Host Lady Gators fall to Propel Andrew Street, 38-28
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. — Propel Andrew Street turned defense into offense from start to finish in a 38-28 win over Geibel Catholic in the opening game of the host team’s girls basketball holiday tournament on Monday.
“We try to keep everything up-tempo,” said Propel Andrew Street coach Robert Hurt. “We want to run up and down the court and get turnovers with pressure on defense.”
The Panthers did just that, streaking from an early 4-4 deadlock to a 17-6 lead midway through the second quarter before Geibel Catholic closed with a rush to cut the halftime deficit to 17-14.
“We have to work on our passing,” said Geibel coach Patrick Blackstone afterwards. “We were a little slow off the bat and our speed eventually came to us, but too late.”
Geibel Catholic’s Grace Nowicki gave the Lady Gators their only lead with a 3-point basket just five seconds into the game. But PAS took a 4-3 lead on consecutive baskets off turnovers by Kay Howard.
After Gillian Yourish tied the game on a free throw, the Panthers went on a seven-point run on a 3-point basket by Nissa Boyd to end the first quarter leading 7-4, and two quick baskets by Tashawn Simmons to open the second period.
Yourish scored Geibel’s first basket in a span of 9:46 to cut the lead to 11-6, but Howard’s steal and score, followed by Boyd’s trey and free throw gave Propel Andrew Street a 17-6 lead.
Geibel Catholic (2-2, 3-5) put together its most meaningful run to close the half as baskets by Katie Haky, Sydney Palya, Gabby Kolencik, and Haky once again cut the deficit to 17-14 after 16 minutes.
But, Propel Andrew Street opened the second half with an 8-1 run on turnover scores by Howard and Boyd, interrupted by a Nowicki free throw, and two more scores from Boyd for a 25-15 lead.
Nowicki hit a long jumper, then a trey to cut the lead to 25-20, Howard scored for PAS, and Sidney Anderson scored for Geibel to close the period with the Panthers leading 27-22.
Propel Andrew Street (1-2, 6-4) used an 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter on a pair of baskets each by Alexis Mosley and Howard to offset a Nowicki basket to lead 35-24 and seal the victory.
Howard and Boyd each scored 15 points for Propel Andrew Street, while Nowicki scored 11 to lead Geibel Catholic.
Hurt said he was aware of Nowicki’s capabilities from seeing her in action in AAU competition. “We knew what she is capable of doing and had to locate her on the court throughout the night.”
Geibel Catholic and Waynesburg Central will play tonight’s consolation game at 5 p.m., while Propel Andrew Street and Southmoreland will play in the 6:30 p.m. championship game.