Juniata girls hang close, falls late in D6 title tilt

By Kenny Varner Jr.
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: February 27, 2024

By Kenny Varner

CRESSON – Fighting for the hardware.

Bringing a strong shut down defense into its contest against Greater Johnstown, the Lady Indians were looking to capture gold in winning the District 6 Class AAA championship at Mount Aloysius Tuesday.

Juniata came into the contest sporting a record of 14-8 while Greater Johnstown tallied an 11-11 mark on the year.

In a very physical contest, the Lady Indians held their own until late in the third, but the Trojans were just too much for the battling Juniata squad, winning 52-34.

“At the half we were two buckets down and the girls came out and played hard but a couple of turnovers, some missed shots inside hurt us,” said Juniata coach Jim Fosselman. “But our kids never quit. Give credit to Johnstown. They are a trapping team. They come out and play physical basketball. It’s kind of a different style we don’t see in the Tri-Valley League. Our kids never quit though.”

In the first half, the two teams opened the game in a frenzy of back-and-forth uptempo basketball.

After getting the opening tip, the Indians took the opening bucket and went right to the heart of the Trojan defense. Mylee Landis took in and gave her team the lead.

Johnstown’s Marcella White cut the lead in half as she was hacked and sent to the line, hitting 1-of-2.

The next time down the court White was automatic from downtown, popping a triple to take the 4-2 advantage.

Haley Mummah battled for bucket, hitting a runner in the lane, knotting the game at four.

Minutes later, White added to her tally hitting her second trey of the contest, starting an 8-0 run by the Lady Trojans.

In that run, Greater Johnstown got a runner in the lane by Aubreyanna Nash and a triple by Zayona Thomas, extending the visitors’ lead to 12-4.

However, the Indians did not panic and was able to battle back with a run of their own.

Mariska Beward got the scoring started as she went strong to the hoop.

On the next Trojans possession, the Indians forced a turnover and worked the ball around to Landis down low. Mummah added a bucket while Landis was fouled hard going up for the shot and went to the charity stripe. She hit both shots, cutting it to just a two point Greater Johnstown lead.

Mummah, who finished with seven, tied things up at 1:53 left in the first.

But the Trojans had the last word as they ended things going on a 2-0 score making it a 14-12 contest as the second quarter got underway.

Things remained close in the second quarter as well. Both defenses took over in the stanza.

The good news for Juniata is that they held the Great Johnstown squad to seven points.

Unfortunately though for the Indians, they were held to five.

Highlighting the half was the unsung play of the Indians guard Sara Montoya. Montoya pulled down five boards of her eight in the first half, despite being outsized by the Lady Trojans. She also was instrumental in forcing numerous turnovers that helped her team stay within striking distance.

When the intermission got underway Greater Johnstown held a very slim 21-17 lead.

Things continued to be close in the third quarter as the Indians were only behind by 10 points going into the final stanza.

But in the fourth, the Indians ran out of steam.

The Indians finished with 30 rebounds while Greater Johnstown had 33.

Leading the scoring for Juniata was Regan Lowery with nine and teammate Landis had eight.

Johnstown had two players finish with double doubles. Naah had 11 boards and 12 points while teammate Naloni Tisinger had 10 boards and 10 points.

Juniata ends its season with a record of 14-9 while the Trojans improve to 12-11.

14-8. 11-11

Greater Johnstown 52, Juniata 34

GJ 14 7 15 16 – 52

JU. 12 5 11 6 – 34

Scoring: GJ – Zayona Thomas 5 2-2 13 , Aubreyonna Nash 4 4-5 12, Kassidee Hardison 0 1-2 1, Naloni Tisinger 4 2-3 10, Zaniah Reed 1 1-2 4, Marcella White 4 1-4 11. Totals 19 11-18 52. JU – Haley Mummah 3 1-2 7, Grace Reinhold 2 0-1 4, Regan Lowery 3 1-4 9, Mariska Beward 3 0-0 6, Mylee Landis 3 2-4 8. Totals 14 4-13 34.

Played but didn’t score: GJ – Shakia Young 0 0-0 0.

JU – Shalelyn Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Sara Montoya 0 0-2 0.

Three-point shots: GJ – White 2, Thomas 2. JU – Lowery 2.