Penn-Trafford girls set up win-and-in finale by defeating Woodland Hills

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, February 6, 2019 | 10:21 PM

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As a 13-point lead dimmed to eight with about a minute to play, Penn-Trafford girls basketball coach John Giannikas mouthed two words to his players.

Calm down.

Woodland Hills was charging back Wednesday night, and the Warriors were lacking a deflector shield as they attempted to run off some clock.

The coach’s words passed for a pep talk as the Warriors collected themselves and held on for an important 57-54 victory to take their Section 3-5A playoff hopes into the final night of the regular season.

“That’s not an easy team to play against,” Giannikas said. “They don’t make you always stay calm. Some of our free throws rattled out late. If those rattle in, it’s a different story at the end there.”

Penn-Trafford (12-9, 8-5) has to beat Latrobe (12-6, 8-5) on Friday at home to clinch a playoff spot.

The Warriors could end up as high as third in the section. Latrobe also must win Friday to qualify.

Woodland Hills (11-9, 9-4), which already had clinched a berth, ended the game on a 10-0 run, answering an 8-0 spurt by the Warriors that gave them their largest lead of the night at 57-44 with about 3 minutes to play.

Junior Bella Long overcame a slow start, and a touch of the flu, to score 11 of her team-high 14 points in the second half for Penn-Trafford, which overcame a game-high 18 points from junior Nya Morris.

Long hit four 3-pointers, including two in a row to close the third quarter with the Warriors in front 43-39, before the decisive scoring runs in the fourth.

“They went into a zone, and we took advantage of that … we got some good shots, and we made them,” Long said. “Everyone was unselfish with the ball. On defense, we locked down and rebounded. We took care of the ball near the end of the game.”

Sophomore Allie Prady hit a 3, and Long followed with another to stretch it to 53-44 with 3:48 to go.

Sophomore Kenzie Powell drove in for a layup to make it 57-44, but that was the Warriors’ final field goal.

Morris made a couple of layups, and freshman Jazmine Dunn banked in a 3 with 19 seconds to play to pull the Wolverines within 57-54.

Woodland Hills had one last possession, but Prady closed out and got a hand on Dunn’s last-ditch 3 attempt from the wing just before the buzzer sounded to seal it.

Powell scored 11, and Prady and freshman Maura Suman each added 10 for the Warriors.

Sophomore Peyton Pinkney added 12 points for Woodland Hills, and junior Tatiana Vasquez and junior Ciara Beachom had eight apiece.

“When we were up 13, I thought the first two possessions after that we took a couple quick jump shots and gave them extra possessions,” Giannikas said. “We missed a couple front ends of 1-and-1’s, and they came down and hit some big 3s. I thought our kids, after that, handled the pressure really well. We ran a lot of clock and played pretty good defense to not give up that last shot.”

Penn-Trafford led by one after the first quarter (15-14) and at halftime (28-27).

The first half ended in a flurry of 3-pointers, with Vasquez hitting two from the left corner and Prady hitting for the Warriors.

Senior Reaghan Panza was fouled on a 3 attempt and made 2 of 3 foul shots to give the Warriors a one-point halftime edge.

Penn-Trafford is trying to get back to the postseason after having a 10-year playoff streak end last season.

“For a lot of the girls, this is their biggest week,” Giannikas said. “Last year, we were young and they were learning how to adjust to varsity basketball.

“It looks like it will be winner-take-all (Friday). Everyone is battling for positioning and seeding. It’s fun. I wouldn’t want it any other way. That’s the way it should be.”

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Penn-Trafford, Woodland Hills