CRANBERRY 47, KANE 25

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March 5, 2010 - District 9 Class AA Championship Game

By Rich Rhoades

CLARION  — Sparked by the star power of senior forward Hannah Heeter, the Cranberry Berries won their second straight District 9 Class AA girls’ basketball championship Friday night at Clarion University’s Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium.

Heeter led a first-quarter charge and scored 12 of her game-high 26 points, helping Cranberry to a 15-point lead. After a Kane rally early in the third quarter, Cranberry pulled away with a 47-25 win.

The Berries (21-5) won their third title in their sixth year as a District 9 team. Kane (18-6) lost to Cranberry for the second straight year in the finals and is still seeking its first-ever district championship.

Cranberry set the tone early, jumping out to an 18-3 lead after one quarter with Heeter leading the way. Kane committed nine turnovers and found itself in danger of getting routed early.

“I never really expected to see our press to be that effective,” Cranberry head coach Chrissy Shumaker said. “Mainly, our halfcourt defense was what set the tone for that game and got our offense going.”

Heeter, who also collected a game-high 16 rebounds and 6 steals, had 18 points and 10 rebounds by halftime.

“She’s huge. Her presence on the floor gets everybody else going,” Shumaker said.  “I don’t think it was just her at the beginning. It was everybody, but she is a leader, a floor general and is constantly talking and getting them going and pushing them to run. That’s our game.”

Kane might not have the star-like player as the 6-foot-1 Heeter with no player averaging double figures in scoring, but the Lady Wolves scrambled back into the game and got within 25-15 by halftime.

The Lady Wolves actually put together a 12-0 run that started in the final two minutes of the second quarter and finished with them trailing 25-21 89 seconds into the second half.

Junior guard Andrea Saquin scored eight points during the Kane rally and led the team with 14 points. No other Kane player scored more than four points as the Lady Wolves made just 9 of 40 shots from the field.

Cranberry wound up limiting Kane to just four points the rest of the second half and extended to its largest lead with the final point of the game on Sarah Lutz’s free throw with 58 seconds left in the game.

“They rose to the challenge. We could have faltered and fell behind. The momentum swing definitely had gone their way. We could have crumbled and that was it, but they rose to the challenge and did it,” Shumaker said. “We tried to go back to what worked in the first half, which was pound the ball inside. I would have never guessed going into the game, with their size, that was going to be our most effective thing, but it was.”

Kane made 20 of 47 shots from the field. After Heeter, no other Cranberry player scored more than five points. Lauren Logue came off the bench to grab eight rebounds.

Cranberry will play their state playoff opener next Friday against the WPIAL fifth seed — either Sto-Rox or South Fayette — at a District 9 site and time to be announced. Kane will face the WPIAL eighth seed — either Greensburg Central Catholic or Bishop Canevin — in the PIAA play-in round on Tuesday at a WPIAL site to be announced.

CRANBERRY 47, KANE 25

Score By Quarters

Kane               3          12        8          2          -           25

Cranberry      18        7          11        11        -           47

KANE - 25

Andrea Saquin 4-9 6-9 14; Natalie Kossack 2-6 0-0 4; Kalie Walter 2-10 0-1 4; Drew Victory 1-3 1-2 3; Kaila Jamerson 0-4 0-2 0; Ashley Wilson 0-6 0-2 0; Emily Carlson 0-2 0-0 0; Tina Mosier 0-0 0-0 0; Audrey Perry 0-0 0-0 0; Angie Geer 0-0 0-0 0; Dawn Saquin 0-0 0-0 0; Chanda Paup 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-40 7-16 25.

CRANBERRY - 47

Hannah Heeter 13-19 0-0 26; Sarah Lutz 1-8 3-5 5; Kirstin Neidich 1-6 3-4 5; Erica Adams 2-5 0-0 4; Kylie Mason 1-2 1-3 3; Lauren Hogue 1-5 0-0 2; Becca Gaston 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-47 7-12 47.

3-point goals-Kane 0-8 (Natalie Kossack 0-1; Ashley Wilson 0-6; Emily Carlson 0-1), Cranberry 0-4 (; Sarah Lutz 0-2; Kirstin Neidich 0-2). Fouled out--Kane-None, Cranberry-None. Rebounds-Kane 27 (Kalie Walter 5), Cranberry 45 (Hannah Heeter 16). Assists-Kane 3 (Andrea Saquin 2), Cranberry 10 (Kirstin Neidich 6). Total fouls-Kane 10, Cranberry 13.