In PIAA opener against Mercyhurst Prep
Backcourt play will be key for Lady Colonials YORK RUN – The differences are obvious.
How those differences play out will be discovered Friday night when Albert Gallatin meets Mercyhurst Prep in a PIAA Class AAAA first-round girls basketball playoff game between teams that have very little in common. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Edinboro University.
The Lady Colonials (21-5) are the No. 8 team out of the WPIAL (District 7). The Lakers (24-3) are the Metro League and District 10 champions.
Albert Gallatin is an experienced, senior-oriented group with a height and strength advantage.
Mercyhurst is a youthful, deep, athletic squad with a speed and ball-handling edge.
It should make for an interesting clash, according to first-year AG coach Shea Fleenor.
“They’re talented, athletic and they like to press,” Fleenor said. “They have some height, but no one over six-foot and they don’t seem to have a lot of bulk. I think they might have trouble matching up with Loui (Hall) and Ashley (Davis) inside.”
The Lakers will almost certainly concentrate on stopping Hall, a Duquesne University recruit who averaged 31.2 points per game during the regular season, but Fleenor feels a couple other players will play important roles in deciding if Albert Gallatin can pull off the upset or not.
One of those is 5-9 senior point guard Rachel Karpency, who missed both of the Lady Colonials’ WPIAL playoff games due to a sprained ankle. The other is emerging 5-6 sophomore guard Heather Patterson, who comes off the bench.
“It’s been a while since Rachel played, but she’s been practicing and she’ll be ready to go,” Fleenor said.
“Heather has been a pleasant surprise down the stretch. She’s really grown up the last month. She’s done a good job handling the ball for us the last few games. I would expect to see her off the bench pretty quickly. Maybe we’ll get them (Karpency and Patterson) in there together to take some of the pressure off Loui in bringing the ball up court.”
Fleenor sees the backcourt battle as a key to the game.
“Handling pressure has been somewhat of an Achilles heal for us this year,” Fleenor said. “We were able to handle it in our section and still win games. But if you can’t handle pressure at this level, you’re not going to win. If we’re successful at that, we’ll put ourselves in good position to win a game that a lot of people don’t think we can pull off, because I think we can create some problems for them inside.”
Fleenor expects Hall, the 6-0 do-everything senior forward, to draw a double and triple team, as usual.
“She’s forced people to play that way against us all year,” Fleenor said. “Oakland Catholic tried to play her straight up and she scored 22 points in the first half, then they decided to triple team her in the second half.”
Joining Hall, Karpency and 6-1 center Davis in AG’s starting lineup will be 5-8 senior forward Shane Guerriere and 5-7 junior guard Samantha Kline. Patterson and 5-4 sophomore guard Mallory Adamovich are the Lady Colonials’ top players off the bench.
The Lakers have a trio of dangerous sophomore scorers among their starting five, led by 5-11 forward Chelsea Gordon, who averages 15.0 points per game. Mashea Williams, a 5-9 forward, scores at a 13.9 clip, while 5-8 guard Erin Kerner is at 12.1.
Filling out Mercyhurst’s starting lineup will be 5-9 junior forward Meagan Bielanin and 5-5 senior guard Laura Bednar. Top players off the bench are 5-8 junior guard Katie Nick, 5-10 freshman forward Kristen Fournier, 6-0 freshman forward Anne Ryan and 5-7 sophomore guard Joanna VanVolkenburg.
The Lakers are coached by Randy Bowers, who is in his seventh season and has a career record of 131-53.
The AG-Mercyhurst winner will play the survivor between Hempfield (22-5) and Altoona (18-8), who also play tonight at Plum High School beginning at 6.