Lady Falcons breeze past turnover-plagued AG
YORK RUN — Connellsville overcame a sluggish first half with a pedal-to-the-metal effort in the second half to score a 73-29 over Albert Gallatin Monday night.
With the win, the Lady Falcons improved to 6-7 overall and 3-3 in Section 1-AAAA, while the Lady Colonials fell to 5-6, 2-4.
“We have a very deep team and we knew our legs would get to them in the second half,” Connellsville coach Kenny Johnson said.
Actually, Connellsville led for all but the first minute, when AG grabbed a 2-0 lead. The Lady Falcons scored six straight on their way to a 17-9 lead at the quarter break.
AG was its own worst enemy in the opening quarter by committing 15 turnovers. For the game, the Lady Colonials turned it over 35 times, which explains why they managed only 29 points.
“We killed ourselves with turnovers,” AG coach Dawn Spence said. “If you don’t take care of the ball, you can’t score. We beat their defense many times, but couldn’t get lay-ups to fall.”
Despite 19 turnovers in the first half, AG was still in the game, as Connellsville maintained its eight-point cushion, 29-21.
“We tried to convey that at halftime,” Spence said. “But when you are down, you can’t get back in the game with long shots. We didn’t take it to the hoop often enough. We didn’t get to the foul line. We just didn’t take advantage of it at all.”
Conversely, Connellsville turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and limited AG to eight total points.
“It’s been defense that has carried us all year,” Johnson said. “We don’t shoot the ball well, but once our defense locks in we can get turnovers and transition baskets.”
After a few basket trades early in the third, Connellsville ripped off 16 in a row and led, 48-27, after three. They scored the last 21 points of the game to win going away.
“When we get down a little bit, even five or six points, we give up,” Spence said. “We just stop playing.”
“Our freshmen took a big step in the right direction,” Johnson said. “Madison Wiltrout was excellent on defense and scoring and Molly Bauer really protected the basket well for us on defense.”
Wiltrout led Connellsville with 12 points off the bench, Ashton Grimm added 11 and Saiah Mickens and Brittany Craig scored 10 each. Taylor Spence paced AG with 10.
The Colonials have a make-up game at Norwin Wednesday before hosting Kiski Area Thursday. Connellsville travels to Hempfield Thursday.