spread the scoring around as Wontroba had 22 points, Lee scored 17, and Mehall and Mathers added 11 each. Connelly scored 22 to lead BV, while Manderino had 11 and Gorecki 10.
Laurel Highlands coach Mark John said balanced scoring has been one of the team’s main objectives, adding, “We have a very unselfish team.” When asked about Belle Vernon’s late rally he said, “Give them a lot of credit. They were in a big hole, dug themselves out, and gave themselves a chance to win, which gave us a chance to finish the win.”
When asked about the 21-point deficit, Keefer said, “You have to ask why we were down by 21 points. We didn’t get back on defense in the first half. We had 33 shots and missed a lot of them.”
He said Connelly “is a real warrior. It’s hard to keep her off the court. And our girls never quit.”