Fillies tune up for meeting with AG
CANONSBURG – Caught in between a tremendous comeback victory at Uniontown and an upcoming showdown with Albert Gallatin, it would’ve been understandable if Laurel Highlands had a letdown in its Section 2-AAAA game at Canon-McMillan on Monday night. The Fillies did get off to a slow start, but then methodically took control in rolling to a 53-33 win over the Lady Macs.
“I think they were focused on this game,” LH coach Rick Hauger said. “They knew we had to take care of the business at hand and I thought they did a pretty good job of that.”
Laurel Highlands (10-3, 5-1) rallied from 19 points down to beat the Lady Raiders on Friday and will host the first-place Lady Colonials on Wednesday.
“If we would’ve blown this game, everything we worked for when we beat Uniontown on Friday would’ve gone to waste,” said Laurel Highlands’ Lauren Mahoney, who scored a game-high 15 points with four rebounds. “We know AG has Loui Hall, so we know we have to work as a team to be able to beat them, and that’s what we did pretty well tonight.”
Mahoney helped make sure a letdown wouldn’t take place when she teamed up with Kayla Ashton, who came off the bench, for a barrage of 3-pointers in the second period that left Canon-McMillan reeling.
Christie Casciola sparked the Lady Macs (1-9, 0-6) early on by scoring her team’s first six points before assisting on Heather Tomayko’s basket. Caitlin Terling’s hoop in the final seconds cut the Fillies’ lead to 11-10 after one period.
Five different LH players scored in the opening frame, but Hauger was still concerned.
“We didn’t get off to the greatest start,” Hauger said. “But then we hit a couple threes in a row and that got everybody’s confidence up. We got into a groove both offensively and defensively after that.”
The Fillies’ crisp passing set up the long-range bombardment, especially Hallie Cupp who assisted on three of the treys and Deena Blanc who assisted on two.
Mahoney and Ashton hit 3-pointers to open the second period before Jessie Schreffler scored for the Lady Macs. Mahoney drained another 3-pointer and, after Casciola fed Lacy Morris for a basket, Ashton and Mahoney swished back-to-back treys.
Ashton followed with a steal and hit Blanc with a long pass for a layup and suddenly the Fillies held a commanding 30-14 lead.
“I’ve been in a shooting slump, but once I made one, the confidence came back,” said Mahoney, who led all scorers with 15 points.
Laurel Highlands led 32-17 at halftime and 44-23 after three periods before Hauger began to empty his bench in the final frame.
Often the Lady Macs had long possessions as they struggled to get off a shot against Laurel Highlands’ tight man-to-man defense.
“Kayla gave us a spark off the bench, and Taylor Johns and Allyson Nehls gave us some quality minutes off the bench, too, with some good defense,” Hauger said.
Blanc followed Mahoney in the Fillies’ scoring column with 14 points, including a six-for-six showing at the foul line, and also contributed four assists and four steals. Cupp totaled six points, three boards, three assists and two steals. Abby Martin and Ashton also had six points.
Casciola, Terling and Schreffler each had six points to pace the Lady Macs.
Canon-McMillan coach Gary Popiolkowski was unavailable for comment after the game.