CLARION – Two weeks ago the bus carrying the Coudersport girls’
basketball team broke down en route to the District 9
semifinals.
Wednesday evening the bus trouble was on the court as the
Greyhounds of Monessen eliminated the Lady Falcons from the PIAA
Class A playoffs with a 50-36 decision at Clarion High School.
Coudy had no answer for Perrial Pearson, the 5-11 senior center
who had 25 points and was an unmovable object on defense.
“We knew we had to stop Pearson,” said Brian Green, Coudy head
coach. “That was our main objective. We tried to double down the
best we could, but we were physically outmatched. We hoped they
(Greyhounds) wouldn’t shoot the ball well from the outside and
really didn’t.”
Green was right on the money as the entire Monessen offense
could’ve been executed in a phone booth as the Greyhounds didn’t
convert a basket beyond four feet all night.
“They (Greyhounds) probably didn’t,” Green recalled. “I was told
(Kelly) Mornak was a good outside shooter, but tonight she took it
to the hole. They spread us out so they could get it down to No. 50
(Pearson).”
Offensively the Lady Falcons held their own in the first half
and took a 22-20 lead into the locker room at the intermission, but
the second half was a different story as Coudy suffered through a
pair of five-minute droughts and made just four buckets over the
final 16 minutes.
“We were ice cold in the second half,” Green admitted. “It’s
tough when our game is driving in and drawing fouls, and 50
(Pearson) is standing there in the paint. She got a lot of block
shots and that was intimidating.”
Both teams in the second-round match up looked very sluggish at
the outset and Green called a timeout with his squad trailing 5-3
midway through the first stanza.
“I told them to run the offense,” Green noted. “I was screaming
as loud as I could but they couldn’t hear me. We weren’t doing what
we had worked on in practice. Danielle (Furman) was at the point
and I wanted her on the wing because they were leaving the elbow
shot open.”
Green’s oration produced immediate results as Furman banked in a
three-pointer from the right corner, and Hope Morris and Jessica
Wilson followed with buckets to give Coudy a 10-5 advantage with
2:28 left.
After two straight Monessen baskets, Furman kissed home another
triple from the top of the key and it was 13-9 Coudy after one.
Furman added another trifecta for a 16-11 lead, but a 6-0 run
sent the District 7 champs back in front 17-16 with 4:57 left in
the half.
The contest was knotted at 20-all when Wilson snared an
offensive rebound and canned a five-footer to give the Lady Falcons
a two-point margin at the break.
“At halftime I told the kids to take better care of the
basketball and that we need to stop No. 50 (Pearson),” Green
stated. “We also weren’t running any of our offensive sets.”
A layup by Morris put Coudy up 24-22 with 6:47 remaining in the
third, but that would prove to be the last lead for the District
9’s No. 2 seed.
Three buckets in the paint by Pearson helped Monessen open a
36-28 bulge with six minutes left in the contest.
Wilson then buried a three from the deep left wing to end a long
famine and pull Coudy within five points. Chelsey Tuttle nailed
both ends of a one-and-one to cut the deficit to 36-33 with 5:16
remaining, but a 9-0 Monessen spurt began and ended with layins by
Pearson to increase its lead to 45-33 with 1:11 showing.
Furman registered her fourth bomb on the evening at the
54-second juncture to make it 45-36, but the Greyhounds (20-10)
held on for the 14-point victory. Furman led Coudy (25-3) with 14
points.
“Danielle Furman had a great four-year career and it was a tough
way for her to go out,” Green offered.
“Tonight Monessen was the better team. Halfway through the
fourth quarter everything went their way. They were quicker and
they were bigger. I’m proud of my kids for not giving up and we had
a great year. We have most of these kids coming back next year and
this will be motivation for them.”
