KANE — Defensively, the Port Allegany Lady Gators did just about everything right on Tuesday night.
They held Keystone’s two leading scorers to just seven combined points and gave up only one 3-pointer in the game.
But offensively, Port A couldn’t do much of anything.
The Gators’ first points didn’t come until 8:45 into the game, and they struggled to find any consistent rhythm in a 36-26 loss to Keystone in the District 9 Class AA quarterfinals at Kane.
Unofficially, the Gators (16-7) shot just 8-for-42 on the night, and didn’t reach 10 points until mid-way through the third quarter.
“Unfortunately, that’s our downfall,” Port A coach Jamie Evens said. “We can’t put the ball in the basket. I said before the game whichever team tonight made some shots was going to win, and we didn’t make enough of them.”
Despite making just three field goals over the first 16 minutes, the Lady Gators trailed only 14-9 at halftime. A major reason Port was able to stay in the game was its strong defense on Keystone (11-11) leading scorers Emily Laurer (13 points per game) and McKenzie Hovis (13 ppg). Those two combined to make just one field goal each, and both players were held scoreless in both the second and third quarters.
“I thought we had a pretty good scouting report on them and we knew where those two were going to get their points,” Evens said. “We held them pretty well. (Trinity Thompson) hurt us a little bit. We didn’t think she could put the ball in the basket as much as she did. Think she only had (six points), but they were a big six.”
“We executed the way we wanted to until it came down to the ball leaving our fingers.”
The Gators’ biggest offensive push came at the end of the third quarter. After Keystone went ahead 23-12 with less than four minutes to go in the third, Port A scored the final nine points to cut the Panthers’ lead to 23-21.
And via a successful full-court press, the Gators were able to keep the score close throughout the final frame up until a couple of easy layups sealed their fate late.
“When you put pressure on them like that, you’re gambling,” Evens said. “And we gave up some layups on the other end which is part of the gamble. But that kind of stemmed the tide of that run and unfortunately we went cold again.”
Port Allegany’s hopes took a big blow in the first half when top-scorer Cailey Barnett rolled her ankle, according to Evens. And while she had six points in the second half, it was well off her season average of 13.5 per game.
“She was struggling to get any push off of it,” Evens said of Barnett, who did finish with 10 steals. “We were trying to clear her out and to create some 1-on-1 opportunities, but she couldn’t get any push and nobody else was really able to do it either.”
Port Allegany has had similar struggles in other losses this year, notching just 25, 30, 21 and now 26 points over its last four defeats.
“(Keystone) is gritty and aggressive,” Evens said. “We knew they would play man-to-man the whole time and it came down to whether we could get by them and put the ball in the basket. We had some trouble getting past them and we settled for some outside shots and I would have liked to see us get closer to the rim.
Keystone advances to the Class AA semifinals against second-seeded A-C Valley next week.
“The next two games are going to be extremely tough, but we would have liked to opportunity,” Evens said.
AT KANE
Keystone (36)
Maddie Dunlap 4 2-2 10, A. Dunlap 3 0-0 6, Lauer 1 2-3 4, Hovis 1 1-5 4, Hurrelbrink 3 0-0 7, Thompson 3 0-0 6. Totals: 15 5-10 36
Port Allegany (26)
Cailey Barnett 4 1-2 9, Garzel 2 2-5 7, Sprankle 1 1-2 3, Stauffer 1 4-6 6, Lannager 0 1-2 1.Totals: 8 9-18 26
Keystone 10 14 23 36
Port A 3 9 21 26
Three-point goals: Keystone 1 (Hurrelbrink), Port A 1 (Garzel); total fouls: Keystone 17, Port A 12; fouled out: none
