Hempfield girls slow Latrobe’s Graytok in Section 2-6A victory

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 | 9:27 PM

If Hempfield knew one thing about No. 4 Latrobe from their previous girls basketball meeting, it was that in order to beat the Wildcats, you've got to limit chances for high-scoring Laura Graytok.

The Spartans succeeded, holding Graytok to nearly half the total that she accumulated in a previous Latrobe victory this season, and beat the Wildcats, 50-45, in a WPIAL Section 2-6A game Tuesday night.

Allison Podkul scored 23 points for host Hempfield, which connected on 12 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Graytok, who finished with a team-high 15 points for Latrobe, scored 29 in the Wildcats' 62-57 victory Jan. 4.

“She's their team leader. They run everything through her,” said Hempfield coach Lindsy Muchnock, who played basketball at Latrobe. “We wanted to take her out of her game, and we really did an excellent job of it. We wanted someone else to beat us from their team.”

Latrobe (14-4, 6-2) fell to second place in Section 2, a half-game behind Norwin.

“Hempfield played very well. They had more energy than us,” Latrobe coach Mark Burkhardt said. “We came out and played harder in the second half, but give them credit. They outplayed us.”

Sarah Liberatore added 15 points for Hempfield (8-9, 4-3), which outscored Latrobe, 12-7, during the final 2 ¹⁄₂ minutes.

Hempfield trailed 32-31 with 1:24 left in the third quarter but went ahead on two free throws by Podkul, a senior who scored 30 points in the Spartans' 60-42 victory Saturday over PIAA No. 9 Altoona.

“We wanted to take momentum from that game into this game,” Podkul said. “We clicked in the Altoona game. Something hit us, and we just brought it with us tonight.”

Hempfield, which led 29-23 at halftime, never trailed again, though Latrobe managed to tie the score once in the fourth quarter at 38-38 on a 3-point shot by freshman Rachel Ridilla.

Jessica Persin's jumper banked in to give Latrobe a 40-38 advantage, and the Spartans hit eight consecutive free throws for a 46-43 lead with 34 seconds left.

Graytok, who averages 24 points, scored six in the second half.

“We tried to face-guard people off the ball and keep (Graytok) out of the play,” Muchnock said. “We threw three girls at her all night. Our girls stepped up tremendously. They really responded. They were ready for this game.”

Mackenzie Markle added 13 for Latrobe, which lost for just the second time in the past 10 games.

“It's been a grind,” Burkhardt said. “We played six games over the course of a week, and we did pretty well during that stretch. This is the time of year that you can lose your legs a little and get banged up.”

Muchnock has seen gradual improvement in at Hempfield in a year that Podkul likened to as “a roller-coaster ride.”

“This is a tremendous win for our program,” Muchnock said. “It's tremendous for us heading into the latter part of section play. I'm just super proud of the kids.”

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Hempfield Area, Latrobe