Geibel girls breeze past Frazier
PERRYOPOLIS – The Geibel Catholic Lady Gators went on the road Thursday night to take a 37-16 win over rival Frazier in a Section 2-A match-up. The Lady Gators (8-7, 6-2) regained the focus that was missing the past three games, at least for one quarter. The one quarter would be the only one Geibel really needed, as they blew past the Lady Commodores with a 22-3 sprint in the opening period.
“Tonight the girls were ready to play ball,” Geibel Catholic coach George Bortz said. “They were patient, ran the offense and took good shots. They were aggressive on defense and forced a number of turnovers with the press that we took advantage of.”
Geibel took a quick 5-0 lead on a three-pointer from Emily Pennington and a basket from Jessica Vilella. Following a foul shot from Frazier’s Emily Null, Geibel Catholic ran off 17 straight points.
Pennington hit a foul shot, then freshman Abbie Renze entered the game, to light up the ‘Dores for 10-points in the quarter. Renze hit a three and a field goal to increase the Lady Gator lead to 11-1. Meghan Barry dropped in a trey, followed by another three by Renze. Barry canned another three, before Renze closed out Geibel’s first quarter with a field goal.
“Geibel just outplayed us in the first quarter,” Frazier coach Chris Lucovitz said. “They out-hustled us, plus they hit five three-pointers in the first. We just got outplayed.”
With the game pretty much decided after one, Bortz pulled off the press and ran a more deliberate offense to shorten the game. Geibel out-scored Frazier (3-15, 2-6) 7-1 in the second to hold a 29-4 halftime lead. In the second, Geibel got field goals from Barry, Renze and Kristin Hozak, plus a free throw from Pennington.
In the second half, Bortz mainly used his bench to close out the contest. Frazier outscored the Lady Gators, 12-8, in the second half.
“We were able to get the ball inside against Geibel, but missed too many easy shots,” Lucovitz said. “It has been a problem all year. That and foul shooting. We’ve got to learn how to put the ball in the hole.”
Geibel had two players finish in double figures, with Renze scoring a game-high 12 and Barry adding 10. Ashley Godla led Frazier with six.
“The first half tonight was probably the best we played all year,” Bortz said. “If we’re going to have a chance to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to play four quarters like we did the first half tonight.”