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Lady Chucks win big as Lauren Martino scores 1,000th point |
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Friday, 23 February 2007 |
CLEARFIELD - Lauren Martino and the Punxsutawney girls' basketball team saved its best for last.
In their final game of the season, the Lady Chucks wrapped up their sixth-straight regular season D9 League title, as well as the No. 1 seed in the District IX Class AAA playoffs after knocking off Clearfield Thursday, 72-55.
"This was a very good ball game on both ends of the floor," Punxsy head coach Randy Reitz said. "Defenseively, we played with a lot of energy. We did a very good job checking out and rebounding, and we limited them to one shot per possession.
"Offensively, we did a nice job of finding the open girl inside. We moved the ball real well, we moved into the gaps against that zone, and we shot the ball very well," he said.
Near the start of the second half, Martino scored the 24th point of her career-high 37 points put her over the millennium mark. She entered the game was 976 points, and after scoring 37, she walked off the Clearfield court with 1,013. Martino also had 11 rebounds, six steals and six assists to go along with her career-high in points.
"The zone (defense that Clearfield used) was spread out, and our girls did a nice job getting the ball into Lauren," Reitz said. "Lauren did a nice job getting position and finishing (with a basket)."
Punxsy led 23-16 after the first quarter to outscore Clearfield only 18-7 in the second quarter. That gave the Lady Chucks an 18-point cushion at the break. After a 21-12 third quarter, the game became out of hand, as it was 62-35 Lady Chucks with just eight minutes to play.
Punxsy's 72 points was a season-high, and the most points since they topped DuBois Central Catholic Dec. 13, 2005, by the score of 79-40.
"I think the last two games (losses to State College and Hollidaysburg) really helped us," Reitz said. "We played with more intensity, we attacked. We just were really focused tonight."
Punxsy had a firm grasp on the game for all 32 minutes. Clearfield either turned the ball over or missed a shot in Punxsy's half-court defense and didn't have a chance on the offensive boards.
Nicole Cappella scored 11 points, including two three-pointers, Amanda Wehrle had eight points and 10 rebounds, while Samantha Reitz had six assists, and Kylie Paulina had five assists.
For Clearfield, Elizabeth Sopic scored a team-high 18 points, while Nikki Collins and Julianna Howell each had 11.
However, the JV girls closed the season by losing two games this week. The girls lost to Hollidaysburg Tuesday by the score of 60-24. JV coach Jeff Paulina said it was the best JV team he had seen all season.
It was 19-6 Lady Golden Tigers after the first quarter and 39-11 at halftime. Emily Thompson scored a team-high nine points, Allie Miller had seven, and Jube Parise scored six. All of Thompson's and Parise's points were from beyond the arc.
In Thursday's JV game against Clearfield, the Lady Bisons won 43-33. Clearfield outscored Punxsy 16-7 to take a 24-14 lead into halftime. Both teams scored 19 points in the second half. Parise had a team-high 10 points, including three three-pointers. Thompson had nine points.
With the D9 League regular season title in Punxsy's possession once again, the Lady Chucks will now prepare for the District IX Class AAA championship game against either Bradford or Clearfield March 3.
"The girls were very happy that they won the league," Reitz said. "Now have have seven or eight days to prepare, and we're going to work extra hard." |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 24 February 2007 )
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