CLARION — After watching a 17-point second half lead evaporate because of Redbank Valley\’s furious comeback, Curwensville Area High School coach Vic Gearhart kept the instructions very simple for his girls during a timeout with 16.9 seconds remaining in their District 9 Class AA semifinal on Clarion University\’s Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium hardwood Thursday night.
Clear out the right side of the floor for Dani Struble or Jackie White, the two senior standouts who have accounted for 62 percent of the Lady Tide points this season.
The play might not have worked exactly as planned, but the result was a fantastic finish as Struble drove around her defender, found an open baseline because White had blocked out her defender and popped in a four-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds left to give the Lady Tide a pulsating 45-43 victory.
Win No. 21 in 26 games not only sends second-seeded Curwensville into the 9-AA championship game for the second time in three years, it also guarantees the Lady Tide an appearance in the PIAA Inter-District Playoffs for the first time.
One of the biggest wins ever for the Lady Tide program drew a reaction from the players that Gearhart hasn\’t seen this season.
\”That\’s the first time I\’ve seen this kind of excitement on the girls,\” he said. \”They finally got a little emotional. I hope we can build off that when we come back here next week.\”
Blocking the path to Curwensville\’s first district title in the 6 p.m. showdown March 2 will be No. 1 seed Karns City, which outlasted Brookville 36-35 in the second thriller of the night. The Lady Gremlins (20-5) led 36-30 after a 6-0 run and escaped with the victory when Lady Raider Paige Elkin, fouled as time expired, missed the second of her two free throws.
Struble showed why she is District 9\’s leading scorer with a 21-point performance, while White posted another double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
No. 3 Redbank Valley, which finished 16-10, got 14 points from Lacy McClaine, who fueled the Lady Bulldogs rally with three of her four three-pointers, and 11 from Jena Gruver. Keeping top scorer Lacy Blose in check was important for the Lady Tide. The junior point guard was held to nine points after coming off a 24-point outburst against Cranberry Tuesday.
\”The kids really did a great job hedging on No. 5,\” Gearhart said. \”They kept her from penetrating, getting too deep. Later in the game, I don\’t know if we fatigued or what, but they let her get by them, and they let her find somebody open. We started cheating on our backline, and they got at least two buckets, maybe three, from her dumping the ball off. She\’s a ball player. She\’s a playmaker.\”
None of the Lady Bulldogs could find the range in the first half. They made only three of 25 attempts from the floor and four of eight from the foul line.
Struble nailed a trey from the top of the circle to ignite a 9-2 start that included a layup by Ronna Knepp off Holly Fink\’s pass when the Lady Tide broke the Lady Bulldogs\’ zone press and putbacks by Hannah Walls and Fink. McClaine\’s three-pointer from the right corner and Kim Goth\’s short jumper made it 9-7 before Struble broke free on a fast break to set the first quarter count at 11-7.
A putback by Nadia Kundick and free throws by Gruver and Kundick got Redbank Valley even with 4:37 left in the half, but Curwensville answered with a baseline jumper and baseline drive by White and back-to-back set shots from the foul line by Knepp for a 19-11 advantage at intermission.
\”I think it really settled their nerves to get out to that lead,\” Gearhart assessed the first half. \”They were hustling in the first half. They really were. Going into halftime, they had the confidence that they could play with this team. I think they would have been very disappointed if they had let it slip away.\”
The Lady Tide exuded confidence at the outset of the third quarter, hitting its first four shots, two by Struble, for a 28-11 cushion after only three minutes.
Blose stopped Curwensville\’s 17-0 run with a jumper from outside the foul line with 4:11 remaining in the period. It was Redbank Valley\’s first field goal in 10 minutes and 50 seconds. The Lady Tide regained a 17-point lead at 32-15 at the 3:00 mark when White hit two free throws and Struble followed with a jumper.
Then, the Lady Bulldogs began to close the gap behind McClaine, who brought the crowd to life with a trio of three-pointers in a 17-2 rally that made it 34-32 with 6:25 left, setting the stage for the wild finish. Blose\’s long trey and a foul shot tied it 36-36 with 4:35 to go, but Struble hit one of two foul shots and then drove the lane for a tough runner.
\”They just started hitting,\” Gearhart said of Redbank Valley\’s comeback. \”And when they missed, they were getting the rebounds and getting putbacks. Hey, we never did give up the lead. I don\’t think our kids ever lost their composure. I feel bad that we squandered that (lead), but that\’s part of playoff basketball, pressure basketball. We need to get in these situations. They let them back into it, but I don\’t think they panicked.\”
After missing two charity tosses, White came right back to sink a pair to keep the Lady Tide on top 41-38. A clutch shot from Fink pushed the margin to 43-39 with 1:21 left, but Blose penetrated and dished to Gruver for a layup and Goth brought the Lady Bulldog fans to their feet with a shot from the left corner that created a 43-43 deadlock with 24.4 seconds to go.
That set the stage for Curwensville\’s final timeout.
\”Jackie was going to get it inbounds, and the other girls were going to set a pick for Dani,\” Gearhart explained the strategy. \”I said, \”Dani, if you\’ve got the drive, take it. If you don\’t back up, wait for Jackie to post up and we\’ll go from there.\’
\”If we would have gotten a quick layup off the in-bounds pass, we would have taken it. Otherwise we wanted to go inside five seconds. We wanted to either win or take it into overtime.
\”Dani did get free on the dribble downfloor, but they got some weakside help. She was disciplined enough to get it back out to Jackie in the high wing. Then she came around and got it back. Jackie sealed off the low post to keep anybody from coming over to contest Dani\’s shot, and Dani drove right to the base line. She\’s tough off the move. She\’s just a gamer.\”
Struble and Fink had six rebounds apiece and Walls added five as the Lady Tide matched the Lady Bulldogs with 32, though only six were on the offensive end.
\”We just don\’t offensive rebound that well,\” Gearhart said. \”But you know what, in a game like this, I would rather get back and stop a fast break or a cheap bucket than go in there. Every time we did go in, we\’d get a foul called.\”
Curwensville hit 19 of 48 field goal tries for 39.6 percent, while Redbank Valley made 15 of 58 for 25.9 percent. Each team had 18 turnovers.
REDBANK VALLEY — 43
Lacey Blose 3 2-6 9, Kim Goth 2 0-0 4, Lacy McClaine 4 2-3 14, Heidi Hepler 0 0-0 0, Jena Gruver 4 3-5 11, Nadia Kundick 2 1-2 5, Delaney Case 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 8-16 43.
CURWENSVILLE — 45
Dani Struble 9 2-3 21, Hannah Walls 2 0-0 4, Ronna Knepp 3 0-0 6, Holly Fink 2 0-0 4, Jackie White 3 4-6 10, Holly Lansberry 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 6-9 45.
Three-Point Field Goals: Redbank Valley 5 (McClaine 4, Blose 1); Curwensville 1 (Struble).
Score by Quarters:
Redbank Valley 7 4 14 18 — 43
Curwensville 11 8 15 11 — 45
