ST. MARYS — It was nearly a disaster.

After jumping out to an ideal start and holding a 10-point lead at halftime, the Coudersport Lady Falcons almost let their PIAA matchup with Avella at St. Marys Area High School slip away.

But despite 27 turnovers and a late Lady Eagles run, District 9 champion Coudy managed to stave off District 7’s sixth-place team for a 48-41 win in the first round of the PIAA state playoffs to advance to the Sweet 16.

“In any tournament you watch, the first one is always a tough one,” said Coudy head coach Bob Tingley. “You can lose that first game, and I don’t care how good you are. I’m glad to get it under our belts and behind us so we can move on to the next one. We’ll just go one at a time.”

At first, it seemed Coudersport was going to run away with it. Sarah Chambers scored the game’s first seven points while her sister, Emma Chambers, added four more as the Lady Falcons jumped out to a 14-4 lead out of the gates. From there, Coudy maintained that advantage for a 23-10 lead after the first eight minutes and a 30-20 advantage at halftime.

“You feel really good about (the fast start), but if you’ve been around very long, you know that down the line, you’re going to have a down,” Tingley said. “Somewhere in the game, (the opponent) will come back, and that’s where you’ll find out what you’re made of.”

His prognostications became reality after the intermission.

As Avella (17-8) kept its defensive pressure turned up, the turnovers began to mount for Coudy and the Lady Eagles managed to rally back into the game. Avella used a 10-2 run from the start of the fourth quarter until 2:40 remained in the game to erase its deficit and tie things up at 36.

Of the 10 points in the run, eight came directly off of Lady Falcon turnovers.

“I try to stress passing the ball down the floor, but we have a tendency to want to use the dribble, and that gets us in trouble,” Tingley said. “(Avella was) very physical, and they put pressure on us the whole game. Dribbling caused a lot of turnovers, so we’re going to stress that again for the next couple days.”

But just as they did in their District 9 championship win over North Clarion, the Lady Falcons absorbed their opponent’s run and responded with a counterpunch.

Coudersport finished the game on a 12-5 run, keyed by back-to-back layups and a pair of free throws by Rosalyn Page and important secondary scoring from Lauren Stimaker and Emma Chambers.

Page and point guard Mikayla Gunn, who were averaging 13.7 and 15.7 points per game since the postseason began, each scored 11 points, while Sarah Chambers (10 postseason ppg) led the team with 13. Coudy also picked up critical scoring from Emma Chambers, who scored a personal postseason-high 11 points, too.

“We have to depend on (Gunn, Sarah Chambers and Page) for leadership, but to have Emma step up was big,” Tingley said. “She’s very capable, and I had no doubt in my mind. But being thrown into a state game and starting, that’s a big challenge for her. At times, she showed that, but down the stretch she made the plays for us.”

Gunn also supplied important defense for the Lady Falcons, as she was once again assigned to her opponents’ leading scorer, this time in the form of Avella point guard Brianna Jenkins.

Jenkins, who was averaging 11.1 points per game entering the state playoffs, was kept to just four points on the day, and eventually fouled out of the game.

“Mikayla’s tough, she’s just tough. If you send her out there and tell her to guard somebody, that’s what she does,” Tingley said. “I’m proud of her. Often times, the defensive players don’t get the credit they should. Everybody sees the scoring, but not everybody sees what she does defensively. She always gets a tough assignment, and she always lives up to it.”

Also key for Coudy were its defense and rebounding. Avella entered the game shooting just 33% from the field, but had managed to make up for that fact by securing rebounds (38 per game) and second-chance points.

The Lady Falcons held Avella to a 15-for-57 day from the field (26.3%) and also defeated the Lady Eagles on the glass, 34-20.

“We tried to control the boards, because the scout we had on (Avella) is they got a lot of offensive rebounds and putbacks, and we didn’t let that happen,” Tingley said. “So I’m very pleased with the rebounding.”

Coudersport now moves on to the Sweet 16, where it will face District 6’s Blacklick Valley (18-7). That game is set for 7 o’clock Wednesday night at Bald Eagle Area High School.

“That’s two games in a row we’ve had to make plays and foul shots at the end. The more of those you’re in, the better off you are down the line,” Tingley said. “Games will get tougher, but I don’t know if we’ll find anybody more physical than Avella. The games will get tougher for sure, though.”

AT ST. MARYS

Avella (41)

Katie Dryer 5 0-0 10, Jenkins 2 0-0 4, Kinney 3 0-0 6, Lengauer 1 5-6 7, Rush 3 0-0 6, Lloyd 0 4-4 4, A. Brownlee 1 0-0 2, H. Brownlee 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 9-10 41

Coudersport (48)

Sarah Chambers 3 6-6 13, Mikayla Gunn 1 8-8 11, Emma Chambers 3 4-6 11, Rosalyn Page 4 3-3 11, Stimaker 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 21-23 48

Avella 10 20 26 41

Coudy 23 30 34 48

Three-point goals: Avella 0, Coudy 3 (Gunn 1, E. Chambers 1, S. Chambers 1); Total fouls: Avella 19, Coudy 12; fouled out: Brianna Jenkins (A)