Hampton never gave Kittanning a chance to get started.
The Talbots scored the first 10 points, and their full-court press led to 21 steals in a 66-38 Section 1-AAA win over the Wildcats on Monday in Kittanning.
Jenna Lafko scored a game-high 21 points, and Jada Alim added 18 points and five assists for Hampton (15-5, 11-2). Alison Collins came off the bench to score 16 for the Talbots, who clinched a share of second place in the section and will take it outright if Ford City loses one more game or Hampton upsets No. 2 Mars on Thursday.
“When we come out and knock down some shots early, I feel pretty good about how things are going to go,” Hampton coach Mary Bukovac said. “We came out and had the game we needed to have tonight. It's a game we needed, and I appreciate the effort from our kids.”
Emily Klingensmith led Kittanning (7-12, 5-7) with 12 points and eight rebounds, Tiffany Montgomery scored 12 points, and Liz Delp scored 10 for the Wildcats. Alaina Thomas had just two points, but the point guard finished with five assists.
To reach the playoffs, Kittanning must get at least one win — and possibly two — in its final two section games this week at Highlands and Ford City.
“We've put ourselves in a spot where we need to win out, and we're going to have to go on the road to two tough places,” Kittanning coach Janelle Kotyk said. “We need to start playing some better defense because we're not able to put up the number of points that we're giving up to good teams.”
Kittanning didn't have much chance defensively because of its ballhandling woes at the start.
Lafko scored on the game's first possession, and the Wildcats turned over the ball on their first three possessions to fall behind 7-0 in the first minute.
The lead increased to 10-0 after two more Kittanning turnovers before Klingensmith finally put the Wildcats on the board with an offensive rebound and basket.
The Wildcats began to knock down shots, but turnovers persisted as a problem against Hampton's press. Kittanning trailed 22-8 after one quarter and 46-21 at halftime in large part because of easy baskets in transition for the Talbots.
“Hampton was in their 1-2-2 zone, and in our game down there, we ran into the same issues against it,” Kotyk said. “I think we had 22 turnovers down there, and we were past that tonight. Hampton's very assertive and aggressive getting into passing lanes, and we didn't handle it well.”
With the big halftime lead, Hampton eased its press and slowed down the pace of the game.
Courtney Collins and Natalie Donegan finished with five steals each to lead the Talbots in the defensive stats.
“When are kids are on it with their speed, and our rotations are where they need to be, we make it tough for people,” Bukovac said. “When we start out well like that, we make people start to question what they're doing and where that next pass can go.”
Matt Grubba is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at mgrubba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Grubba_Trib.
