Kiski Area girls avenge loss against Plum

By: Michael Love
Friday, February 11, 2022 | 10:07 PM

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When the Plum and Kiski Area girls basketball teams met Jan. 26 at Plum, the Mustangs came away with a victory.

Plum hoped for a season sweep Friday as the Section 2-5A rivals rematched at Kiski Area.

But the Cavaliers had other plans, and they celebrated senior night with a down-to-the-wire 43-40 win.

“The energy the girls had before the game was different,” said Kiski Area coach Nick Dizon, whose team lost 52-40 earlier this season.

“It was a good different. It was excitement, and we talked about turning that excitement into focus. Early on, we were a little bit sloppy, but I was so proud of the girls with the way they dug in together. At halftime, we said we were going to figure it out, and the girls really played for each other.”

The Cavaliers and Mustangs, both eliminated from playoff contention, don’t have to wait long before returning to action.

With Friday’s win, Kiski Area finishes section play at 3-9. It will take a 7-13 overall record into Saturday’s noon home game against St. Joseph before capping its season Monday at Freeport.

Plum (6-12, 3-8) closes section play at 12:30 p.m. Saturday with a home game against Hampton before Monday’s senior-night season finale against Gateway.

The third quarter was the difference Friday as Kiski Area outscored Plum, 14-2, to turn a 28-22 halftime deficit into a 36-30 lead heading to the fourth. The Mustangs were held without a field goal in the quarter.

Plum whittled the deficit to 41-40 with 3 minutes, 17 seconds left on a pair of free throws from junior forward Dannika Susko. But the Cavaliers sealed the win on foul shots from both junior Lexi Colaianni and senior Karly Keller.

Keller finished with a game-high 14 points. She tallied eight of the 14 in the decisive third quarter. Colaianni scored 12 points.

“I am really emotional right now,” said Keller, who celebrated the evening and the victory with senior teammates Riley Hanan, Heather Sieczkowski and Dejah Burnett.

“To win on senior night is really huge for us, and now we have three section wins. Plum is a very good, competitive team. We just had a lot of energy from the bench and on the court. It was a total team effort. That was really key to how we won.”

Said Dizon: “Karly has been through us trying to build this program, and for her to have this moment and this night was special. She has played with effort, energy and intensity all year, and she’s shown great leadership in helping mentor the younger girls.”

Burnett, out the entire season with a knee injury, was announced as a starter and came out to take the opening tip.

The Cavaliers gained possession, and Burnett exited the game to applause from the Kiski Area faithful.

“That is something I know she won’t forget,” Dizon said. “Obviously, we would’ve loved to have had her out there playing, but she’s been around all season and a part of the group. We felt we could honor her that way.”

Fouls for both teams piled up throughout the game.

Plum sophomore Megan Marston fouled out with 1:46 left in the fourth. She exited with a team-high 11 points.

Mustangs sophomore forward Pascale Olczak then fouled out with 18 seconds on the clock. She finished with nine points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

Five other players — Plum’s Kai Johnson and Susko and Kiski Area’s Abbie Johns, Rikiya Garcia and Maddie Joyce — finished with four fouls apiece.

Susko rolled her left ankle at the 5:03 mark of the first quarter and left the game with assistance. She did return in the second quarter and went on to finish with eight points and six rebounds before aggravating the injury at the game-ending horn.

Garcia came off the bench for the Cavaliers and scored seven points.

Plum used a 9-0 run, starting with a Marston 3-pointer to beat the first-quarter buzzer, to take a 21-15 lead with 3:47 to go until halftime.

The Mustangs held their largest lead of the game — 28-20 — with 34 seconds on the second-quarter clock.

“We had the advantage on the boards,” Plum coach Rich Mull said. “We knew that coming in. We just didn’t finish the way we needed to. We missed a number of layups that could’ve been the difference in the game.

“We just need to grow up in certain aspects of the game. It’s not just the physical part of the game but also the mental toughness to make better decisions that comes with maturity. It’s certainly not for lack of effort. We’re just a young team with the one senior (Johnson), and we’re looking to keep maturing moving forward.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area, Plum