Penns Valley girls basketball flaunts defensive prowess with 63-44 win over Clearfield
Penns Valley senior Kailen Winkelblech entered Monday’s game against Clearfield fresh off of a Centre Daily Times Athlete of the Week Award for Jan. 24-29.
The guard continued to build onto her resume with a 24-point game in a 63-44 Rams victory over the Bison. While Winkelblech believes that she didn’t begin the season the way she wanted, she picked up her play of late and it showed on Monday.
“I started out a little bit slower, but now that I’ve picked it up, I feel like the whole team has come together more,” Winkelblech said. “I think we’re ready to go into districts and just getting prepared for it feels really good to be playing at a high level.”
Ann-Marie McMurtrie was a steady hand for Penns Valley in the second half. While beginning with a 3-pointer in the first quarter, she had a scoring drought in the second period. McMurtrie came out firing on all cylinders to score 10 more points, finishing the game with 13.
What was the difference between the first half and second?
“I think I just had more drive,” McMurtrie said. “I knew that Clearfield was going to come out and want that win and I was like, ‘That’s not going to happen.’ I came out aggressive, strong and I just did what I could to get the points up.”
Penns Valley now improves to 8-11 overall and 7-5 in Mountain League play. Head coach Terrance Green believes that the key to winning each night is defense. The team had multiple steals inside the paint in the third quarter, neutralizing Clearfield’s comeback push.
“We talked about our defense,” Green said. “Turning up our defense, correcting things from the first game (against Clearfield) — we didn’t shoot well and we didn’t shoot free throws well, which we did better tonight. Our biggest thing is defense because at this time of the year with districts, that’s what will carry us. Our defensive effort tonight was phenomenal. That’s the best we’ve played defense all season so far.”
The Lady Rams spread the ball around to begin the game with five different scorers getting on the board. Winkelblech led the way with six points in the period and McMurtrie knocked down a 3-point shot to get the Rams on the board. Penns Valley led Clearfield 15-8 at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Clearfield closed the gap late in the second quarter with four points scored each by Cayleigh Walker, Lauryn Kitchen and Emma Hipps. Winkelblech continued her strong run in the first half for Penns Valley with seven additional points on two layups and a 3-pointer. Cate Goodwin scored five points for the Lady Rams to lead 29-24 at the half.
Penns Valley led 46-31 at the close of the third quarter with a continued scoring push by Winkelblech. The senior guard and McMurtrie scored six points each and Kayla Hopkins finished with two points in the period.
The Lady Rams continued to build on their lead by scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter. Winkelblech had four points, Julia Emel drained a 3-point shot and McMurtrie scored four more points. Penns Valley finished with six different scorers in the final period to win 63-44.
Penns Valley 63, Clearfield 44
PV (8-11): Winkelblech 24, McMurtrie 13, Romig 9, Emel 5, Hopkins 4, Fleshman 2, Dobson 2, Snider 2, Dinges 2
C (7-11): Hipps 15, Ryen 10, Walker 8, Glunt 5, Albertson 4, Reed 2
First Half: 29-24, Penns Valley
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 10:48 PM.
