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CAHS girls struggle in loss to Plum, 42-31 | TribLIVE.com
News

CAHS girls struggle in loss to Plum, 42-31

Jason Black
Jason Black | Tuesday, December 18, 2001 12:00 a.m

After playing one of their best games of the season against Geibel on Saturday, the Connellsville girls basketball team took a step backwards by playing one of their worst in a 42-31 loss to visiting Plum in non-section action.

“We didn’t play well,” Connellsville coach Kim Jacobs said. “I’m not going to sugar-coat this. From missed shots to turnovers to letting people drive on us, I’m surprised the score was as close as it was.”

The Lady Falcons had the lead one time in the entire game. That came when Sara Pockstaller banked one in to make it 2-0 in the first quarter.

From that point on, Plum was in control for most of the game.

With the score tied 6-6, the Lady Mustangs went on a 14-0 run that basically sealed the game. During that stretch, Stefanie Morante knocked down six points while Chrissy Bartek netted seven. Nicole Giunta also threw down four points. Bartek and Giunta each scored 12 points on the night.

“We ran motion and got some easy baskets off of it,” Plum coach Rich Small said. “We moved pretty well without the ball.”

After the Lady Mustangs had moved out to a 19-6 lead, the Lady Falcons did attempt to get back in the game.

Pockstaller, who led Connellsville with eight points, all in the first half, put down six in the second quarter. Tikia Burton added three foul shots and Christine Salandra sunk a deuce to pull the Lady Falcons back to within eight at the half, 25-17.

But in the second half, the Lady Falcons fell back again. The Lady Mustangs held the Lady Falcons to just six points in the third quarter. However, Connellsville did manage to tighten up on defense in the third, and on two occasions, the Lady Falcons cut the deficit to six points. But Plum scored seven points in the frame, including four from Giunta to make it 32-23 after three.

The fourth quarter was much like the first three. Neither team put up massive numbers on offense, but the Lady Mustangs won each quarter.

Giunta added four in the frame while Morante and Burns each sunk a pair of foul shots for the victors.

Alexis Metros came in to score four points in the closing quarter, but it did little to diminish the fact that the Lady Falcons just didn’t play well.

“With all the mistakes we made, I can’t believe it was an 11-point game,” Jacobs said. “When you make mistakes, you don’t deserve to win.”

After the game, Jacobs was frustrated, but she isn’t about to throw in the towel on this team’s chances this season.

“I don’t accept defeat,” Jacobs said. “If they’re looking for a pity party, they’re looking to the wrong person because that’s not my style. A lot of these girls have brought their junior varsity game to the varsity level and now we’re paying for it.

“Tomorrow when they come into practice, they’re going to pay the price,” Jacobs continued.

The Lady Falcons will try to rebound from this game as they get set to return to section action on Thursday at home against Uniontown.

Junior Varsity
CAHS 37, Plum 22

In junior varsity action, Nicole Stillwagon scored 13 points to lead the Lady Falcons to victory. Ashley Benzio chipped in with seven.

Categories: News
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