Irwin reaches 2,000 points, State College wins District 6 championship

From one senior to another, Abby Allen snatched an offensive board, dished to Kyla Irwin, and the rest was history.

Literally.

Irwin, like she has so many times, converted on the block, banking in a layup and pushing her career point total to 2,001.

The State College bench erupted. The Lady Little Lion crowd at Mount Aloysius College ignited. The game was in hand, and so too was a memorable milestone.

State College (20-3) steamrolled Altoona (14-8) on Saturday 52-27 in the PIAA District 6 Class AAAA championship game, punching its ticket to the Class AAAA state tournament.

They will play the No. 3 seed out of District 7 on Friday.

Irwin, who scored a game-high 19 points, became just the second player, male or female, from Centre County to reach 2,000 points. The only other was Dana McDonald, a 1989 graduate from Penns Valley who had 2,269 points before playing at Duke.

Irwin wasn’t necessarily worried about getting to 2,000 on Saturday.

“I didn’t have any concern. I wanted to win,” the senior said. “If we got the win, I’d have another game to get it.”

And after the first half, it looked like Irwin might need that next game.

Irwin was double-teamed, sometimes triple-teamed, by Altoona in the first two quarters. She had only four points — one field goal, two free throws — at the break.

But Altoona’s attention on State College’s star opened up space for other shooters.

Allen, especially, took advantage.

The senior guard sparked the Lady Little Lion offense, nailing four first-half 3-pointers. She finished with five treys and 15 points on the day.

“How about that?” State College coach Bethany Irwin said. “Abby Allen, gotta love those threes. I’m so thankful she kept shooting. We knew they were going to put two or three bodies on Kyla. They picked their battles. Leaving my kids wide open was not the right battle to choose.”

“I knew they were going to double down on Kyla,” Allen noted. “I had to do my work.”

Kayla Hawbaker and Jess Orndorff also had 3-pointers in the opening 16 minutes. In all, shots from distance accounted for 18 of State College’s 24 first-half points.

“We’re hitting shots, and they’re tripling me,” Kyla Irwin said. “They can’t do that. We have girls who are a threat on the outside.”

Despite the low point total, Irwin was still a menace on the block, posting eight rebounds and three blocks in the first half. She finished with 19 rebounds.

Much like the first half, the second was all State College, particularly from the free-throw line. The Lady Little Lions were 15 of 19 from the charity stripe in the second half, with Irwin connecting on 9 of 10 attempts.

Each time Irwin walked up to the line, the Altoona student section tried to get under her skin, shouting “walk-on” at the future on-scholarship UConn Husky.

“I think it’s a little silly, if they knew their information,” Kyla Irwin said with a smile. “It just makes me better, more mentally tough. Honestly, I say thank you for that. They’re helping me out.”

Her coach, and mother, also saw the humor in it.

“It cracks me up,” Bethany Irwin said. “You have to put three kids on her, and she’s a walk-on? I don’t think so.”

Considering how last season’s District 6 final ended, Saturday’s win is even sweeter for State College. In 2015, the Lady Little Lions fell to Altoona 46-45 in the same gym, against many of the same players.

Kyla Irwin was happy to share in the redemption with her fellow seniors.

“They’re my best friends,” Kyla Irwin said.

Now, after Saturday — after Irwin reached another milestone, Allen shined, and State College won a title — the Lady Little Lions are tasked with preparing for the state tournament.

But not before they celebrate.

“I guess we’re going to play Friday. I don’t know who. I don’t know where. But we’re going to enjoy this,” Bethany Irwin said. “We let it slip away last year, but this senior class, there was never a doubt. They weren’t going to let this go.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Irwin reaches 2,000 points, State College wins District 6 championship."