Lady Maples grind out 57-54 victory
The Mapletown girls trailed after the first quarter Thursday night, but rallied in the middle two quarter for a tight 57-54 Section 3-A victory over visiting Avella.
The Lady Eagles led 10-8 after the first quarter, but the Lady Maples (1-0, 1-4) pushed into a 24-19 halftime lead.
Mapletown extended its lead to 45-34 after three quarters and then held off a fourth-quarter push by Avella, 20-12, to hold on for the win.
Kelsi Smith, who grabbed 12 rebounds, made 1-of-2 free throws with nine seconds remaining to clinch the win.
Mapletown’s Hannah Duesenberry led all scorers with 24 points.
Grace Lengauer led the Lady Eagles with 22. Raneusha Brown added 10.