How Penns Valley girls’ basketball cruised past Bald Eagle Area for a ‘needed’ win
The Penns Valley girls’ basketball team took home a victory Friday night by defeating Bald Eagle Area 62-33.
Lady Rams head coach Terrance Green called it an important one.
“This was big for us,” he said. “Just to get back to where we need to. We’re looking to get back to .500 going into next week. We needed this win. We came out a little flat, but the girls figured it out. They’re good; they know what to do.”
Penns Valley opened the game with a 3-pointer from junior guard Katie Martell and never looked back. Martell, who averaged 4.5 points per game entering the contest, led the Lady Rams by scoring eight of her 10 points in the opening quarter.
Green said Martell’s performance can serve as a confidence booster.
“She’s one of our main 3-point shooters,” he said. “It was good for her, good for her confidence, for her to have a good game.”
Her scoring output helped the Lady Rams to a 15-5 lead after the first quarter. The 10-point cushion came after the team’s leading scorer, senior guard Hannah Montminy, was held scoreless through the quarter, thanks in part to a box-and-one defense deployed by Bald Eagle Area head coach Darrin Hazel. The defense worked to stop Montminy but allowed for too many open looks for the Lady Rams.
Hazel said he uses the box-and-one to help teach his team man and zone concepts.
“It enables us to play man and zone,” he said. “ We feel like playing straight zone doesn’t help us out. It wouldn’t get us any better to play zone the whole time.”
Montminy left the game early in the second quarter with an injury in the midst of a 6-0 run by the Lady Eagles to make the score 15-11.
The senior leader returned a few minutes later and scored back-to-back baskets within her first 30 seconds back on the court. Those four points from Montminy came as part of a 16-0 Penns Valley run in the second quarter to extend its lead to 20. They went into the half up on the Lady Eagles 36-15.
Green said Montminy’s return sparked the team.
“Hannah’s our leader,” he said. “She’s one of our captains for a reason; she’s one of our senior leaders. That’s what she does. We feed off her some nights and other nights she feeds the rest of the team and helps them out.”
The Lady Rams coasted from there. They forced several turnovers early in the third quarter to keep the Lady Eagles at arm’s length. Penns Valley’s lead grew from 21 to 35 after the third quarter. They held Bald Eagle to eight points in the quarter to head into the final eight minutes with a 58-23 lead on the back of a seven-point third quarter from Montminy.
Penns Valley closed the game with a four-point fourth quarter to leave the gym with a 62-33 win.
The Lady Eagles’ lack of offense outside of their 6-0 run played a big role in the loss. Hazel said the team’s lack of experience at point guard played a role in the lack of offense.
“Hannah (Montminy) puts a lot of pressure on people,” he said. “She’s one of the best defensive guards in the league. It’s hard to put somebody out there that doesn’t have a lot of experience handling the ball. Give credit to them, because they just put a lot of pressure on our guards.”
The Lady Eagles were led on offense by senior guard Lacee Barnhart with 24 points while sophomore guard Kailen Winkelblech led the Lady Rams with 16 points.
Bald Eagle fell to 5-9 on the season with the loss while the Lady Rams improved to 7-8 after the win.
Penns Valley 62, Bald Eagle Area 33
(Friday at Wingate)
Penns Valley 15 21 22 4 -- 62
Bellefonte 5 10 8 10 -- 33
Penns Valley (7-8)
Winkelblech 3 (3) 1-2 16, Montminy 5 1-2 11, Martell 2 (2) 0-0 10, Kennedy Welshans 4 0-0 8, Lydia Collison 1 (1) 0-0 5, Leah Beben 1 0-4 2, Avery Dinges 0 2-4 2, Cate Goodwin 1 0-0 2, Avelyn Van Heyst 0 2-2 2.
Bald Eagle (5-9)
Barnhart 4 (2) 10-13 24, Kierra Serb 2 0-0 4, Abigail Hoover 1 1-3 3, Katie Snyder 1 0-0 2.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 8:47 PM.
