Penns Valley girls move on; tops Mount Union in D6 Opener

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: February 18, 2020

Penns Valley 67 , Mount Union 25

MU 8 6 7 4 – 25

PV 17 14 15 19 – 67

Scoring: MU – Kendra Gardner 1 0-0 2, Kerrigan Woodward 4 1-2 9, Sophie Smith 1 0-0 3, Camille Posey 2 7-14 11. Totals 8 8-16 25

PV – Lydia Collison 1 2-4 4, Hannah Montminy 12 6-6 31, Katie Romig 2 1-1 5, Leah Beben 5 1-1 11, Kailen Winkleblech 3 0-0 7, Avery Dinges 0 2-2 2, Kennedy Welshans 3 1-2 7. Totals 26 13-16 67.

Played but didn’t score: MU – Abbey Brodbeck 0 0-0 0, Minerva Sheeder 0 0-0 0. PV – Cassondra Ulmanic 0 0-0 0, Katie Martell 0 0-0 0.

Three-point shots: MU – Smith . PV- Montminy, Winkleblech.

By Kenny Varner

SPRING MILLS – Moving on.

Coming into Monday night’s District 6 Class AA, it was a tale of two teams trying to vye for a spot and the number one seeded, Tyrone Golden Eagles.

Penns Valley, who finished in the Sweet 16 of the state last season, met the young up-and-coming Mount Union team with the season on the line.

Despite battling the whole way, the Rams were two much across the board for Mount Union, taking a 67-25 victory on their home court.

The Trojans, had nothing to hold their heads about afterwards as the had the odds against them all season as came into the season, with a coach that was hired just a month before and it had to scratch and claw their way into the ninth spot.

“I’m very proud of how they did this season,” said Mount Union Coach Chris Lehman. “ I just got the job one month before the season started and they came out and battled every night. They never gave up and they are at where we should have been at the beginning of the season. But I’m proud of how they hung in there. They could have put their down and gave up but they kept battling to the end.”

Penns Valley came in as the dangerous eight seed and went right to work as the Rams got the ball to their leading scorer, Hannah Montminy.

Montminy set a season-high and career-high in points with 31.

Leah Beben second high scorer with 11 points.

Kennedy Welshans and Kailen Winkelblech rounded out the high scorers with seven points each.

“It was a great performance. We talked about coming out tonight and handling business the biggest thing we’re telling them is there is no pressure on us,” Penns Valley Coach Terrence Green said. “We told them to play loose, have fun and that’s what we did tonight. We just don’t worry about stuff. We just play.”

Mount Union got a strong effort from Camille Posey who was tough in the paint both offensively and defensively, posting 11 points and seven boards.

Teammate Karrigan Woodward just missed double-figure scoring with a 9-point effort.

In the first, it was Penns Valley that would open strong but the Trojans would hang around to keep things within nine after the period ended.

Montminy started off with the hot hand, posting her teams’ first six points.

She was fouled on her very first shot attempt and went to the line, hitting both shots.

Mount Union tied things on a bucket in the lane from Kendra Gardner.

Montminy scores the next two consecutive points, going inside on the first drive and a pull jumper on the next possession.

With an old-fashioned 3-point play, the Rams increased their lead to 11-2 thanks to Romig’s shot and free throw.

The play forced a time out by Mount Union.

Coming out of the break, Romig got the ball and scored again, putting them up by nine with 2:53 left in the quarter.

After another defensive stop, the Rams got the ball out Montminy underneath for the bucket.

Posey was bound and determined to get her team some points as she went hard to the hoop and was fouled in the act of shooting for the second time in the game. This time she went a perfect 2-for-2, making it a 13-4 Penns Valley lead heading close to the 2-minute mark.

But on Penns Valley’s next possession, it was able to get the ball to Beben, extending the team’s back to 11.

But the Trojans weren’t deterred as they got consecutive buckets late in the first by Woodward.

When the quarter ended, Mount Union was still in striking distance trailing by nine.

But Penns Valley continued to build on its lead as the second quarter got underway.

It started the way the game began with two solid buckets by Montminy.

Beben continued the Rams run as she added three more points before Mount Union’s Sophie Smith, stopped the Rams run when she stepped back and launched a triple, making it 13-point game with 4:08 left in the half.

Penns Valley’s defense shut things down the rest of the way only allowing a free throw and a field goal by Posey the rest of the half.

When the two teams went into the half, the Rams held. 31-14 advantage.

Penns Valley kept things moving in the right direction for it selves in the second half, posting a 15-7 scoring run in the third quarter.

Things didn’t let up for Penns Valley in the final stanza either as for the fourth time in as many quarters, the Rams’ defense held Mount Union to single digit scoring, outscoring the Trojans 19-4 en route to the victory.

However, it was not all bad news for the future of the Mount Union team as it brings back all its players next season and a coach that will have a full year to get his team focused for next year’s regular and post season.

Penns Valley’s season still goes on as they prepare for a Thursday showdown with Tyrone at Tyrone Thursday at 7pm.