HS Girls’ Basketball: Hurricanes hold off Blue Raiders in Division I opener
Schuylkill Haven's Kylie Siket emerges with the ball after a scramble with Tamaqua's Lauren Ligenza during Friday's Schuylkill League Division I game at the CACL Center (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — It took about a period for Schuylkill Haven to settle in during its season opener Friday night against Tamaqua.
Once the Hurricanes figured things out, the defense that helped Schuylkill Haven capture its first Schuylkill League girls’ basketball title last February made a stellar debut.
Mckenna Runkle scored a game-high 15 points and Schuylkill Haven used a stifling defensive effort in the middle quarters to turn away Tamaqua 40-37 in the Schuylkill League Division I opener for both schools at the CACL Center.
“We definitely started out slow,” Schuylkill Haven coach Tony Sanders said. “Toward the second quarter and all through the second half, I thought our girls stepped it up really good on defense, created a lot of turnovers.
“I thought we rebounded well tonight. I think that was the difference in the game.”
Tamaqua (1-2, 0-1 D-I) led the entire first quarter as Millie Black scored six of her team-high 14 points. After one frame, the Blue Raiders were up 12-8.
Schuylkill Haven’s defense started to crank up the intensity in the second quarter, holding Tamaqua without a field goal for a 3-minute, 17-second stretch during which the Hurricanes went on a 10-2 run to take control.
Kylie Siket and Runkle each had 3-pointers in the spurt, while Ava Terefencko scored four points on a jumper and a steal and layup.
“That’s our key,” Runkle said of Haven’s defensive effort. “When we have good defense it turns into good offense. The energy turns up, attitude turns up. We just start scoring when we have good defense … it’s really important.”
Tamaqua turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, then nine more in the third quarter. Through the middle quarters, the Blue Raiders were 5-for-17 from the field and were outscored 26-15.
Audrey Hutchinson, who had five steals, scored all six of her points in the third quarter as Haven stretched its lead to 34-27 after three frames.
“We played scared, we played timid,” Tamaqua coach Erika Barron said. “We chose to just point fingers and not come together as a team. We underperformed. If we don’t change things up and turn things around, we’re going to continue just be mediocre.”
Barron gave credit to Haven’s defense, saying, “Kudos to Haven, they outplayed us in every category possible tonight,” but she also said Tamaqua’s turnovers resulted from a lack of being aggressive and attacking the rim on the offensive end.
“We’re begging them to shoot the ball and that’s kind of scary,” Barron said. “As a player, you want the ball in your hands and you always want to shoot. We don’t have somebody on our team that wants the ball and wants to shoot. And that needs to change.
“Everything is a turnover instead of a shot opportunity. You don’t get points for turning it over.”
The Blue Raiders didn’t go quietly, as Black scored six more points in the fourth quarter to help Tamaqua cut the deficit to 38-37 with 1:33 remaining.
Schuylkill Haven answered with a short jumper by sophomore Braelynn Strenkoski, who was starting her first varsity game, to make it 40-37 with 1:22 left. The bucket was Strenkoski’s only points of the game.
“That was a big bucket for her and for our team,” Sanders said. “Hopefully she can continue to build off that.”
Tamaqua had three more possessions but didn’t score. After Terefencko missed a pair of free throws with 7.3 seconds left, Kendle Miller’s 3-pointer in the final seconds was off the mark.
Both Sanders and Runkle said Friday’s win will serve as a good confidence builder as they look to defend their league crown against a tough Division I slate.
“It’s a huge win for us, especially being a division opponent,” Sanders said. “It was a tough game. Credit to our girls. They played hard.”
Added Runkle: “They’re a tough team. First game, it’s always tough. We picked it up and it worked out for us.”
Game Summary
TAMAQUA (37) — M. Black 7 0-0 14, Ellington 0 0-0 0, Ligenza 3 3-6 9, Miller 2 2-2 7, L. Black 0 2-2 2, Gormley 2 1-2 5, Osenbach 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-12 37.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (40) — Hutchinson 3 0-0 6, Siket 3 1-2 9, Runkle 5 4-4 15, Terefencko 4 0-2 8, Strenkoski 1 0-0 2, Wade 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-8 40.
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Final |
| Tam (1-2, 0-1) | 12 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 37 |
| SH (1-0, 1-0) | 8 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 40 |
