Dec 28, 2003 By Justin Zackal For The 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Brownsville’s defense disrupted everything for Geibel Catholic Saturday night. The Lady Falcons’ 2-3 zone defense threw the Lady Gators a loop in the third quarter, giving Brownsville a 59-50 win in the first round of the Waynesburg Central Holiday Tournament in girls’ basketball action.

Brownsville (3-3) kept Geibel from scoring for nearly a seven-minute stretch, which spanned from the end of the second quarter to 1:45 remaining in the third.

According to Lady Gators coach George Bortz, Brownsville’s 2-3 zone prevented his team from scoring from the post.

“That’s what hurt us,” Bortz said. “We only got the ball to the post three or four times during the third quarter. We couldn’t seem to execute.”

With Geibel (5-5) trailing 31-30 in the waning moments of the second quarter, Brownsville’s Christina Libertini nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to put the Lady Falcons up by four.

Geibel couldn’t come back from the deficit, as the second half was all Brownsville.

Libertini, who scored just one point during the decisive third-quarter run, led Brownsville with a game-high 18 points.

“Our team is starting to mature,” said Brownsville coach Greg Golembiewski. “We are not playing our best, but we played well enough to win.”

Brownsville went on a 12-2 run behind five consecutive points by forward Melissa Dillinger, after she converted a three-point play to put the Lady Falcons up 39-30 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

Her scoring inside meant Geibel struggled with its defensive rebounding.

“They were getting three and four chances,” Bortz said. “We weren’t putting a body on anyone. We struggled on defense rebounding. That was our downfall.”

Three Brownsville players scored in double figures. Including Libertini, Amanda Mitchell and Julia Martini netted 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Geibel had two players in double figures, both of whom combined for 15 points from the free-throw line. Danielle Cochrane scored nine of her team-high 13 points from the charity stripe, while reserve player Julie Cummings scored six of her 10 points from the line.

Kristin Hozak, who led the team with four field goals, scored nine points.

Bortz was pleased with his team’s 30 first-half points, but the Lady Gators’ defense the entire game and offense in the second half is what did the team in.

“In the first half we played well on offense,” Bortz said, “but in the second half it was no offense and no defense.”

Brownsville advances to play host Waynesburg Central, a 62-49 winner of Chartiers-Houston, in Monday’s championship game at 6:30 p.m., following the consolation game between Geibel and Chartiers-Houston at 5 p.m.