Dec 21, 2010 By Josh Herman 3 min read

Mount Pleasant’s Nicole Malara was dominant on both ends of the floor in Monday’s Section 3-AAA win over Uniontown.

Malara finished with 31 points and also recorded eight blocks as the Lady Vikings (4-1) earned a narrow 61-56 victory over the Lady Raiders (3-2).

”It is always a give and take kind of game when we play Uniontown,” said Mount Pleasant coach Scott Giacobbi.

The Lady Raiders got out in transition in the first quarter and led 14-12 after one. Danesha Harris paced Uniontown with six points.

In the second quarter, the Lady Vikings held the Lady Raiders to 10 points.

Malara completed a three-point play to tie the game at 19 and Casey Zelenak scored six of her 10 points in the quarter to help the Lady Vikings nab a 28-24 lead at halftime.

”We tried to work to our strength and get the ball inside and our post players did a good job,” said Giacobbi.

Mount Pleasant’s strength on the interior was the difference maker throughout the game.

”We got killed on the glass and just gave them way too many offensive boards,” said Uniontown coach Jason Winfrey.

The third quarter continued to be extremely competitive as the Lady Raiders got big shots from Lydya Dennis and Kelsey Sleighter to cut the Mount Pleasant lead to one point entering the fourth quarter.

Sleighter finished with a team-high 17 and Dennis chipped in 14 for Uniontown.

The Lady Vikings continued to look to their star forward in the fourth and Malara continued to deliver.

Malara put up 15 in the final quarter, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line, and that clutch shooting was enough to seal the win for Mount Pleasant.

”She is comfortable in her role as a leader on offense and defense,” said Giacobbi. “She had a great game and it is always nice to have a player you are confident can knock down foul shots late in a game.”

”Any time you sneak away with a game against a super quality program like Uniontown you have to be pleased,” Giacobbi added.

Winfrey was disappointed to drop a close section game, but also has a lot of confidence in his team going forward.

”We had some chances down the stretch to make some things happen and didn’t execute because we were in too much of a hurry, but I really believe this team has nowhere to go but up,” said Winfrey.

Both teams will return to action on Thursday, as Uniontown hosts Latrobe and Mount Pleasant will be on the road at Connellsville.