Lehighton falls in tiebreaker

ORWIGSBURG – Pine Grove’s style is no secret.

The Cardinals’ brand of basketball features a suffocating defense. It’s the kind of intensity that helped produce a District 11 Class 3A title a season ago.

And it might be the catalyst for another deep postseason run this year.

Pine Grove produced another defensive gem Monday night at Blue Mountain, putting the clamps on Lehighton to pick up a 47-35 victory in a Schuylkill League tiebreaker game to claim the wildcard spot in the league tournament

“We knew that was coming,” Indians head coach Joe Berezwick said of the Cardinals’ defense. “We just hoped that we were gonna be able to get some answers on the offensive end to kind of get in our pace.”

Pine Grove (17-6, 11-4) controlled the tempo with a defense that forced 21 turnovers.

“We wanted to limit their amount of possessions, try to limit (Aubrey) Blasiak’s touches, and try to hop on (Skylynn) Faust’s right hand as much as we could,” Cardinals’ head coach Bill Evans said of the strategy. “They’re two very good basketball players.

“We tried not to let them get out in transition on us. That was a big thing.”

After scoring 12 points as a team in the fist half, Faust helped Lehighton (15-8, 10-5) find its groove after the intermission.

Faust, who entered the night averaging 22.87 points per game, scored seven straight points to put the Indians ahead 21-18 midway through the third quarter. The 9-0 run started on a basket from Blasiak.

Faust finished with a game-high 22 points.

“I thought a big key was, in the third quarter, when they started pressing us, we picked up the tempo then, and we got our legs under us,” said Berezwick. “So it actually benefited us.

“But then they went back out of it. And it was nip-and-tuck there for a while. But then they just found that opening … where they just started wedging it open.”

That back-and-forth continued through the third quarter, with a 3-pointer from Faust cutting Pine Grove’s lead to 29-28 at the end of the period.

A basket from Thera Hibbler gave the Indians a 30-29 lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. But Pine Grove responded by holding Lehighton to just two field goals for the remainder of the period.

“I couldn’t be happier with our defensive effort,” said Evans. “And I really thought the biggest difference in the second half was that we got a little more comfortable against their zone. We started taking advantage of where they were cheating the zone.”

Rachel Edge and Steph Boyer provided a potent 1-2 punch for Pine Grove with 14 points apiece.

The Cardinals also went 12-for-12 from the foul line in the final quarter to seal the win.

Blasiak, who was averaging 14.52 points per game entering the contest, finished with five.

“Wish I was going to the dance,” Berezwick said of the potential to play at Martz Hall for the league playoffs. “Just tough defense. They smothered us. But I’m proud of our kids’ effort in this game and the whole season.”

MOVING ON … Pine Grove will face Mahanoy Area Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals. The other semi will feature Minersville and North Schuylkill.

MILESTONE … Edge scored her 1,000th-career point late in the third quarter. The game was stopped with 33.3 seconds left in the period so Edge could be recognized.

SPLIT … Lehighton won the first meeting against Pine Grove, 55-43, on Dec. 18. The Cards won the rematch, 26-23, on Jan. 18.

LEHIGHTON

Brown 2-0-0-4, Frey 0-0-0-0, Long 0-0-0-0, Hibbler 1-0-0-2, Blasiak 1-3-4-5, Miller 1-0-0-2, Pantella 0-0-0-0, Faust 8-3-6-22. TOTALS: 13-6-10-35.

PINE GROVE

Conrad 2-3-3-7, Edge 4-5-6-14, Butler 1-0-0-2, Sleva 1-4-4-6, Frew 2-0-0-4, Boyer 4-5-9-14. TOTALS: 14-17-22-47.

Lehighton 10 2 16 7 - 35

Pine Grove 10 4 15 18 - 47

Three-pointers: Lehighton – Faust 3; Pine Grove – Edge 1.