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Lady Chucks celebrate seniors with thrilling OT win |
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Written by Dan Walk
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Thursday, 12 February 2009 |
Nine upperclassmen were honored during the Punxsy girls' basketball team's Senior Night Wednesday against Clearfield. Pictured is each girl with her parents (from left): Cheerleader Heather Mack, with Greg and Deanna Mack; cheerleader Emily Moore, with Mark and Christina Pearce; Brittany Baker, with Sam and Mary Ann Baker; Paula Hansen, with Sheila Culberson; Lauren Janocha, with Jim and Shelly Janocha; statistician Laurie Keeley, with John and Bev Keeley; Allie Miller, with Mike and Lu Miller; statistician Ashlee Spack, with Tim and Missy Spack; and Amanda Toven, with Al and Dolores Toven. The Lady Chucks won 36-31 in overtime. (Photo by Dan Walk/The Punxsutawney Spirit)
PUNXSUTAWNEY -- An unusual game that included a 17-minute power outage due to intense wind, two second-half 8-0 runs by Clearfield and a four-minute overtime period created quite an interesting Senior Night experience for the Punxsy girls' basketball team.
The Lady Chucks received huge plays during different parts of the game from all four seniors and made up for a loss Jan. 21 at Clearfield by winning Wednesday night, 36-31 in overtime.
Punxsy collected 18 steals, including three huge ones during overtime en route to a 5-0 fifth period.
"It was an exciting ball game," Punxsy head coach Randy Reitz said. "I thought our kids played very good defense tonight. We held them to 31 points in 36 minutes."
Senior Amanda Toven saved her only two points for overtime, as fellow upperclassmen Allie Miller assisted her wide open lay-up with 1:40 left in overtime. Less than a minute later, Jenna Reitz assited Miller's basket, which made it a 35-31 game with 56 seconds left.
Punxsy (7-14 overall, 5-7 D9 League) held Clearfield (11-10, 6-6) to just two shots during the overtime period. Steals by Toven and senior Brittany Baker occurred during the final minute, as the Lady Bisons didn't get up a shot once Punxsy built a 35-31 lead.
"That's (defense) the strength of this team. They're all in pretty good shape, and each night, they come out and play defense," Reitz said. "It's the offense that we needed to keep working on. We just had enough (offense) tonight to get us by."
Punxsy led 25-15 late in the third quarter before an 8-0 run helped Clearfield tighten the deficit. But Jenna Reitz came back with back-to-back threes, putting Punxsy up 31-23 with 3:59 left in the game.
But Clearfield scored eight-straight points to close the fourth quarter, with Gwenn Porter's basket tying the game at 31 with 41 seconds left.
But it was Punxsy which pushed through and held Clearfield scoreless in overtime.
Jenna Reitz finished with a game-best 13 points that included four three-pointers. She also had five assists and five steals.
Miller struggled with foul trouble during the game, but came through at the end and had seven points.
"Allie played hard tonight. If we need a hoop, we try to go into the low post to her," Reitz said. "She just does a good job of finishing. That (foul trouble) didn't bother her tonight. She played through that, and just did a nice job for us."
Toven was all around the basket, finishing with 10 rebounds to go along with three steals.
"Toven's been solid for us all year on the defensive end," Reitz said. "She's a great rebounder, and she just works hard night after night on that end."
Punxsy's fourth senior, Lauren Janocha, hit three big jumpers during the second quarter and finished with eight points and four steals.
"Lauren stepped up big during the second quarter for us," Reitz said. "That really helped us get out to a nice lead at halftime."
Brittany Baker scored four of Punxsy's eight first-quarter points and ripped away four steals. She guarded Clearfield's Jayme Ryan well, though she's two inches shorter.
"Baker just played great defense," Reitz said. "Britt's very quick and strong, and you can put her on a player like that."
Punxsy finished its D9 League schedule with the win, as its final regular season game is Friday versus State College.
After that, the Lady Chucks will prepare to play at Clearfield either Feb. 24 or Feb. 25 in the District IX Class AAA Semifinals. The winner of that game will face No. 1-seeded St. Marys a few days later for the district championship.
"Hopefully, this will give us a little confidence heading into that game," Reitz said. "When you go on the road, you have to start with defense."
Since Punxsy has relied on its defense all season long, it'll be off to a good start heading into Clearfield in two weeks.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 February 2009 )
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