Mohawk girls hand 1st loss to Punxsutawney in PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals

By: George Guido
Friday, March 19, 2021 | 8:40 PM

There’s always a concern when an undefeated team rolls into town.

But Mohawk’s zone defense pushed Punxsutawney beyond the perimeter and opened up a solid first half lead en route to a 68-52 victory in a PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal Friday on the Warriors home floor.

Seniors Hannah McDanel led the way for Mohawk with 21 points. Right behind her was senior Nadia Lape with 21 as the Warriors took command midway through the first period.

Mohawk (18-4) now advances to the PIAA semifinals for the first time in school history Monday against Forest Hills on the Warriors’ home floor.

The winner will play Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center.

“We were nervous about how offensive-minded they were and their ability to shoot the threes,” said Mohawk coach Mike O’ Lare. “Everything we scouted showed that they could shoot it. We play a lot of zone, so we moved it up a little bit and move them a little bit deeper.”

Punxsutawney, District 9 champions for the sixth straight season, finished at 19-1.

“It was tough,” said Chucks coach Mike Carlson. “They spread us out and they hit those deep threes. I was hoping they would miss at some point, but that wasn’t the case.”

Lape scored 10 points in the first quarter and Abigail Shoaff hit another trey as the Warriors took an 18-7 lead with 2 minutes, 4 seconds left in the opening period on a pair of foul shots by Paige Julian.

The Warriors eventually built their advantage to 38-16 by the half, holding Punxsutawney to just five points in the second quarter.

“I give a lot of credit to our kids, defensively, early,” O’Lare said. “They couldn’t get clean looks early, and I have a lot of trust in our kids, offensively, getting down the floor and run some pre-sets, so to speak.”

Mohawk committed just three turnovers in the first half.

But the Chucks didn’t drive two hours for nothing.

Punxsutawney went on a 8-0 run early in the third period, cutting the Warriors lead to 13 twice. Riley Presloid scored all eight points.

Said Carlson: “We were just nervy in the first half and missed some assignments. We’ve got some good seniors, Riley being one of them, and I knew they would respond in the second half and make a run at them.”

But McDanel got hot in the third quarter, scoring 10 points as the Warriors were able to regain momentum. McDanel fired one in from just in front of the Mohawk bench and the Warriors were back in front, 53-34, with 1:06 left in the third period.

McDanel wasn’t finished. She hit another 3-pointer 14 seconds into the fourth quarter and Mohawk was on its way to the semifinal round.

Carlson, whose teams have won District 9 all six years of his tenure, found it tough to say goodbye to his seniors.

“They’ve had four really, really successful years, but we’re hoping our younger kids saw their performance and get themselves ready,” Carlson said.

Warriors fans gave their team a standing ovation when O’Lare pulled his starters with 2:56 to go.

Presloid finished with 15 points and Kristin Riley hauled down 14 rebounds.

Julian led the Warriors with seven rebounds.

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