Dec 9, 2003 By Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

PERRYOPOLIS – Senior leadership, tradition and free throw shooting carried Geibel Catholic to a 51-44 overtime win over Frazier Monday in the Section 2-A girls basketball opener for both teams. Senior guard Emily Pennington scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including 5-of-6 free throw shooting, to lead the Lady Gators. Danielle Cochran added 12 points and seven rebounds, while senior Kristen Hozak scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Frazier got double-digit scoring from a pair of sophomores, as Amanda White netted 13 and Larrissa Kulikoski added 11. The Lady Commodores start three sophomores and two juniors in coach Les Martini’s first season.

Kulikoski canned a three-pointer to tie the score with 15 seconds remaining in regulation after Pennington had staked Geibel Catholic a 42-39 lead on a pair of free throws.

Pennington scored the last eight Geibel Catholic points in regulation and the first five in overtime. She hit a three-pointer to give the Lady Gators the lead for good, 45-44, before scoring off a steal to make it 47-44.

“You expect your seniors to step up and Emily did for us tonight,” Geibel Catholic coach George Bortz said. “She’s a four-year starter. Her play in the fourth quarter and overtime was probably the difference in the game.”

Bortz called a timeout with 1:30 left in overtime and decided to nurse that 47-40 lead for all it was worth. He went into a stall, with Pennington, senior Jessica Vilella and sophomore Abbie Renze handling the ball. Renze canned 3-of-4 free throws and Pennington made 1-of-2 down the stretch.

“When we ran that stall, it was the best we’ve run it in 10 years,” Bortz said. “I was pleased to see that we can go to that when we need to.”

Bortz also came away from the game impressed with Frazier’s team.

“They outplayed us in the first half,” Bortz said. “We had 12 turnovers and were only 1-of-7 from the foul line, but they outplayed us, there’s no question. Frazier is a much-improved team. They will give a lot of teams all they want down here.”

Martini, too, was pleased with the effort he got.

“We did pretty good,” he said. “Not too many turnovers. Foul shots hurt us. Everybody’s going to pay attention when they play Frazier. We’ll be in games all year. We rebounded well, boxed out well. There were a lot of fundamental things that we did well, which is encouraging.”

In the second half, Geibel Catholic applied a full-court press that took its toll as the second half wound down.

Bortz was pleased with how effective it was.

“Geibel’s press was impressive as usual,” Martini said. “Coach Bortz has done such a good job over there for such a long time and we were able to take them to overtime. They’ve been in these situations so many times before, but it was the first time for us.”

Geibel Catholic (1-2) hosts East Allegheny tonight, while Frazier (0-4) travels to West Greene Thursday.