Schuylkill Haven's Audrey Hutchinson heads toward the basket after making a steal during Tuesday's District 11 Class 3A girls' semifinal against Pine Grove at Martz Hall (Photo by Mel Rose).

Hurricanes to face Executive Ed in Friday’s title game

POTTSVILLE — Schuylkill Haven’s defensive pressure can have a snowball effect on the opposition.

Once the Hurricanes start forcing turnovers and getting easy buckets off those miscues, Schuylkill Haven quickly suffocates the opposition … and eventually buries them.

Pine Grove became the latest team to get buried in that avalanche Tuesday in a District 11 Class AA girls’ basketball semifinal at Martz Hall.

Led by its defense, Schuylkill Haven broke open a close game with a decisive third-quarter run to capture a 42-26 victory over the Cardinals.

The Hurricanes’ 14th straight victory and 11th straight win at Martz Hall advances second-seeded Schuylkill Haven (22-4) to Friday’s championship game against No. 4 Executive Education at 7:45 p.m. at Martz Hall. The Raptors upended top-seeded Notre Dame-Green Pond 48-33 in the other semifinal.

“One steal just kind of frazzles them and leads to the next one and they start panicking,” Schuylkill Haven senior Audrey Hutchinson said. “We’re all on the same page. They’re kind of frazzled, so let’s get after it.”

Hutchinson had six of her game-high 15 points in Schuylkill Haven’s 18-3 run that turned a four-point lead into a 19-point cushion early in the fourth quarter.

Pine Grove (14-10) kept the game close into the third quarter, trailing just 17-13 at intermission and 20-16 after Callee Leffler hit a 3-pointer with 5 minutes remaining in the third.

The two-time Schuylkill League champions turned it on from there, forcing seven turnovers and limiting the Cardinals to just one field goal over a nearly 8-minute stretch in building a 38-19 advantage with 6:14 left in the game.

“We had 21 turnovers for the game and it’s tough to win games like that, especially against a team of that caliber,” Pine Grove coach Allison Rizzo said.

“I was happy with our first half. We weren’t in any type of offensive rhythm, but to come out down four, I was OK with that. I still didn’t think we had played our best basketball up to that point.

“Terrible third quarter. Turnovers, with defensive pressure. We couldn’t get anything working.”

There were several elements to Schuylkill Haven’s decisive run.

First, Mckenna Runkle was fouled by Leffler on a drive to the basket. The foul was Leffler’s third, and Rizzo opted to take her out of the game at that point.

Without Leffler running the offense, Schuylkill Haven’s guards feasted on the Pine Grove ballhandlers. The Hurricanes were able to up the tempo, getting layups off turnovers.

Ava Terefencko converted a pair of layups off turnovers, Hutchinson had a pair of layups off steals and Kylie Siket scored all five of her points. Siket’s 3-pointer with 2:45 left in the frame upped the margin to eight points at 24-16 and provided the spark Schuylkill Haven needed offensively.

Hutchinson and Runkle then did the rest, with Hutchinson finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Runkle collecting 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Second was the play of the Haven defense on Pine Grove center Hollyn Sampson.

With Runkle guarding the 6-foot sophomore center most of the game, Haven was able to hold her to just four points. Sampson had 14 points in the second Schuylkill League Division I meeting between the teams Feb. 2, then poured in 20 points in Pine Grove’s win over Catasauqua in the District 11 quarterfinals last Friday.

“We talked about it at practice. My job was to not let her get the ball,” Runkle said. “I did an alright job. If she did get the ball, we had good help defense and good all-around defense. We executed well, I thought.”

Another key factor in Schuylkill Haven’s strong second half was the play of freshman guard Aubrie Wade.

Wade is Haven’s “sixth man” and is usually the only reserve Schuylkill Haven coach Tony Sanders uses off his bench.

Tuesday, Wade only scored one point on a first-quarter free throw, but made her presence felt on the glass by pulling down five rebounds. She had two key offensive rebounds in the third-quarter run that led directly to Schuylkill Haven points.

“She did a really good job for us tonight … she’s been doing it all year for us,” Sanders said. “Tonight she did a great job rebounding and she plays great defense for us.”

The win gives Schuylkill Haven an opportunity to capture a District 11 title for the first time in 41 years after the 1985 club took home the Class A crown. The Hurricanes reached the District 11 final last year but lost 32-28 to Notre Dame-Green Pond.

“I think last year, we kind of settled,” Hutchinson said. “We made history with the league championship and we were like, ‘If we don’t get this one, it’s OK.’

“This year, we went back-to-back (at Schuylkill Leagues). I think we’re all looking to get that third trophy.”

For Pine Grove, the loss drops the Cardinals into the consolation bracket where they will face Notre Dame-Green Pond at 6 p.m. Friday at Catasauqua High School.

The Cardinals had already clinched a berth in the PIAA Tournament by reaching the semifinals, so Rizzo is hoping her squad bounces back over the next two games.

“That’s the beauty of this … we don’t have to wait until next year to see the court again,” Rizzo said. “It’s not over yet. We can still make a little run here. We need to get excited for that and take advantage of that opportunity.”

Game Summary

District 11 Class 3A Semifinal

At Martz Hall

PINE GROVE (26) — Leffler 2 1-2 6, Umbenhauer 1 0-0 2, Heming 2 2-2 6, Fidler 2 0-0 5, Sampson 2 0-0 4, K. Umbenhauer 1 1-2 3, Reichert 0 0-0 0, Verdansky 0 0-0 0, Gehres 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 4-6 26.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (42) — Hutchinson 7 0-0 15, Siket 2 0-0 5, Runkle 5 2-4 14, Terefencko 3 1-2 7, Strenkoski 0 0-0 0, Wade 0 1-2 1, Benedict 0 0-0 0, Brand 0 0-0 0, Farrell 0 0-0 0, Houvig 0 0-0 0, Bayer 0 0-0 0, Kovaleski 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 4-8 42.

3-point FGs: Leffler, Fidler, Hutchinson, Siket, Runkle 2

Officials: Wood, Rossino, Gerchak