CLARION 39, CRANBERRY 34

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Jan. 4, 2008

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Behind 17 points from Chrissy Kriebel, Clarion upset sixth-ranked Cranberry 39-34 Friday night at Clarion.

“It’s a big win,” Clarion head coach Roger Walter said. “But it seems like over the past few weeks every time we have a game that we think we had to win, we’ve gone out and won. We know this is a tough team, a talented team we beat tonight.”

Cranberry, which entered the game having won 7 of 9 while earning the No. 6 ranking in the first RRR Roadhouse D9Sports.com District 9 Girls’ Basketball Rankings of 2007-2008, had its second worst offensive night of the season connecting on 39.5 percent of its shots (15 of 38) while turning the ball over 19 times and generating very little offense, especially in the first half, out of its half-court set. Only four Lady Berries reached the scoreboard and only three of those players scored in any of the first three quarters. It was the second time in three games and fifth time this year Cranberry has failed to reach 40 points.

“We limited ourselves,” Cranberry head coach Chrissy Shumaker said. “This group should be an offensive powerhouse with three or four players in double figures that could score 60 plus points a night. Right now, it is a big question mark as to why it isn’t.”

What wasn’t a question mark was that Clarion dominated the first quarter scoring 12 of the game’s first 15 points while taking a 12-5 lead at the end of the quarter.

 “It was one of the first times we came out and played strong in the first quarter this year,” Walter said. “We ran what we wanted to run, we looked solid with the ball. We were not in a hurry. We made good choices.”

Shumaker, meanwhile, attributed the slow start to some poor practices.

“It starts with practice,” Shumaker said. “We aren’t doing the job in practice. You play like you practice. We aren’t pushing each other in practice, and we aren’t intense in practice. It is showing in these games.”  

Clarion got the lead up to 10 points, 17-7, 2:14 into the second quarter. But then Cranberry started to get its legs and finished the first half on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 19-18 at halftime.

But Clarion responded in the second half using an 8-2 third quarter run to outscored the Lady Berries 13-6 in the quarter and take an 8-point lead, 32-24, into the fourth quarter.

“The only real adjustment we made at halftime was that we wanted to play a half-court game,” Walter said. “The (run) they made in the first half was because of transition baskets. They didn’t get anything out of their half court set.”

Clarion still led by eight, 34-26, with less than five minutes to play. But Cranberry had one last run left in it using a pair of 3-pointers from Emily Hatch and a basket by Chyanne Shuffstall to cut the Lady Cats lead to 36-34 with 2:53 left.

Shuffstall then appeared to tie the game with a layup at the 1:29 mark, but she was called for traveling and then a technical foul after slamming the ball off the floor.

“I agreed with the (walking) call,” Shuffstall said. “She shuffled her feet. It’s frustrating. But it’s not impossible to overcome.”

While Clarion managed only one of a possible four points out of the technical foul situation – Chrissy Kriebel missed both technical foul shots and Erin Bean converted just one of two free throws with 1:13 left after Clarion inbounded the ball – the sequence halted the Cranberry momentum – in fact the Lady Berries didn’t score again.

“That was a big swing,” Walter said. “They had taken over. Things were going their way. That put the brakes on it. It was basically a timeout for us. Then Marie (Rhoades) hit two big free throws that sealed the game.”

NOTES – Kriebel was the only player in double figures for Clarion, although Rhoades added eight points … Maggie O’Neil and sophomore Hannah Heeter led Cranberry with 11 points each with Heeter adding eight rebounds … Clarion returns to action Wednesday at Moniteau, while Cranberry is back in action Monday at Brookville.

CLARION 39, CRANBERRY 34

Score by Quarters

Cranberry 5 13 6 10 – 34

Clarion 12 7 13 7 – 39

Cranberry – 34

Laura Heineman 0 0-2 0, Lyndsey Burneisen 0 0-0 0, Chyanne Shuffstall 3 0-0 6, Emily Hatch 2 0-0 6, Maggie O’Neil 5 0-0 11, Hannah Heeter 5 1-2 11, Alyssa Craft 0 0-0 0, Sarah Lutz 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 1-4 34.

Clarion – 39

Chrissy Kriebel 6 4-9 17, Kaitlin Roth 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Beichner 1 0-0 2, Marie Rhoades 3 2-2 8, Karyn Larson 0 0-0 0, Shaina McNeil 1 2-2 4, Emily Fillman 1 1-2 3, Erin Bean 2 1-4 5. Totals 14 10-19 39.

Three-pointers – Cranberry 3 (Hatch 2, O’Neil). Clarion1 (Kriebel).