Dec 16, 2003 By Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – The game was so physical that it teetered right on the edge between basketball and wrestling, or full-contact karate. In the end, there were technical fouls on each side, 31 total fouls called and a possible concussion, but the Laurel Highlands Fillies emerged with a 50-45 win over Connellsville’s Lady Falcons in a Section 2-AAAA girls basketball game Monday night.

“If this is the style that’s going to be allowed to be played,” LH coach Rick Hauger said. “Then it’s going to hurt us in the long run.”

The Fillies, as usual, are small, but they proved again Monday night that they can bang with the big girls. But it may have cost them. Starting guard Lauren Mahoney suffered a head injury while trying to take a charging foul. As wacky as it might sound, a blocking foul was called … against LH’s Kayla Ashton, who trailed the play down the floor.

Laurel Highlands jumped out to an early lead, thanks to an offensive explosion from point guard Abby Martin. Normally busy enough just handling the ball for the Fillies, Martin scored all eight of her points in the 12 minutes as LH jumped to a 23-8 lead on her last basket, which came on a nice give-and-go feed from Mahoney.

The Lady Falcons didn’t reach double figures until Rachel Means scored 3:45 before halftime, but Connellsville was far from quitting. Connellsville trailed, 25-13 at halftime, but kept chipping away at LH’s lead.

“We played very poorly in the first half,” Connellsville coach Rob Renzi said. “It was a very physical game and Laurel Highlands was much more physical than we were in the first half. In the second half, we played lights out and it got us back in the game.

“We were down by 15 points and that’s putting yourself in a big rut against a good team like Laurel Highlands.”

The Lady Falcons whittled the LH lead down to 35-28 after three quarters and kept coming in the fourth. The Fillies pushed their lead back to 44-32, but Connellsville got to within eight, 44-36, on an offensive rebound of a missed foul shot and basket by Jenny Kooser.

Laurel Highlands scored six straight and appeared to be on its way, 50-36, but Connellsville managed the game’s last nine points, the last five coming on a Dawn Claycomb three-pointer and a pair of Shannon Kovack free throws with 31.5 seconds remaining.

“We’re going to have to battle for every game everywhere,” Hauger said. “We played pretty good defense most of the way and if Mahoney’s in the game at the end, that gives us another ball handler and foul shooter. But our kids hung in there enough to get the win. Connellsville battled us all the way.”

“We never gave up,” Renzi said. “That’s been my quote of the year so far, but we’ve got to learn that we have to play four good quarters. You saw a completely different ball team in the second half. I think it goes back to how long does it take when you’re getting pushed around until you start pushing back?”

Hallie Cupp led the Fillies (5-2 overall, 2-1 in section games) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Mahoney added 13 points and seven rebounds. The Fillies visit Ringgold Thursday.

Ashley Benzio paced the Lady Falcons (2-6, 1-2) with 12 points and six rebounds. Connellsville travels to Albert Gallatin for a girls-boy double-header Friday night.

The girls meet the Lady Colonials at 6 p.m., followed by the boys game at 7:30 p.m. The girls game was originally scheduled for Thursday.