CRANBERRY 64, NORTH CLARION 55

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Feb. 5, 2009

By Andy Close – For D9Sports.com

FRILLS CORNERS – Cranberry broke open a two-point game in the fourth quarter with an 18-6 run en route to a 64-55 win over North Clarion in KSAC girls’ basketball action Thursday night at North Clarion High School.

“We played smart and took good shots in the second half,” said Cranberry head coach Chrissy Shumaker. “I think they kind of shocked us a little bit the first time we played them (a 53-47 North Clarion win) and to come out and beat them tonight is just huge.”

Cranberry (16-3 overall, 13-2 KSAC-North), which trailed 40-37 midway through the third quarter, led 44-42 going to the fourth quarter before Hannah Heeter made two quick inside buckets to start the quarter. Chyanne Shuffstall’s layup with 6:36 to go stretched the Cranberry lead to 10 at 52-42 forcing the She-Wolves (14-6, 12-5) to call timeout.

“Hannah and Chyanne were battling hard inside all night for us,” said Shumaker.  “They have been big for us all season and did the job again tonight.”

North Clarion got within six, 52-46, with 5:08 to play, but turnovers cost the She-Wolves any chance of closing the gap further.

The She-Wolves, who turned the ball over seven times in the final quarter, turned it over twice with under three minutes play trailing by eight.

 “We definitely didn’t get the same looks in the second half that we did in the first half,” said She-Wolves coach Paula Judy.  “I think their size definitely wore us down.”

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with no team leading by more than seven points.  Sarah Lutz was the main offensive force for Cranberry in the first 16 minutes, scoring 13 of her 17 points before intermission.            

Zacherl keyed a 12-3 North Clarion run to start the second quarter, and gave the She-Wolves their first lead of the game, 21-20, on a three ball with 6:30 to go in the second quarter.  

“We were giving them too many open shots in the first half,” Shumaker said.  “We were working real hard on making them one shot and done in the second half.”

Heeter had a solid game with 14 points and 12 rebounds for Cranberry while Kirsten Neidich and Laura Heineman chipped in with 10 and 9 points respectively.

Zacherl led the She-Wolves with 19 points while Jessica Tarr finished with 18.  Karlee Cyphert had a solid all-around game finishing with 13 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

“She was solid in every facet of the game tonight,” said Judy.

Cranberry returns to action next Monday with a first-place showdown at West Forest while North Clarion also returns to action Monday against Brookville.

Score By Quarters

Cranberry                                            17        20        7          20 - 64

North Clarion 12                                 18        12        13 - 55

Cranberry - 64

Sarah Lutz 6 2-3 17, Laura Heineman 4 0-0-9, Kirsten Neidich 3 2-2 10, Hannah Heeter 6 2-4 14, Chyanne Shuffstall 2 1-6 5, Lindsey Burneisen 1 3-4 5, Kylie Mason 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Craft 0 0-0 0, #13 0 2-2 2, #40 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 12-21 64

North Clarion - 55

Kelsi Zacherl 2 0-0 5, Jamie Zacherl 9 0-0 19, Jessica Tarr 5 5-9 18, Karlee Cyphert 5 2-2 13, Emily Gatesman 0 0-0 0, Lacey Niederriter 0 0-0 0, Katie Kline 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-11 55.

Three-pointers: Cranberry 3 (Sarah Lutz 2, Heineman). North Clarion (Tarr 3, K. Zacherl, J. Zacherl).