WEST FOREST 52, SOUTHERN FULTON 19

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March 13, 2010 - PIAA Class A Girls' First Round

PIAA Playoff Home Page

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Geena Sneeringer became the fourth player in District 9 girls’ basketball history to score 2,000 career points when she netted 20 in West Forest’s 52-19 win over Southern Fulton in the opening round of the PIAA Class A playoffs Saturday evening at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

“It means a lot to me and my team,” Sneeringer, who has 2,013 career points, said. “If (my team) wasn’t this good and hadn’t gotten us this far into the playoffs, I would have never gotten it. They just carried me here.”

West Forest (23-4), which was coming off a disappointing loss in the District 9 title game a week ago, came out with a vengeance against Southern Fulton (17-9), the third-place team from District 5, outscoring the Lady Indians 7-0 in the game’s first two-and-half minutes and then using an 18-0 run in the final five minutes of the first quarter to take a 25-1 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We definitely wanted to prove that we were good and deserved to be where we are at after losing that way (in the District 9 title game),” Sneeringer said.

West Forest’s defense played a key role in the first quarter forcing 13 turnovers thanks to nine steals that led to 23 of the 25 points in the quarter.

“It is impossible to overcome,” Southern Fulton head coach Mark Mellott said of the 13 first-quarter turnovers. “You can’t overcome it against a team like that.

“It was shellshock on our part. This is a whole different atmosphere than what they are use to. This was their first time on a college court, and I think it was a little overwhelming. And West Forest is a very nice team.”

Things continued to flow West Forest’s way in the second quarter, as the Lady Indians used a 6-0 run to get the lead to 31-2 with 3:17 to play and led 32-3 before Southern Fulton scored its first basket of the game on a Bailey Elbin layup with 39 seconds left in the half. That ended a 0-for-11 drought from the field for Southern.

West Forest built the lead to as many as 32, 41-9, in the third quarter before taking a 41-11 lead into the final eight minutes where it outscored Southern Fulton 11-8.

Sneeringer added nine rebounds and five steals to her 20 points, 16 of which came in the first half including 13 in the opening quarter. Amanda Carll chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals with Grace Wallace chipping in nine points and Alyssa Dreihaup five points, 11 rebounds, six steals and three assists.

Chelsie Eader led Southern Fulton with five points.

West Forest will play WPIAL champion Vincentian Academy in the second round Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. It is the second straight year the Lady Indians will play Vincentian Academy in the second round. Last year, West Forest lost to VA 59-45 at DuBois Middle School.

NOTES – Sneeringer reached the 2,000-point mark when she hit the second of two free throws with five minutes left in the first quarter giving her seven points in the game. The free throws started the 18-0 West Forest run ... Sneeringer is the first District 9 girls’ player to reach 2,000 career points since Northern Potter’s Melinda Martin went over the mark in 1999. Martin is the third all-time leading scorer in District 9 history with 2,123 career points … DuBois Central Catholic’s Sheana Mosch, the all-time leading scorer in District 9 history with 3,066 points, also had over 2,000 career points in 1999 but actually went over the 2,000-point mark as a junior in 1998 … Coudersport’s Kim Tingley is the other District 9 girls’ player over 2,000 career tallies with 2,905 … St. Marys junior Kayla Hoohuli is 72 points shy of 2,000 in her career with 1,928 after a 52-point performance Saturday in a PIAA Class AAA win over Hampton … West Forest shot just 27.1 percent (16 of 59) from the field including just 21.9 percent (7 of 32) in the second half but held Southern Fulton to 6 of 39 (15.4 percent) for the game … Twelve of Sneeringer’s points came from the free-throw line, as she was 12 of 18 from the stripe. As a team, West Forest was 17 of 32 while Southern Fulton was 7 of 11 … Southern Fulton had two players with four fouls in the first half, but only one of them, Eader, fouled out of the game … West Forest scored 33 points off turnovers and also had 20 second-chance points while outscoring Southern Fulton 20-12 in the paint … West Forest outrebounded Southern Fulton 56-31 including 32-11 on the boards … West Forest had 23 steals … West Forest has now won a PIAA playoff game for the second straight year. The Lady Indians beat District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic 53-38 last year at Edinboro University before falling to Vincentian Academy in the second round.