D-11 Girls’ Basketball: Blue Mountain knocks off No. 1 Lehighton
Blue Mountain's Callie Peel (submitted photo).
Eagles upend Colonial League champions in 4A quarterfinals
PALMERTON — Defense was the trademark of a Lehighton team that won 23 games, captured its first-ever Colonial League title and earned the top seed for the District 11 Class 4A girls’ basketball playoffs.
Blue Mountain beat the Indians at their own game Saturday in a quarterfinal-round matchup at Palmerton High School.
Utilizing a relentless man-to-man defense, the eighth-seeded Eagles held the top-seeded Indians to a season-low in points en route to a 49-34 upset victory.
Callie Peel poured in a game-high 26 points as Blue Mountain advanced to a semifinal date with Schuylkill League rival North Schuylkill at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Martz Hall.
“We’re not a high scoring team, so we focus on playing good defense and believing that the offense will come,” Blue Mountain head coach Rose Carper said. “When they were able to close the gap, we didn’t panic.
“Our players with our senior leadership are prepared for such situations. We also felt that our team speed helped us do what we do best and that is penetrate and go hard to the basket.”
Leading that charge to the basket was Peel, who scored eight of her points in the first quarter as Blue Mountain (13-11) overcame an early 4-0 hole to lead 19-11 after one frame.
After a defensive second quarter that saw the teams combine for just 12 points, the Eagles took a 24-18 lead into the locker room.
“We tried to get the ball inside,” Lehighton coach Nadia Gauronsky said, “and we did, but we didn’t finish and missed too many layups.”
Leah Uyvari’s heave from three-quarters of the court away from the basket that found the bottom of the net at the second-period buzzer gave the Tribe some life and sliced the Eagles’ lead to six.
Blue Mountain regained the momentum with a strong third quarter. The Eagles allowed just two field goals in the third, holding Lehighton scoreless for the first three minutes of the frame and expanding the lead to 33-22.
Peel led the Eagles’ charge offensively with seven of the team’s nine points.
The Tribe made one more run, applying a full-court press that helped Lehighton score the first three baskets of the quarter.
Uyvari began the rally with a right-handed hook shot and a layup. When Olivia Serfass scored on a driving layup, the Indians were within 33-28 with 5:23 to play.
Blue Mountain didn’t waver, closing the game by scoring 16 of the final 22 points.
Peel tallied six of them, all from the foul line in the final 90 seconds of the game, while Hailey Place netted eight of her 10 points. The Eagles shot 15-of-21 from the foul line, with Peel going 10-for-12 and Place hitting 5-of-7.
Serfass and Uyvari each scored 12 points for Lehighton.
“It wasn’t our day,” Gauronsky said. “We played hard, but Blue Mountain played better. We thought we could grab the momentum in the second half, but it just wasn’t to be.”
District 11 Class 4A Quarterfinal
At Palmerton High School
BLUE MOUNTAIN (49) — Fleagle 2 0-0 4, Canfield 0 0-0 0, Place 2 5-7 10, Peel 6 10-12 26, Koch 3 0-2 6, Leonard 0 0-0 0, Walborn 2 0-0 5. Totals 15 15-21 49.
LEHIGHTON (34) — O. Serfass 4 4-6 12, Uyvari 5 1-3 12, Trotman 2 0-0 4, S. Serfass 0 0-0 0, A. Serfass 3 0-3 6, Parliman 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 5-14 34.
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Final |
| BM (13-11) | 19 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 49 |
| Leh (23-3) | 11 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 34 |
