ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 47, ROCHESTER 36

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March 7, 2009 - PIAA Girls' Class A First Round at Clarion University

PIAA Playoff Home Page

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – With 14 minutes to play in the PIAA Class A girls’ first-round playoff game between Rochester and Elk County Catholic Saturday afternoon at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym, thinks looked pretty bleak for District 9 champion ECC.

But then something happened, and the Lady Crusaders, who were trailing 28-19, outscored Rochester 28-12 the rest of the way to get a 47-36 win.

ECC (27-1) will now take on Bishop Guilfoyle in a second-round contest Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

The Lady Crusaders looked like a team still hung over from its first District 9 championship in 20 years in the first half getting into deep foul trouble while not playing strong defense or shooting the ball particularly well.

ECC committed nine first-half fouls and had two starters – Bre Grimone and Emily Detsch – with three fouls. The Lady Crusaders were also shooting 40.9 percent (9 of 22) while turning the ball over 11 times and allowing Rochester (17-8) to connect on 52.4 percent of its shots. All that added up to a 26-19 Lady Rams lead that was built thanks to a 14-7 second-quarter advantage.

Rochester, a young team with no seniors on the roster, then boasted that led to nine, 28-19, 1:02 into the second half on an Ivorie Law Layup.

But that was the last made shot the Lady Rams had until Samantha Robson hit a 3-pointer with 2:06 to play, a span of 12:52. Rochester was 0-for-10 from the field during that span while also turning the ball over 13 times. That allowed ECC to go on a 22-2 run that gave the Crusaders complete control on the game. Emily Detsch led the way during the spurt with 10 points including seven straight in the fourth quarter that helped ECC take the game from a 32-30 lead to a 39-30 lead between the 5:36 mark and the 4:35 mark. Bre Grimone, Kaitlyn Geci and Abbey Salter each added four points apiece. It was Salter’s layup with 7:31 to go that gave ECC the lead for good at 31-30.

It was fitting that Salter was the player to put the Lady Crusaders out in front for good considering she singlehandedly kept ECC in the game in the first half scoring 10 of the Lady Crusaders 12 first-quarter points on her way to a season-high 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting. She also added seven rebounds.

Detsch led ECC with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Geci added nine points and seven assists. Grimone had six points and eight rebounds despite missing nine minutes because of the foul trouble.

Hayden Kimbrough led Rochester with 11 points and 15 rebounds including eight offensive boards. Robson chipped in with 11 points, while Law and Jenna Besong each had seven. Law added five rebounds.

NOTES – The game featured 41 turnovers including 24 by Rochester. Besong had 10 giveaways and Robson nine. ECC had 17 turnovers including six by Geci … Rochester shot 14 of 40 (35 percent) for the game including 15.8 percent (3 of 19) in the second half. Two of the Lady Rams three made shots in the second half were 3-pointers as they went 2 of 11 from long range in the half … Neither team shot well from the line. Rochester was 6 of 18 and ECC 9 of 21.

ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 47, ROCHESTER 36

Score by Quarters

Rochester 12 14 4 6 – 36

Elk CC 12 7 8 20 – 47

Rochester – 36

Jenna Besong 3-8 0-1 7, Ivorie Law 3-7 1-6 7, Jillian Mitsch 0-2 0-2 0, Samantha Robson 4-12 202 11, Hayden Kimbrough 4-9 3-7 11, Leighandra Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Mirand Robson 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Duchene 0-0 0-0 0, Jakesha LaVette 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Cherico 0-2 0-0 0, Jasmine LaVette 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 6-18 36.

ECC – 47

Kirstie Pistner 1-8 1-4 3, Emily Detsch 6-10 3-4 15, Kaitlyn Geci 2-8 5-10 9, Abbey Salter 7-10 0-0 14, Bre Grimone 3-8 0-2 6, Alyssa Hunter 0-0 0-0 0, Dani Cassels 0-0 0-0 0, Karly Carnovale 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 19-45 9-21 47.

Three-pointers – Rochester 2-12 (S. Robson 1-6, Beson 1-4, Mitsch 0-1, Kimbrough 0-1). ECC 0-5 (Pistner 0-2, Geci 0-2, Carnovale 0-1).