DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 62, UNION 58

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Feb. 17, 2009 - District 9 Class A Girls' First Round

By Andy Close

RIMERSBURG – The old adage that young players can’t handle the pressure of postseason play did not apply to Dubois Central Catholic freshman Lauresa Gulvas Tuesday night.

The DCC guard hit one big shot after another on her way to a 28-point performance that led No. 11 seed Dubois Central Catholic to a 62-58 upset win over No. 6 seed Union in the first round of the District 9 Class A girls playoffs Tuesday night at Union High School.                     

“She showed a lot of composure as a freshman,” said DCC head coach Paul Cherry.  “She really handled the ball well and took the ball to the hoop and made some key shots for us.”

With the win, the Lady Cardinals (9-14) advance to play No. 3 seed Coudersport Thursday night in the quarterfinals.  It’s the second time in as many seasons that DCC has pulled off a first-round upset, as they defeated third-seeded Keystone 54-42 a season ago when the Lady Cardinals were the 13^th seed.                   

“The girls never gave up,” Cherry said. “They did it for themselves and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Nobody gave us a chance and by golly we proved everybody wrong.”

Trailing 60-58, Union’s Courtney Frederick missed a shot in the lane with 11 seconds remaining and Megan Witherow grabbed the rebound for DCC and was immediately fouled.  Witherow calmly sank both free throws to put the Lady Cardinals up 62-58 securing the win.

“All year long we have been competitive, we just weren’t able to put four quarters together,” Cherry said.  “Today we put together three competitive quarters with the exception of the first.”

DCC trailed the entire game until Gulvas sank a three ball from the right corner with six seconds remaining in the third quarter to put the Lady Cardinals up 46-44.

Union came back going up 54-53 on a Lanae Cicciarelli three with 3:33 to go in the game, but the lead was short lived.

Meagan Thomas missed the front end of a one and one on the ensuing possession, but Elizabeth Heasley was there for the offensive rebound.  Heasley then threw up a fade-away jumper that banked off the glass and was good as she was fouled.  The free throw was good giving DCC a 56-54 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

The Lady Cardinals then turned the ball over three times in the final two minutes, but the Damsels were unable to capitalize failing to score on their final four possessions.

“We had the opportunities at the end and just couldn’t convert,” said Union head coach Josh Meeker.

Union looked like it was going to run away early taking a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game and a 19-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

“In the first quarter we weren’t being very patient with the ball,” said Cherry.  “I told them there was a lot of game left and to just be patient and chip away one point at a time.”

Union took a 25-9 advantage with 5:30 remaining in the second quarter, but the Lady Cardinals closed the half on a 16-9 run thanks in large part to 10 points from Gulvas to trail just 34-25 at halftime.

“I said at one point to my coaches that it feels like we should be up 20 and we are only up nine,” said Meeker.  “They hit a couple shots and it just seemed like the tide slowly started to turn in their direction.”

Gulvas wasn’t the only one with a big night for DCC, as Witherow scored 17 points to go along with five rebounds.  Miller Hopkins played big underneath grabbing 16 rebounds.

Union was led by sophomore forward Tina Lipps who scored 17 points and grabbed nine boards.  Cicciarelli had 11 points (3 three’s), Frederick 10 and Lepha Logue seven points and 12 rebounds for the Damsels.

“I’m proud of these girls,” said Meeker.  “Hopefully we can bounce back. Our three post players are all underclassmen which bodes well for next season.”

DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 62, UNION 58

Score By Quarters

DCC                                        7          18        21        16- 62

Union                                      19        15        10        14- 58

DCC - 62

Lauresa Gulvas 11 3-8 28, Megan Witherow 6 2-4 17, Miller Hopkins 3 0-4 6, Elizabeth Heasley 2 3-3 7, Joanna Fitzer 0 2-2 2, Natalie Robison 0 0-2 0, Meagan Thomas 0 0-2 0, Alyssa Marchioni 0 0-0 0, Kim Cadori 1 0-0 2. Jordan Meyers 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-25 62.

Union - 58

Tina Lipps 6 5-8 17, Lanae Cicciarelli 4 0-0 11, Courtney Frederick 5 0-0 10, Melissa Shook 1 3-4 5, Lepha Logue 2 3-4 7, Brooke Pollock 3 0-2 6, Ashley MacKinlay 1 0-0 2, Amanda Barger 0 0-0 0, Heather Murray 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 11-18 58.

Three-Pointers: DCC 6 (Witherow 3, Gulvas 3). Union 3 (Cicciarelli 3).