PETTISVILLE — The Lady Blackbirds, playing mainly freshmen and sophomores, showed no panic after Antwerp rallied from 10 points down at intermission to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Madison Miller’s 3-point play, which followed a game-tying 3-pointer by Antwerp’s Avery Honigford, sparked an 8-0 run and the Lady Blackbirds made 7 of their final 11 free throws to seal their 34-28 nonleague win over the Archers Tuesday at Pettisville High School.
Pettisville girls basketball coach Jason Waldvogel said his team showed a lot of poise after starting the game by shutting out Antwerp for the opening period, but then being tied with seven minutes remaining.
“We’re young, but we are seeing some maturity,” said Waldvogel, whose Lady Blackbirds improved to 9-12. “We didn’t panic, where earlier in the season we would have panicked. They stuck to the game plan and made plays (down the stretch).
“This was the first game where we had different people step up in different situations,” added Waldvogel. “It was our most complete game of the season.”
Leading 17-7 at intermission, Pettisville became less aggressive in its man-to-man defense, allowing open shots from beyond the arc and Antwerp took advantage.
The Archers made three triples — two by Elaina Homann — to spark an 11-2 run over a 3:14 period, which trimmed Pettisville’s lead to 21-20. With less than a minute remaining in the third quarter, Addison Davis scored a putback to give the Lady Blackbirds a 23-20 lead heading into the final canto.
Pettisville made three field goals in the third quarter, all of them coming after offensive rebounds.
The Lady Blackbirds finished with a 38-18 advantage on the boards.
“We played a lot of young players in the post tonight,” said Waldvogel. “They were able to get nine offensive rebounds in the first half and that set the tone for them wanting to get more in the second half.”
Honigford’s triple a minute into the fourth quarter tied the game for the first time since the opening tip, but Miller answered right back with her driving lay-up, which led to a 3-point play 14 seconds later.
Becca Strauss added a pair of free throws, while Miller sank a short jumper after Evelyn Bieber, another freshman, wrestled away an offensive rebound and passed the ball to Miller from her knees for the assist.
Strauss made one of two foul shots to cap the run and give Pettisville a 31-23 lead with 1:46 remaining.
Raeley Franklin dropped in a jumper from just inside the arc for the Archers, who called a quick time-out. Homann stole the ball following the time-out, drove the lane and was fouled.
Her 3-point play cut the lead to 31-28 with 1:07 to go, but Antwerp missed its next three field goal attempts and Pettisville made 3 of 6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to ice the win.
“The good thing about tonight is we had several players play their best games of the season,” said Waldvogel. “Usually it is our two best players that are leading us. Tonight, we saw several players step up and make those big-time plays.”
The Lady Blackbirds held Antwerp scoreless in the opening period, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. Ashalyn Rice scored eight points in the first quarter for Pettisville.
Both teams scored seven points in the second period, with Homann tallying 5 points for the Archers, who end the regular season 7-15.
“We started out in the man-to-man (defense) and the girls did a great job handling the pick and roll,” said Waldvogel. “We kept them out of the key.
“In the second half, there was a little breakdown with our girls helping on the shooter,” Waldvogel continued. “We switched to the zone, and they did a good job of closing out on the shooters and taking away that shot (late) in the second half.”
Pettisville was 11 of 37 from the field, including 1 of 14 from 3-point range, and 11 of 21 from the charity stripe. The Lady Blackbirds were led by Strauss with 11 points, while Rice added 10 points and Miller tallied seven points.
Homann paced Antwerp with 14 points. The Archers were 10 of 42 from the field, including 5 of 26 from 3-point range, and 3 of 5 from the foul line.
The Lady Blackbirds close out the regular season Thursday, hosting Hicksville.