KANE 41, MONITEAU 38 

D9Sports.com powered by the RRR Roadhouse

Feb. 24, 2009 - District 9 Class AA Girls' Semifinals

By Andy Close

CLARION- Kane was able to withstand a furious second-half comeback from Moniteau and hold on for a 41-38 victory in District 9 Class AA girls’ semifinals Tuesday at Clarion High School.

“All the credit to them for the comeback,” said Kane first-year head coach Dave Kiehl.  “The second half wasn’t pretty, but all the credit to our girls for hanging in there and hanging tough.”

Trailing 28-12 at halftime, Moniteau slowly cut the lead down to 34-23 going into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Warriors then went on a 15-4 run that was capped by a Alex Guercio layup underneath with 1:38 to play to tie the game at 38 apiece, the first time since the opening tip that Kane did not lead.

If the Lady Wolves were rattled they didn’t show it, as they responded on the following possession with a Chelsea Mague jumper from the baseline with 1:19 to go to regain the lead at 40-38.

“We played a lot of close game early on, and I think that really helped us tonight,” Kiehl said.  “I have all the faith in the world in them.”

Moniteau had a chance to tie the game after Kane missed a free throw with 14 seconds to play. But on the rebound, the Lady Warriors leading scorer on the season Maura McCaslin went down with what appeared to be either a severe cramp or a twisted ankle and had to come out of the game.

With McCaslin on the bench, Moniteau turned the ball over and was forced foul Mague, who hit one of two free throws with six seconds to play.

McCaslin limped back onto the court and set up in the offensive end, but Moniteau’s Jenna McCorry tried a driving layup that would have only gotten the Lady Warriors to within one, that she missed at the horn.

Kane hit just one of five free throws down the stretch but it didn’t matter as Moniteau turned the ball over twice on their final three possessions.  The Lady Warriors were also hurt from the foul line making just three out of their six free throws in the fourth quarter and 11 of 20 for the game.

“What an unbelievable show of heart in the second half,” said Moniteau coach Mark Yeager of his team.  “I am extremely proud of them, every one of them.  I feel bad for the seniors.  You can tell them your proud of them but they don’t want to hear that right now.”

Guercio fueled the second=half comeback for Moniteau scoring 12 of her 17 points in the second half.

A closely contested opening quarter saw the score tied at 8, but the Lady Wolves jumped on Moniteau in the second going on an 18-0 run to open up a 26-8 lead.  Bree Bergman fueled the run for Kane scoring eight points in the quarter.  

“Bree is a gamer, she’s a ballplayer, but the credit goes to our team as a whole.” said Kiehl.

Moniteau didn’t score in the second until a Maura McCaslin runner with 16 seconds remaining until halftime.  Kane led 28-12 at the break.

“We just lost our composure a little bit in the second quarter,” Yeager said.  “You have to give them a little bit of credit, but I just don’t think we executed very well.”

Bergman led the Lady Wolves with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Mague finished with nine points and Andrea Saquin eight.

Guercio finished with eight rebounds to go along with her 17 points and McCaslin added 11 points for Moniteau.

With the win Kane moves on to the District 9 Class AA championship game at 6 p.m. Friday at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym where it will face Cranberry. The Lady Wolves are looking for their first-ever District 9 title and are playing in just their third title game and first since losing to Redbank Valley 46-43 in 1996.

NOTES – The victory clinched a PIAA playoff berth for Kane … Down 40-38 in the closing seconds, Moniteau got a rebound off a missed free-throw by Kane but were hurt when leading scorer, senior Maura McCaslin, went down to the court with what appeared to be either a cramp or a twisted ankle. She sat out a possession, where Moniteau failed to score but limped back onto the court

Kane 41, Moniteau 38

Score By Quarters

Moniteau                                            8          4          11        15 – 38

Kane                                                               8          20        6          7 – 41

Moniteau 38

Alex Guercio 7 3-8 17, Maura McCaslin 4 2-4 11, Jenna 1 2-2 4, Kathleen Harding 1 2-4 4, Chelsea Seller 0 2-2 2, Chelsea Say 0 0-0 0, Jaryn Beatty 0 0-0 0. 13 11-20 38.

Kane 41

Bree Bergman 4 4-4 12, Chelsea Mague 4 1-5 9, Andrea Saquin 4 0-0 8, Natalie Kossack 3 0-1 6, Kalie Walter 1 2-2 4, Emily Carlson 0 2-2 2, Ashley Wilson 0 0-0 0, Drew Victory 0 0-0 0. 16 9-14 41.

Three-pointers – Moniteau 1 (McCaslin).