Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Portage’s Ashlyn Hudak tries to get by Penn Cambria’s Kaylee Harpster.
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By Nate Ritchey
PORTAGE — Year-in and year-out, players graduate from Portage and new players join the mix of returnees.
One of the constants of Lady Mustang basketball is the relentless, full-court pressure they apply.
On Friday night, Penn Cambria got a heavy dose of that as Portage used the press to jumpstart its offense in earning a 58-30 victory on the first night of the Art Burkett Memorial Tournament.
The Mustangs will play Central Cambria, a 68-23 winner over Somerset in the opening game, at 7:30 pm in the championship tonight.
“Our press is what it is — it’s our bread and butter,” Portage coach Lance Hudak said.
The Lady Panthers and Lady Eagles will tip off at 6 p.m. in the consolation game.
For the game, Portage forced 39 turnovers, including 14 in the opening quarter.
The Lady Mustangs, behind four points from Jenna Burkett, grabbed a 5-0 lead before PC’s Addie Hite ended a string of five turnovers with a transition layup.
Portage responded with nine unanswered to seize a 14-2 edge as Payton Noll drilled a 3-pointer to start the spurt.
A layup at the buzzer by the Mustangs’ Britton Myher gave her team a 17-6 lead after one.
“They (Portage) start five seniors and they look like five seniors out there,” Penn Cambria coach Josh Himmer said. “They know what they do and they rotate really well — they make you play fast. That’s a tribute to them.”
Jenna Burkett’s five points spearheaded a 9-2 run that saw Portage stretch its lead to 26-8 midway through the second quarter of play.
Six more turnovers didn’t help the Lady Panthers and neither did the fact that at that point in the game, whether they were right there or not, Portage had laid its foundation as many quick shots were taken by Penn Cambria.
The missed opportunities were a result of the Lady Mustangs imposing their pace of play on the game which played as big of a factor as the actual turnovers.
“We’re very fast and very athletic group out there,” Hudak said. “I stress this with our girls all the time — It’s not about the steals all the time, it’s not about the tip balls all the time, it’s about the tempo. It’s getting a team to play the speed that we want to play. (Them) not being able to walk the ball up and set up their halfcourt offense. We really use the speed and skill we have to our advantage.”
PC managed just four more points in the second and entered the half trailing 28-12.
A baseline jumper by Hite, bucket by Jenna Burkett and a layup from PC’s Kaylee Harpster got the difference down to 14 (30-16) — the closest the Lady Panthers would get the rest of the night.
“We play in the Laurel Highlands, and that may be, in my opinion, the toughest conference around here,” Himmer said. “Every night you’re going to see competition on that level (like Portage). So, it’s a great thing for our girls to maybe see that right off the bat. … We played 15 girls tonight, so hopefully we grow from that and get a little better.”
An 11-2 spurt by Portage with Alex Chobany accounting for the first nine Mustang points saw the lead balloon to 41-18 before the Lady Panthers Isabelle Andersen ended the run with a bucket.
Portage took a 45-20 advantage before four turnovers from the Mustangs and basket by Harpster ended the third quarter with the score 45-24.
Portage ended the game with a 13-8 showing in the fourth to set the final.
“We scored by driving the ball with Alex and Cami (Burkett). Jenna scored in different ways for us tonight,” Hudak said. “I really liked the contributions of our underclassmen. Yes, we are five seniors (starting). … It’s these underclassmen that we need those contributions from. They did that for us tonight when people were tired or in foul trouble, and it was great stuff.”
In the opening game, Central Cambria’s Abigail Sheehan drained three 3-pointers and totaled 19 points to lead the Lady Red Devils to a victory.
Down 37-15 at the half, Somerset was led by Eve Housley’s 13 points.
PENN CAMBRIA (30): Ronan 1 0-1 2, Hite 3 0-1 6, Harpster 2 0-0 4, Vinglish 0 0-2 0, Weisinger 0 0-0 0, Rabaton 0 0-0 0, McCoy 0 0-0 0, Lemaster 1 1-2 3, Saleme 1 0-1 2, Shoemaker 0 0-2 0, Anderson 5 1-2 11, McConnell 0 0-0 0, Deck 0 0-0 0, Baney 0 0-0 0, Andersen 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 2-11 30.
PORTAGE (58): Hudak 0 0-0 0, Chobany 7 1-1 15, C. Burkett 5 3-6 13, B. Bednarski 0 0-0 0, J. Burkett 6 2-3 14, Noll 1 1-2 4, Bagby 2 0-0 4, Myher 3 0-1 6, C. Burkett 0 0-2 0, K. Bednarski 1 0-0 2, Stancovich 0 0-0 0, Offman 0 0-0 0, B. Burkett 0 0-0 0, Irvin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 7-15 58.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 6 6 10 8 – 30
Portage 17 11 17 13 – 58
3-point field goals: Penn Cambria none; Portage 1 (Noll).
Records: Penn Cambria (0-1); Portage (1-0).
SOMERSET (23): Ri. Holmes 0 0-0 0, Re. Holmes 0 0-2 0, Housley 6 1-5 13, Baumgardner 0 0-0 0, Stanton 2 0-0 6, Sanders 1 0-0 2, Fletcher 1 0-0 2, Boozer 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0, Rosman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 1-5 23.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA (68): Al. Sheehan 3 0-0 9, Ab. Sheehan 8 0-0 19, Lockard 2 1-2 7, Barra 3 0-0 7, A. Ruddek 3 1-4 7, Kudlawiec 0 0-0 0, Long 2 0-2 4, Duman 0 0-0 0, Link 2 2-4 8, George 2 0-0 5, Benko 0 0-0 0, R. Ruddek 0 0-0 0, Kasecky 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 4-12 68.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Somerset 6 9 2 6 — 23
Central Cambria 16 21 22 9 — 68
3-point field goals: Somerset 2 (Stanton 2); Central Cambria 10 (Al. Sheehan 3, Ab. Sheehan 3, Lockard 2, Barra, George).
Records: Somerset (0-1); Central Cambria (1-0).