Fillies take sole possession of 2nd place in Section 2
CONNELLSVILLE – The Laurel Highlands took sole possession of second place in Section 2-AAA Thursday night with a 60-43 win over Connellsville. Laurel Highlands entered the game tied for second place with Ringgold but got some help from Unontown, which beat the Lady Rams.
Hallie Cupp was the Fillies’ big gun as she led the attack with 27 points.
“Connellsville has improved a great deal since the last time we played them,” Fillies coach Rick Hauger said. “Their coaches are doing a great job. But I have to give a lot of credit to my girls, for finding the hot hand in Cupp and getting her the ball. Unselfish basketball has been key to our success this season.”
The Lady Falcons (9-10, 4-6) packed their defense around the basket early in the game, to stop the penetration of Deena Blanc and bottle up Lauren Mahoney on the inside.
The Fillies (13-6, 8-2) went outside early, opening up a 6-0 lead on a pair of treys from Mahoney and Blanc. Connellsville came back with three points; then Mahoney hit another shot to give the Fillies an 8-3 lead. From that point , Cupp started to find her way to the basket. She scored eight straight points to give Laurel Highlands a 15-7 lead at the end of the first period.
“My girls played hard tonight. We focused on stopping Blanc and Mahoney and didn’t account for Cupp. I’ll take responsibility for that,” Connellsville’s Bob Renzi said. “I’m very proud of the way my girls played. They gave me a great effort for four quarters.”
Cupp continued to carry the Fillies, scoring their first seven points of the second quarter to give LH a 22-11 lead.
Shannon Kovach hit a jumper for Connellsville to make the score 22-13, and then Blanc hit a three to increase the Fillies lead to 25-13.
Christine Salandra came to life for the Lady Falcons in the second quarter to score points, but the Fillies held a 29-19 lead at the half.
“First quarter runs have haunted us all year,” Renzi said. “When we get down six or seven points in the first quarter, it’s tough because we’re not the best team at coming from behind. I felt after that first quarter we played pretty even against Laurel Highlands.”
Laurel Highlands opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run. Blanc hit another three, whichn was followed by a three from Cupp to give the Fillies a 35-19 lead. Cupp was fouled driving to the basket and hit one of two from the line to make the score 36-19.
Kovach scored for the Falcons to break up the run, and Diane Gmiter answered for LH. Salandra came back with a basket for Connellsville, was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to complete the three-point play to make the score 38-24.
Cupp came back with a three point play of her own, scoring and making the foul shot to increase the Fillies’ lead to 41-24.
Gina Heald scored and was fouled for Connellsville. She hit the free throw to make the score 41-27. After another basket by Cupp, Dawn Claycomb and Alexis Metros scored for the Lady Falcons to cut the Fillies’ lead to 12 as LH held a 43-31 lead after three.
In the fourth quarter, Blanc took over the for the Fillies with 10-points hitting three from the field and four straight from the line to help put the game out of reach as the Fillies outscored the Lady Falcons 17-12 in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
“I felt we played pretty good defense against Connellsville tonight,” Hauger said. “They have some size and some put backs against us. I felt we did a real good job of making them force some shots, they wouldn’t normally take. We played well, and Connellsville is coming along.”
In addition to Cupp’s 27-point effort, Blanc tossed in 19 for the Fillies. Salandra led Connellsville with 13, and Metros finished with 10 for the Lady Falcons.