The scenario is a little too familiar for the Bald Eagle Area girls’ basketball team.
The Lady Eagles put together a really strong season that included a long win streak, taking a high seed into the District 6 playoffs. They also faltered at the end of the season, losing in the Mountain League championship game before the start of districts.
The story for 2011 sounds a lot like 2012.
BEA (17-6) will try to not let history repeat itself tonight when it meets Juniata (11-11) in the district Class AA first round at 6 p.m. at Mifflin County High School.
A year ago, the Lady Eagles began the season 17-0 and had lost just once before falling to Central in the Mountain League title game, then the No. 1 seed lost to Ligonier Valley in the district quarterfinals.
This season, the win streak was a more modest seven straight and 14 out of 16, and then BEA fell to Tyrone 54-37 in the Mountain League finale on Saturday.
“We’re hoping to rewrite history,” coach Troy Butterowrth said.
“I talked to them about (the similarities) too. Last year everything was going smooth. Don’t let one loss ruin the season. It’s a whole new season (tonight).”
Saturday’s game was filled with Lady Eagle turnovers and uncharacteristic mistakes, and they faced just one day of practice on Monday to shake off those troubles and regain their winning formula.
“We talked very briefly about what happened and how we need to focus on making sure we’re disciplined, waiting for screens, running our offense, we don’t force the issue,” Butterworth said. “We have to take care of the basketball — no turnovers. They were in good spirits (Monday). They had a day to let it all sink in.”
While there may be some small silimarities to last season, this time the No. 4-seeded Lady Eagles have an advantge heading into this playoff game. Unlike last year when they faced a completely unfamiliar opponent, tonight they meet a Lady Indians team they dropped twice during the regular season.
BEA prevailed 52-49 in Wingate on Jan. 10, then won 54-47 in Mifflintown two weeks ago as part of the Mountain League schedule. The Indians finished third in the Nittany Division behind BEA and Central Mountain.
Marissa Ward led the Lady Eagles in scoring in both contests, with 14 points in the first game and 21 in the second, but plenty of production from the rest of the lineup, including a couple teammates also in double figures in both games, helped give BEA the win.
“We have to be patient on offense,” Butterworth said. “We have to run our plays. At the end of the third quarter of the Tyrone game we got rattled and we didn’t execute our offense. If something wasn’t there we tried to improvise instead of pulling it out and being patient.”
They also will have an edge in experience.
The bulk of BEA’s minutes have been racked up by juniors and seniors, paced by top scorers Ward (junior, 13.3 points per game), Abby Gettig (senior, 8.4), Mary Pillot (junior, 8.3), Lexi Josefik (junior, 8.2) and Kaitlyn Miller (junior, 7.3).
No. 13 seed Juniata, on the other hand, is led by 5-foot-8 freshman guard Victoria Varner (12.2 ppg), 5-8 sophomore guard Carly Burns (10.7) and 5-11 sophomore guard Maddie Zendt (7.5). In the two meetings during the regular season, Burns totaled 39 points and Varner collected 28.
“It’s a little easier to know what your opponent is going to do,” said Butterworth. “We pretty much know who their shooters are, who we need to guard, what kind of defense we need to run. I don’t have to sit down, watch film and break it down, especially with only one day to really do it.”
Tonight’s winner will face either No. 5 Westmont Hilltop or No. 12 Southern Huntingdon in the quarterfinals later in the week. Those teams also battle tonight.
Gordon Brunskill can be reached at 231-4608.
