By Shawn Brouse
DANVILLE — Greenwood girls basketball coach T.J. Weller expected a physical game against Old Forge — and he got it.
The Blue Devils muscled the Wildcats into 21 turnovers en route to a 40-35 victory in a PIAA Class A second-round matchup at Danville High School’s Whitey McCloskey Center on Wednesday night.
With the loss, the Tri-Valley League champion and District 3 runner-up Wildcats conclude a fine season with a 22-6 record. District 2 champion Old Forge (18-6) advances to play Northern Cambria, a 53-52 winner over Nativity BVM, in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
“This group came together and did even more than last year, despite losing our second-leading scorer at the beginning of the season,” said Weller, referring to sophomore guard Maria Rumberger, who suffered a torn ACL and missed the entire season. “I’m even prouder of this group of girls. This group doesn’t die.”
And that was the theme throughout the night, as Greenwood — which trailed by as many as nine points on three occasions — battled back to take it down to the wire.
Old Forge led 32-24 heading into the fourth quarter, but a Salene Shaffer 3-pointer cut into the deficit. Two Autumn Pellman free throws and a Rebekah Goodling putback brought the Wildcats within 33-31. The Blue Devils stretched the lead to 36-31 on a drive by Kim Kaville, but Greenwood countered with two free throws by senior guard Carmen Dressler with 2:18 remaining. The Wildcats had a chance to get closer, but a Pellman miss was rebounded by Kaville, and Old Forge was able to hold the ball until inside a minute before Greenwood was forced to foul, putting the Blue Devils in the double bonus. Aleca Semenza (game-high 15 points) made both ends for a 38-33 lead, but Pellman answered with a jumper to make it a one-possession game with 41 seconds left.
Old Forge was called for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds play, giving the ball back to the Wildcats. But Pellman couldn’t connect on a mid-range jumper, and Shaffer’s 3-point attempt from the right wing was long.
Kaville grabbed the miss and was fouled, then made one of two for a 39-35 lead with 27 seconds left. The Wildcats got the ball inside to Goodling, whose shot was blocked and went out of bounds, with Greenwood retaining possession.
Another Goodling shot rolled off the rim, with Chrissy Belko claiming the rebound for Old Forge. Semenza was fouled with six seconds left, and made one of two free throws for the final margin.
As hard as the Wildcats played, they couldn’t overcome the 21 turnovers — compared to just 13 for Old Forge — that culminated in too many empty possessions.
“Their pressure ... Scranton ball is very physical,” said Weller, a native of the Scranton area who graduated from Montrose High School. “In the Tri-Valley League and Mid-Penn (District 3), they call those fouls. But there were also a lot of balls stolen where we didn’t come to meet the pass.”
Greenwood missed its first six shots as Old Forge surged to an early 7-2 lead. But the Wildcats rallied to tie it at 8 on a Goodling putback as the Blue Devils suddenly went cold, missing their last seven shots of the first quarter.
Greenwood took its first lead at 10-8 early in the second and led by as many as four, but Old Forge rallied with six straight points to retake the lead and never trailed again.
Pellman, a junior forward and the Wildcats’ leading scorer, had eight points at halftime but collected three fouls in the third quarter — her fourth overall — and had to sit.
“We knew No. 12 (Pellman) was their horse, and we were able to get her into foul trouble,” said Old Forge coach Tom Gatto. “I thought we did a good job on her.”
Dressler also collected her fourth foul in the third quarter, but both players re-entered to start the fourth and played the rest of the way.
“I told them to play with their feet, not their hands,” Weller said. “Try not to get any more reach-in fouls.”
Fourteen of Greenwood’s turnovers came on steals, including four each by Chrissy Belko and Nicole Marianelli.
“We like to trap out of our 1-3-1, and it seemed to work tonight,” Gatto said.
Pellman led the Wildcats with 12 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore point guard Shaffer finished with 10 points, including eight in the second half.
Kaville scored 10 points for Old Forge, while Belko had eight points and tied Pellman for rebounding honors with seven.
The Blue Devils shot 22 free throws — connecting on 13 — to just five for the Wildcats.
