Lady Gators hold off Frazier
CONNELLSVILLE – The Geibel Lady Gators and the Frazier Lady Commondores renewed aquaintances in the Section 2-A opener for both teams. Geibel overcame a cold shooting night and a hustling effort by Frazier to pull out a 42-26 win Monday night.
“The game was never in doubt in my mind, “Geibel head coach George Bortz said. “They packed their defense around the basket, and gave us some open looks from the outside. Tonight they were not falling.”
It appeared Geibel(3-0,1-0) would put the game away early, holding a 15-4 lead at the end of the first period. They jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a pair of baskets by Jessica Villela, and Abbe Renze, plus a three-pointer from Meghan Barry. A jumper by Frazier’s Vanessa Myers broke up the run. Renze and Emily Pennington hit consecutive treys for Geibel. Ashley Godla added another bucket for Frazier. Barry scored for Geibel to close out the scoring in the period. The Lady Gators increased their lead to 21-5 in the second on consecutive baskets from Nicole Berry, Kara Saylor, and Erica Speeney.
“We got of to a great start, then I put my freshmen in, and we got out of our rhythm,” Bortz explained. “Things started to go downhill, when we started missing shots, from the field and the foul line, and we gave them too many opportunities at the line.”
Frazier (0-4,0-1) started to chip away at the Geibel lead. They ran off eight straight points to cut the lead 21-13 on foul shots from Jackie Haughy, Jessica Stahl, Myers, and A.J. Morgan, plus a basket from Stahl. However the Lady Gators led at the half 23-15.
“The girls really hustled tonight,” Frazier head coach Chris Lucovitz said. “I think we handled their press, except for a few breakdowns, and our poor foul shooting cost us a lot of points.” The Lady Commodores had plenty of chances from the line, but were only able to convert 12 of 29 attempts on the night.
The Lady Commodores managed to cut the Geibel to lead to four, trailing 27-23 in the third quarter, on baskets from Emily Null, and Jessica Stahl. During that stretch , Frazier missed a prime opportinuty to take the lead as they struggled from the line, hitting only 4 of 13 foul shots. A basket by Julie Wisilosky just before the end of the quarter gave Geibel a 29-23 lead going into the fourth.
“We are still a very young team, but we made some strides tonight,” Lucovitz said. “I think the girls are improving every night they go on the floor, and I think tonight was their best game to date despite the loss.”
Geibel opened the fourth with a basket from Wisilosky, and a pair of four shots from Barry to open up a 33-23 lead. The Gator defense managed to hold Frazier to three points in the final period, all from the line. Geibel continued to inch away on baskets from Barry and Vilella while they managed to hit 7 of 15 from the foul line in the final quarter to seal the win.
“I have to give Frazier a lot of credit, they really outhustled us in the second and third quarter,” Bortz said. “We were able to pick it up in the fourth quarter and take the win. Even though we didn’t shoot well tonight. We’ve still got to put it up when we get a good look, that’s a little more of our style this year.”
Barry was the only player to finish in double figures on the night, with 11 to lead the Lady Gators. Stahl paced Frazier with nine. The Lady Commodores will be in action again tonight when they host Chartiers-Houston. Geibel will be on the road Thursday at Avella.