Penns Valley outlasts Lady Eagles

By Kenny Varner
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Updated: January 21, 2015

By Kenny Varner

WINGATE – It was raining threes early and often in the opening quarter at the Bald Eagle gym as the Penns Valley girls basketball team came out and blasted three triples while the Lady Eagles posted two of their own.

But it was the second quarter has seemed to the Bald Eagle Area girls basketball teams’ Achilles heel as it once again was outscored in the period by a 16-8 tally.

Bald Eagle battled back numerous times in the contest but couldn’t quite finish the job, falling 48-39 Tuesday night.

However, in the comeback attempt, the Eagles were able to finish with three of their players with double figures.

Leading the way for Bald Eagle was Haley Giedroc with 11. Giedroc picked up most of her points the hard way, from the charity stripe. She went 7-for-8 in the process.

Teammate Julia Cingle picked up her 10 a little differently, posting two triples with four free throws.

Rounding out the double-digit scorers for the home team was Alyssa Ward. Ward also had her moments at the free throw line, picking up four of her 10 points from the line as well.

“We go through spurts when we don’t score a lot of buckets. I am thankful that our defense keeps us in the game because it could of turned the other way. They could have folded and let it get out of hand but the didn’t. they kept fighting,” Bald Eagle coach Troy Butterworth said. “I kept telling them they need to make a basket. Get it under double digits and see what happens. They did a good job of that.”

Penns Valley’s Karli Ripka was the only one from her team to finish in double digits. Her 15-point effort was good enough for a game high score.

Both teams came out battling in the first.

After a free throw by Penns Valley’s Maci Ilgen, the Rams forced the Eagles to miss and then got the ball to Ripka. Ripka stood back from beyond the 3-point line and hit nothing but net, upping their lead to 4-0 with 7:16 left.

With two consecutive shots, the Eagles took the lead for the first time. Sisters Julia and Maddie Cingle posted two consecutive triples, making it 6-4 with 5:47 left in the quarter.

Bald Eagle held Penns Valley to a forced missed shot and then took the ball and took it down the court and got the ball to Alyssa Ward. Ward drove the ball to the heart of the defense and was fouled on the play, completing an old fashion three-point play but most importantly for her team, upped the lead to 9-4.

Mackenzie Ironside brought the deficit down to four when she hit a long two from right around the top of the key.

However, the Rams started to pick up the tempo and went on a 9-3 run to take the lead as the first quarter buzzer expired.

Going into the second quarter, Penns Valley held onto a slim 15-13 advantage.

Penns Valley picked up where it left off in the end of the first and posted the first 13 points of the second quarter, upping the lead to 28-13.

But the Eagles wouldn’t go down without a fight as it went on a scoring run of its own.

Julia Cingle got the scoring started when she netted two of two from the line.

Minutes later, Cingle got herself back on the foul line after being fouled inside the paint. She hit both and the run was on.

With 28 seconds left, the Eagles cut a 15-point deficit down to a seven-point 28-21 affair.

Penns Valley would have the last laugh of the quarter though when Ripka hit her second triple of the game with 10 ticks left on the clock, sending both teams the lockeroom with the Rams leading 31-21.

In the second half, the Eagles outscored the Rams by a 18-17 margin.

Newcomer Madison McCauley was strong on defense, tearing down five boards and blocking two.

“We’ve been kind of sick and injured. New kids are stepping in. I thought Madison McCauley, the post player, played a nice game tonight. She hasn’t seen a lot of varsity time but due to injuries the girls are coming in. They are doing their role,” Butterworth said. “If I put them in for a minute, they bust their butt for a minute. They give the other girls a break. I am proud of them.”

In JV action, Penns Valley narrowly came out with a 23-20 victory.

Bald Eagle is back in action Friday when it travels to Philipsburg-Osceola.