Two seniors score in double figures as Penns Valley girls basketball defeats Bellefonte
Penns Valley girls basketball marched into Bellefonte’s Military Night with a mission.
The Lady Rams looked to improve to 9-7 on the season, following three consecutive losses to Huntingdon, Tyrone and Southern Huntingdon last week. Penns Valley’s Ann-Marie McMurtrie weathered the storm like a captain of a naval ship, scoring 18 points in the 60-50 victory.
“I think at the beginning, we just said that we needed more energy and communication on the floor,” McMurtrie said. “We were working together in those three losses, but I think we needed to be closer and more talkative on the floor.”
Lady Rams head coach Terrance Green watched from the sidelines as McMurtrie led her team on both ends of the court. She called out coverages on the defensive side of the ball, leading to turnovers and promptly set the offense up by calling plays. Even through the closest portion of the game in the second half, she continued to guide her team through the game.
“I’m speechless because it’s just great,” Green said. “You don’t get many players of her caliber. She does what the team needs her to do. She was very steady tonight, she’s a great two-way player and it’s on display every night how she can play both sides of the ball.”
McMurtrie wasn’t the only Penns Valley senior to score in double figures. Her longtime teammate and best friend Julie Emel continually found the bucket in Monday night’s game. She ended the game with 15 points and made three 3-pointers, despite being deployed as mainly a post player throughout the game.
“It felt great to get back in the groove of things and also play as a team again,” Emel said. “It feels really good to get back at it and win again; it’s exciting. I feel like we can accomplish a lot if we work together and play hard together.”
McMurtrie opened up the game with eight points out of the gate. Emel drained a 3-point field goal and Paige Dobson had a 3-pointer and a layup to give Penns Valley an 18-6 lead, following Madison Ripka, Jaylee Lose and Mackenzie Ellenberger each scoring on layups for Bellefonte.
The Lady Raiders found some life in the second quarter with Taylor Brown getting on the board with six straight points and stout defense in the post. Maria Cotter began scoring with four points and Ripka had an additional two points, but the team still trailed 34-18 at halftime.
Maria Cotter caught fire for Bellefonte in the third quarter, scoring eight points and making two 3-point field goals. Lose added four additional points, but the Lady Raiders were outpaced by the continuous scoring of Emel, Scotty Dinges and McMurtrie in the third. Bellefonte trailed 46-33.
The Lady Rams eventually saw their lead cut with Brown and Cotter’s 11 points in the fourth quarter. However, Penns Valley continued to coast with Emel and McMurtrie scoring seven and four points respectively in the fourth quarter to match the Bellefonte duo’s total.
Bellefonte head coach Marcus Toomer could take a number of positives during the game. He saw his team make adjustments at halftime and continue to keep its foot on the gas pedal with three scorers in double figures.
“It’s very good for us to have a complete team effort,” Toomer said. “I’m very proud of what they did. We only had 18 points in the first half and to finish with 50 — that’s a really good job as a team. They worked really hard, they worked really well together and the posts and the guards really complemented each other very well. They were looking to help each other out.”
Penns Valley 60, Bellefonte 50
PV (9-7): McMurtrie 18, Emel 15, S. Dinges 9, E. Dinges 7, Dobson 5, A. Dinges 3, Stover 3
B (1-13): Cotter 17, Brown 14, Lose 10, Ripka 6, Ellenberger 3
Next: Penns Valley at Bald Eagle, 7 p.m. Thursday; Bellefonte at Hollidaysburg, 7:30 p.m. Thursday
This story was originally published January 24, 2023 at 9:09 AM.
