State College falls to Penn Hills in PIAA playoffs

Kyla Irwin stared at the wall just above the heads of the reporters holding recorders in front of her, UConn jacket under her postgame sweats, eyes red and brimming.

She cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking down a moment and shaking her head, trying to compose herself after a 59-58 loss to Penn Hills in the first round of the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs on Friday night.

Minutes earlier, Irwin had knocked down a triple at the top of the key to bring State College within a point of the Indians after a physical battle that saw the Lady Little Lions rally from 10-point deficits twice in the second half.

A Penn Hills turnover gave State College the ball back with just seconds remaining, and of course it went to Irwin, a senior heading to the University of Connecticut next season and arguably one of the best players in state history.

She drove down the court and tried to power through two defenders to draw a foul, but no whistle came and, under heavy pressure, she lost control of the ball and that was it.

“I wasn’t expecting them to foul, because they weren’t in a good position to foul,” she said. Irwin had been near-perfect from the line to that point, hitting 11 free throws in 13 attempts.

“I tried to attack them to make them foul me. And you know, it just wasn’t going to get called. Sometimes it happens like that.”

The game started fast and physical. Penn Hills, with two guards destined for Division I programs and unaccustomed to losing, overmatched State College with aggressive defense and early fouls in the first half.

“They had three bodies on (Kyla),” said State College coach Bethany Irwin. “Three. And I mean, we were flustered in the first half. ... They were very aggressive. And we knew they were going to foul us.”

Kyla joined her teammates in the locker room at the half with nine points and State College trailing 28-20.

“I screamed my head off (at halftime),” said Bethany.

On her way to a team-high 21 points, Penn Hills guard Jade Ely knocked down a 3-pointer to open the second half. Irwin answered with back-to-back layups and knocked down two free throws to retake the lead, 32-30 with 2:55 left in the third quarter.

Ely tied it up again with a 15-foot jumper and then followed with two layups in transition to push the lead to six points.

State College gave the ball away twice and Penn Hills capitalized, leading by 11 with just 3:30 left to play. But the Lady Little Lions fought back, going on a 9-2 run capped by two free throws from Irwin to make it a three-point game.

Penn Hills turned the ball over with a looping pass to a wide-open player waiting under the basket that flew out of bounds, and State College had a chance to regain the lead but turned it over on the other end.

Ely knocked down two free throws to make it a four-point game, and Irwin answered with a 3-pointer.

“We practiced stuff like that, we do situationals where we’re down by one with 15 seconds left, so we were definitely going to be prepared and the girls on our team were going to play our hardest no matter what,” she said.

“It felt really good. ... I’m glad it went in. I wish it tied the game.”

She finished with a game-high 31 points, 22 of which came in the second half.

“They played so hard. Christ, Kyla was cramping in her leg, we were shoving packets of yellow mustard down her throat trying to get those cramps out of her,” said Bethany.

“We just fell a little short. One point certainly does not define this group of girls.”

Irwin and her teammates left the court with hunched shoulders to a loud ovation from the fans. After, summing up Irwin’s career in her own words proved a difficult and emotional task.

“I just hope I helped set a standard,” she said, voice choked with feeling. “(I wanted to) lead by example and push each other, and never expect anything but the best from yourself and your teammates. And never take a play off, and get after it every day at practice. Make each other great.”

Her head coach and mother said that while Kyla is looking forward to her future at UConn, it hasn’t sunk in yet for either that that her career is over. State College finishes its season 20-4, and Irwin made history as just the second player in Centre County history to pass 2,000 career points.

“Those were her best friends. And she’s like, ‘Oh my God, I’ll never be able to play with my best friends again,’ ” said Bethany. “I mean she lived this program. Ate it, slept it, breathed it for her whole entire life. So for it to be her last game of this. ... I said, ‘Hey, all of this prepared you for what you’re going (to). ... You’ve had an awesome experience. Loved it. Lived it. Now go do your second chapter.’ ”

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 7:54 PM with the headline "State College falls to Penn Hills in PIAA playoffs."