WEST FOREST 47, NORTH CLARION 42

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Feb. 18, 2009 - District 9 Class A Girls' Quarterfinals

By Andy Close

TIONESTA – West Forest was able to withstand a furious second half comeback from North Clarion and hold on for a 47-42 win in the District 9 Class A girls’ quarterfinals Thursday night at West Forest High School.

“The girls played tough,” said West Forest head coach Bob Wachob.  “They held on at the end and that is a tough thing to do when you have a lead slip away like that.”

The Lady Indians (23-2) were clutch from the free throw line down the stretch after letting a 13-point second half lead nearly slip away.  They hit five of their final six attempts from the charity stripe after a Jess Tarr jumper cut the lead to 42-40 with 1:35 remaining.

“Our defense was letting them right through,” Wachob said.  “But we stepped up on their big three scorers late and forced other girls to take shots.”

With only two team fouls the She-Wolves (16-8) were forced to commit five fouls before putting West Forest in the one-and-one. The seventh foul sent Amanda Carll to the line for West Forest and she sank both shots to give the Lady Indians a four-point lead with 35 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession Jamie Zacherl scooped up an offensive rebound and scored with 14 seconds left to make it a two-point game once again, 44-42.

Geena Sneeringer, who was shut down for most of the second half, was immediately fouled and hit both free throws to secure the win.

“Geena just didn’t take enough shots tonight,” said Wachob.  “I told her in the locker room that we can’t have nights at this point where she only takes 12 shots and survive.”                   

The She-Wolves, who trailed 30-17 at halftime, came out firing in the third quarter thanks in large part to the stellar play of Karlee Cyphert.  The junior forward attacked the West Forest zone with ease scoring eight points in the quarter and assisting on two other baskets to help cut the lead to35-31 going into the final quarter.

“She’s the glue that holds the team together,” said North Clarion coach Paula Judy of Cyphert. “She proved that in the third quarter.”

Leading 16-11 after one quarter, the Lady Indians turned up the defensive pressure and held North Clarion over five minutes without a point while Sneeringer and Erica Blum scored five points apiece to open up a 27-11 lead.

“We talked about their pressure a lot in practice yesterday and we definitely didn’t handle it well initially,” Judy said.                                                        

Sneeringer finished with 14 points and nine rebounds to lead West Forest, while Blum and Alyssa Dreihaup added 11 apiece.

Zacherl led North Clarion with 17 points and Cyphert finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. 

NOTES - The win gave West Forest a 2-1 record vs. rival North Clarion this season and avenged a 41-38 home loss to the She-Wolves Jan. 30 ... The Lady Indians will take on Coudersport in the semifinals Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. Coudy beat West Forest in last year's District 9 Class A Title Game ... With the victory, West Forest qualifies for the PIAA playoffs for the second straight season. 

West Forest 47, North Clarion 42

Score By Quarters

West Forest                                                                16        14        5          12- 47

North Clarion                                                11        6          14        11- 42

West Forest- 47

Geena Sneeringer 5 4-5 14, Erica Blum 4 1-3 11, Alyssa Dreihaup 4 0-0 11, Amanda Carll 3 2-2 8, Rachel Greathouse 1 1-2 3, Grace Wallace 0 0-0 0, Hillary Clark 0 0-0 0 Totals: 17 8-12 47

North Clarion- 42

Jamie Zacherl 8 0-0 17, Karlee Cyphert 5 2-2 12, Jess Tarr 3 0-0 6, Kelsi Zacherl 1 0-0 3, Lacey Niederriter 1 0-0 2, Emily Gatesman 1 0-0 3, Ashley Hollis 0 0-0 0, Katie Kline 0 0-0 0

Totals 19 2-2 42

Three Pointers

West Forest 5 (Dreihaup 3, Blum 2) North Clarion 2 ( J. Zacherl 1, K. Zacherl 1)