H.S. GIRLS BASKETBALL: Hurricanes surge in second half to advance past Pequea Valley in PIAA 3A state playoffs
· Yahoo Sports
READING — Schuylkill Haven knew they couldn’t let anything faze them when they met Pequea Valley for the second straight time in the PIAA Class 3A second round state playoffs on Tuesday night at Reading Senior High School’s Geigle Complex.
The Hurricanes (24-5) flipped the script from a season ago when they dropped the second round state playoff game and opened the second half with a bolt of energy to propel themselves to a 52-33 win.
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“At halftime I knew we just had to keep playing our game and playing solid defense and we were getting looks early and they just weren’t dropping,” Schuylkill Haven coach Tony Sanders said. “In the second half they fell for us.”
Schuylkill Haven advances to the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals to take on Holy Redeemer on Friday at a site and time to be announced. It’s the first time the Hurricanes have advanced to the PIAA state quarterfinals since 1985.
The Hurricanes responded to coach Sanders halftime speech and went on a 21-9 scoring run in the third quarter, led by Mckenna Runkle’s nine points to pull away for the double-figure lead.
“We were up at halftime of each of these games after we lost last year and it really motivated us this year because we knew we were in the same position,” Runkle said. “It really motivated us to go out and play and we executed and it was awesome.”
Runkle led the Hurricanes with 23 points, Audrey Hutchinson scored 15 points and Kylie Siket added eight. Hutchinson led the way on the glass with 13 rebounds and had 10 steals defensively. The Hurricanes forced 25 total turnovers.
Both teams traded baskets to start the game as Shelyce Burke hit a three to give Pequea Valley (21-6) the 4-2 lead. Runkle added a pair of two-point jumpers and the Hurricanes trailed 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.
“We preached it all week to attack the glass and rebound well and I thought we did a really good job of that tonight,” Sanders said. “We did a good job executing our offense tonight.”
The Hurricanes allowed Pequea Valley to just three points in the second quarter as Hutchinson led a defensive charge for an 11-3 scoring run before halftime.
Runkle hit a two and Hutchinson scooped up a pair of steals and converted on the other end for the 17-10 lead three minutes into the second quarter. Hutchinson banked in another layup and scored nine points before halftime for the 20-13 lead at the end of the first half.
“I thought we played really good defense which turns into our offense and we did well rebounding and we pushed the floor and ran back in transition,” Sanders said. “We didn’t let down at all and we kept the tempo up the whole game.”
The Hurricanes surged in the second half when they stormed out on an 11-5 scoring run highlighted by a Siket three and a pair of Runkle free throws for the 31-18 lead.
Runkle hit a three for the 34-20 lead and Hutchinson snatched a steal which she passed off to Runkle for a layup and the 36-20 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.
“This is a tight group and they just want to keep winning and move on and they did well tonight,” Sanders said.
Siket hit her second three-pointer of the second half and Schuylkill Haven took a 41-22 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Runkle continued her hot-hand shooting with a two-pointer and free throw for the 44-22 lead. Runkle scored 16 of her 23 points in the second half and Schuylkill Haven secured the 52-33 win to advance in the PIAA Class 3A state playoffs.
“Me and (Audrey) Hutch like to run a two-man game a lot and that was really working well for us today,” Runkle said. “It was a good outcome so we’ll keep doing that.”
Janae Patterson led Pequea Valley with 16 points, Tilea Burke had five points and Olive Martin scored four. Carissa Lapp led the Lady Braves with eight rebounds.
PEQ (21-5);10;5;9;11;—33
SH (24-5);9;11;21;11;—52
Pequea Valley 33 — Patterson 6 4-4 16, Eby 0 0-0 0, Cazanave 0 0-2 0, Gentzler 0 0-0 0, Burke 2 0-0 4, Martin 1 2-2 3, Eloy 0 0-0 0, Beiler 0 0-0 0, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Lapp 2 0-0 4, Smoker 0 0-0 0, Zynn 0 0-0 0.
Schuylkill Haven 52 — Hutchinson 6 3-5 15, Siket 3 0-0 8, Runkle 8 6-7 23, Terefencko 1 2-2 4, Strenkoski 1 2-2 4, Wade 0 0-0 0, Farrel 0 0-0 0, Houvig 0 0-0 0, Benedict 0 0-0 0, Brand 0 0-0 0, Kovaleski 0 0-0 0, Bayer 0 0-0 0.
3-FG: Siket 2, Runkle