Neshannock girls crank up defensive pressure, stop Penns Manor in state semifinals

By: George Guido
Monday, March 22, 2021 | 9:19 PM

After trailing by double digits much of the night, Neshannock went to a trapping defense.

The result of the defensive effort is a trip to Hershey.

The Lancers held Penns Manor scoreless for the final 8 minutes, 12 seconds of the game and emerged with a 39-36 overtime victory in a PIAA Class 2A semifinal Monday night.

Down 29-16 midway through the third period, Neshannock stormed back with a 13-0 run to tie the score at 29 on a steal by Addi Watts with 6.4 seconds left in the third quarter. It was Watts’ only field goal of the game.

A trio of 3-point baskets by Mairan Haggerty fueled the surge. The 5-foot-11 sophomore led the Lancers with 13 points. A foul shot by Watts with 2:37 left in overtime and two more by Nelah Nogay with 1.7 to go provided the only scoring in the extra session.

The WPIAL champion Lancers (19-2) will play Mount Carmel (18-5) for the state title at noon Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center. It will be the school’s first trip to the state title game.

Penns Manor (18-7) was trying to become the first school from Indiana County to win a PIAA title. Indiana lost in the 2010 Class 3A finals. Junior Megan Dumm led the Comets with 14 points and eight rebounds. Kassidy Smith scored 13.

“We went to the half-court trap the whole second half. We had to,” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said. “We couldn’t match up man-to-man with (Smith and Dumm), and they run some really good stuff man-to-man. They’re really good, and that’s probably the toughest team we played all year.”

“They went to that 1-2-2 trap. They were playing very aggressively,” Comets coach Jason Miloser said. “They were jumping on everything. They kept tying us up into jump balls.”

A putback by Smith gave Penns Manor a 13-3 lead a little more than five minutes into the game. The Comets continued to dominate play, committing just three turnovers in the first half. Dumm had 11 points in the first half.

Smith’s basket with 4:12 left in the third period gave Penns Manor the 39-16 advantage before Haggerty heated up.

“It was crazy,” Haggerty said of her shooting during the outburst. “I feel like when I make one three, I’m more confident and shoot a lot more. It wasn’t planned. It just happened.”

“She wasn’t hitting in the first half,” Grybowski said of Haggerty. “We had to get her some open looks. She knocks them down, and it just pushes us and gets us on a roll.”

Dumm’s third 3-pointer of the night gave Penns Manor its final lead of the game. A basket by Smith tied the game.

The Comets had the ball with 1.7 seconds to go in overtime. A shot by Dumm hit the right side of the rim and rolled back out.

Said Miloser: “Any time Megan shoots, you feel it has a chance to go in, but that’s playoff basketball. We did a good job handling the intensity. Give credit to Neshannock. They played a little bit better than us tonight and got the win.”

Megan Pallerino has nine rebounds to lead the Lancers.

Neshannock has no seniors on the team.

Tags: Neshannock