Gritty Gators
Clemmer, Larkin star as Geibel fends off St. Joseph
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. — The play was designed for Emma Larkin to inbound the ball and get it right back.
Geibel Catholic was locked in a 53-53 tie with visiting St. Joseph in their WPIAL Class A quarterfinal game at the Swamp and Larkin had already poured in 34 points for the Lady Gators so the thought process seemed logical.
Larkin altered the plan though when she was handed the ball with just 10 seconds on the clock and instead threw it inside to Mallory Clemmer.
The 6-foot-1 sophomore tipped the ball, gathered it in then put up a shot while surrounded by four defenders and watched as it bounced on the rim and dropped in for the winning points in Geibel’s thrilling 55-53 girls basketball playoff victory on Thursday night.
“Once I got it I was expecting contact so I wanted to make sure I went up strong, and it went in,” said Clemmer, who totaled 17 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots. “I was so happy.”
“I know Mallory is our best presence down low so I saw a little opening and I just said trust it Emma and get it to her,” Larkin said. “I did and she was clutch.”
Clemmer wasn’t finished.
There was still drama left as the Lady Spartans called timeout with 5.5 seconds. St. Joseph inbounded the ball to Gemma Hornack who fired a long pass for Bella Bartolovic streaking towards the basket, but Clemmer lunged, tipped the ball away and gathered it in as the clock ran out to seal the win, drawing a joyous hug from Larkin and a loud roar from the large throng of Lady Gator fans on hand.
“I saw the ball coming and I just stuck my arm out and reached for it,” Clemmer said. “I’m so long I was able to get my hands on it.”
The victory propelled the fourth-seeded Lady Gators (22-1) into the district semifinals for the second consecutive year. Geibel will play top-seeded Aquinas Academy (20-2), which defeated ninth-seeded Eden Christian, 58-32, on Monday with the site and time to be determined.
The win also secured a spot in the PIAA tournament for the Lady Gators.
Larkin, who recently broke the Fayette County career scoring record previously held by Albert Gallatin graduate Loui Hall (now Ellen Guillard), pushed her point total up to 2,487. Her 34 points included one 3-pointer, a pair of three-point plays and a 9-for-10 performance at the foul line. She added six steals and consistently drove through the St. Joseph defense even when having two defenders thrown at her on several occasions.
“Emma was a beast tonight,” said her mother and head coach Sara Larkin. “She wanted it. I think this is probably the first game all year where she told me she was tired. That means she was giving it everything she had.”
Sara Larkin discussed the final two plays.
“The inbounds play, we were looking to screen for Alexa (Morgan) to get open then have her give it back to Em and try to get her to the hoop,” she explained. “But I trust Em to make the right decision and Mal put it in.
“On their inbounds play, the thought was let them get it in then foul to use up a couple seconds, because we had fouls to give.” coach Larkin said. “We didn’t do that before she threw the pass but Mal made the play. She came up big at both ends of the court at the end for us.”
Clemmer also helped get the Lady Gators off to a good start by scoring their first seven points. Larkin tallied Geibel’s final seven points of the first quarter with a steal and spinning layup, two free throws and a three-point play as the hosts took a 14-13 lead into the second quarter.
Bartolovic’s two free throws and a 3-pointer by Jocelyn Spinelli put St. Joseph ahead 18-14 but Geibel responded with a 12-point run that included six points by Larkin, four by Clemmer and two by Morgan to go up 26-18.
Just when it looked like the Lady Gators were ready to blow the game open, St. Joseph answered with an 11-2 run to seize a 29-28 halftime lead.
Larkin rang up the first seven points of the third quarter to put Geibel back on top, 35-29. After a 6-2 spurt got the Lady Spartans within two, Geibel got back-to-back, hard-fought buckets off offensive boards by Clemmer and Janiah Darnell, who had 10 rebounds, to again go up by six. St. Joseph fought back to within 43-41 by the end of the quarter thanks to 3-pointers by Spinelli and Kasey Cienik with the latter coming at the buzzer.
The fourth quarter was similar to the first three with the Lady Gators building up a slight lead only to have the Lady Spartans claw their way back.
Larkin sank a 3-pointer to put her team ahead 49-43 but Spinelli fired right back with a trey of her own to whittle the gap back to three. Bartolovic countered a driving layup by Larkin with a basket inside and Spinelli answered two foul shots by Larkin with a bucket to keep the margin at three points.
The Lady Spartans tied it on Bartolovic’s 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, but that just set the stage for Clemmer’s heroics.
Emma Larkin praised her teammate.
“Mallory has been my sidekick all season,” she said. “It is so nice to have a six-foot big that works hard and rebounds and can score. I love playing with her.”
Bartolovic led St. Joseph with 24 points and three 3-pointers, Spinelli sank a trio of treys in tallying 17 points and Cienik swished a pair of 3-pointers in scoring 10 points.
“I’ve watched a ton of film on this team,” Sara Larkin said. “They’re young, they’re aggressive and they’re playing with nothing to lose. They were physical, threw a bunch of different stuff at us defensively, made us mix it up on the offensive end.
“We weren’t really smooth with execution on offense but ultimately, Em getting to the hoop is what got us over the top.”
Next up for Geibel is the formidable Lady Crusaders with a spot in the WPIAL championship game at Petersen Events Center on the line.
“It’s awesome,” Clemmer said. “I can’t wait until Monday.”
“We’re excited,” Emma Larkin said. “They’re the one seed and we know they’re going to be tough. But I think we have to stay focused, play together and believe that we can do it. That’s the first step is to believe in yourself and know you can win this game.”