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Lady Chucks win third in a row, even D9 League mark |
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Written by Dan Walk
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Thursday, 28 January 2010 |
Punxsy's Shawnna Crago (left) shoots over Clearfield's Amber Byerly during the first half Wednesday night. (Photo by Dan Walk/The Punxsutawney Spirit)
PUNXSUTAWNEY — The Lady Chucks' rough start to the 2009-2010 season may have put a damper on the crowd support this year, but the way they've been playing as of late, it's time for Punxsutawney to take notice.
Punxsy, which played just one girl off the bench once again compared to Clearfield's 12-girl rotation, out-shot and out-rebounded the Lady Bisons during a 40-34 victory Wednesday night — the Lady Chucks' third-straight win.
The Lady Chucks improved to 6-8 on the season and advanced their District IX League record to 3-3 while avenging a season-ending loss at Clearfield last year during the District IX Class AAA playoffs.
"It's a nice win here at home. It's a league win, and we have another big league game coming up Friday," Punxsy head coach Randy Reitz said. "We need to keep working hard in practice and get prepared for DuBois."
If Punxsy's pep band and cheerleaders weren't in attendance, Clearfield's fans would have outnumbered Punxsy's crowd. But the Lady Chucks still performed well, led by balanced scoring that included each starter managing at least six points.
Punxsy, which has won three-straight games to make up for a four-game losing streak, played like a totally different team since its last matchup against the Lady Bisons — a 43-34 loss Feb. 25, 2009, in the district playoffs. But Reitz said that his girls didn't put any extra emphasis on the win over Clearfield Wednesday.
"We want them all in the league. It doesn't matter who it is," Reitz said. "We play one game at a time, and whoever we're playing in the league, that's the one we want to win."
Jenna Reitz led Punxsy with 10 points — including two three-pointers — with seven rebounds, three steals and three assists.
Shawnna Crago had a huge game on the boards, ripping down 14 rebounds, with seven coming offensively. Crago also added nine points, but it was her ability to rebound the ball and limit Clearfield to one shot that helped Punxsy control the game.
"Shawnna did a nice job of checking out Clearfield's big girl. She got a body on her, went up and pulled it down," coach Reitz said. "If she continues to do that, we're going to get a lot of rebounds."
Hannah Neal hit two three-pointers and totaled eight points and four rebounds, Amber Fye collected seven points, and Megan McCully contributed six points and six rebounds.
With the way both teams were shooting during the first quarter, it appeared as though last season's 77-point total would be eclipsed with ease. Punxsy hit its first three shots, including threes from Fye and Neal, to lead 8-4 just two minutes into the game. Once Reitz hit her second trey of the quarter with one minute remaining, the Lady Chucks were up 19-9.
Clearfield, however, stayed in the game once Madison Sopic was good from long distance and Amber Byerly completed a three-point play. Punxsy led 19-15 after one.
Both team's offenses slowed down considerably during the next two quarters. Punxsy led 26-18 at the break thanks to a 7-3 second quarter, but Clearfield came within two at 28-26 entering the fourth after the Lady Chucks made one third-quarter basket.
"We did come out shooting the ball tonight, but we're not going to shoot like that every quarter," Reitz said. "The last two quarters, we had to play on the defensive end, and the kids did a nice job doing that. They were out in good defensive position and limited Clearfield to one shot."
Byerly, who totaled a team-best 13 points for Clearfield, scored within the first 10 seconds of the fourth quarter to knot the game at 28. But once Punxsy went on a 6-0 run during the next three minutes, the Lady Bisons were never able to tie the contest again.
"The Clearfield kids played hard. When we got up seven, they came back and tied it," Reitz said. "Our kids did a nice job of holding their composure and getting it back up to four and six points."
Up 38-34 with 49 seconds left, Jenna Reitz missed the front end of a one-and-one, but two missed three-pointers by Gwenn Porter led to a Reitz rebound.
Reitz missed the front end of another one-and-one with 20 seconds left, but was quick to create a Clearfield turnover by the time the Lady Bisons brought the ball to half-court.
Fye put the game away with two free throws once 8.4 seconds remained.
Punxsy, which earlier in the season led in the fourth before losing to both Elk County Catholic and St. Marys — the top two D9 League teams — only became stronger as the game went on Wednesday, even with only six girls competing. The small group's efforts have paid off as of late after hard-luck losses the past two weeks.
"They work hard in practice, and they know they're going to log a lot of minutes. I think they're getting used to it, and they're getting their legs down the stretch," Reitz said. "Hopefully, we can continue to get into better shape as the season goes on."
Friday, Punxsy will host a DuBois squad which has won six in a row. DuBois broke a 17-game losing streak to Punxsy that extended to 2001 with a 50-41 win over the Lady Chucks Jan. 4.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 January 2010 )
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