Connellsville girls save best game for Senior Night win over Uniontown
CONNELLSVILLE – Connellsville saved its biggest offensive production for Senior Night and came away with a 65-51 win over Uniontown in the Section 2-AAAA wrap-up for both girls’ basketball teams. “It was their night and they stepped up and played good basketball,” Lady Falcons coach Bobby Renzi said. “They came out on fire. We’ve been behind in a lot of games this season, but for some reason, they came out and took control.”
The Lady Falcons took control by scoring the game’s first 10 points, then watched as Uniontown’s Jocelyn Chandler single-handedly turned the game around for a while. Trailing 12-4 midway through the first quarter, Chandler scored 15 consecutive points to put the Lady Raiders in front, 19-12, early in the second quarter.
Just as quickly, however, the Lady Falcons reclaimed not only the lead but also control of the game. Using amazing balance, Connellsville went on a 17-3 run that produced a 29-22 halftime lead for the home team.
Six players scored for Connellsville in the first half and five of them scored at least four points. Meanwhile, Chandler led Uniontown with 16 of its 22 first-half points, but it wasn’t as though she was the only player shooting.
Instead, it seemed as though someone had placed a lid over Uniontown’s basket, as shot after shot went up, but precious few of them went down.
“You have to make shots to win games,” Uniontown coach Jason Winfrey said.
“In the second quarter, we went about five minutes without scoring and you just can’t have that kind of slump against a team like Connellsville.”
The Lady Falcons (11-12 overall and 6-8 in section games) put this one away with a 12-2 run that carried from the third quarter into the fourth. That made the score 53-35 and Uniontown was on its way to an 11-12 overall record and a 4-10 mark in section games.
Chandler led all scorers with 30 points and added nine rebounds.
Connellsville got 14 from Alexis Metros, 13 from Christine Salandra and 12 from Megan Adamovich. Ashley Benzio came off the bench to add seven points and 10 rebounds.
“Our ball movement was very good tonight,” Renzi said. “We put in a new offense two days ago just for Uniontown and it worked pretty well. We used one post player and four outside. It was designed to keep Chandler away from the basket.”
This battle of first-year coaches left Renzi and Winfrey impressed with each other.
“Jason came into a tough situation, but he’s doing a great job with them,” Renzi said. “His team never gives up.
“We had chances to put them away, but we never really could. Jason has taken over that program and built a good foundation for years to come.”
“I’m very impressed with this Connellsville team,” Winfrey said. “Bobby is doing a very good job in his first year. They put very good pressure on the ball all night.”
Winfrey took over midway through the year on an interim basis. He said he wouldn’t mind taking over on a more permanent basis.
“I’ll be interested in the job,” he said. “I would like to see how we could come together as a team if we had a whole summer to work with these girls. Losing makes it tough, but sometimes you have to face adversity to get to where you want to go.”
Both teams will complete their season with an exhibition game. Connellsville travels to Greensburg Salem Saturday afternoon, while Uniontown visits Hempfield Monday night.