Fillies pull away from Weatherly

Weatherly’s style of play can make opponents dizzy. The Wreckers’ fullcourt, hectic pace is designed to create pace and turnovers.

On the other hand, Marian is well know for a smothering man-to-man defense that slows down opposing offenses.

In a Schuylkill League battle on Tuesday, it was the Fillies’ defense that proved to be best.

Marian broke the game open with a big second quarter and rolled to a 52-30 Schuylkill League victory.

The Wreckers were hanging with Marian in the early going, and after Emily Zoscin nailed a jump shot with 6:16 remaining in the second quarter, the Fillies lead was cut to 18-13.

That’s when Marian took control.

The Fillies settled down behind the splendid play of senior Reese Erbe, who not only was patient with the ball, but hit the iron for seven big offensive rebounds.

Erbe drained a triple, before teammate Emily Shaud duplicated the trey. Isabelle Schwabe came to life off the bench scoring six points in a rally which featured another Erbe point and a Shaud triple. That lifted the Fillies to a commanding 34-17 halftime lead.

“Reese really had a quality game, and she gave us that offensive rebounding that we lacked the night before,” said Marian coach Paul Brutto, referring to a loss to Mahanoy Area on Monday. “She really was getting after it. It was a great effort by her when you consider she’s not a really big kid.”

Marian ended any Weatherly hopes for a comeback as it opened the third quarter with a nine-point run. Shaud buried a triple, Emma McClafferty sank a bucket, and Macy Alansky and Gianna Agosti raced to the iron for easy fastbreak buckets to make it 43-17 with 3:43 left in the third.

“Marian is a good defensive team, and once you put yourself in a hole, it’s tough to dig out of,” said Weatherly coach Kevin Kringe. “We put a lot of effort into our press, it just really didn’t work. Marian handled it well.

When the Fillies weren’t beating the Wrecker press for layups. they were shooting over their halfcourt defense, nailing six three-pointers, including five by Shaud.

‘The last time we played, they hurt us with their ‘bigs’ so we packed in and they hit the outside stuff,” Kringe said.

After struggling during a recent stretch of games, Brutto was happy with how the Fillies bounced back

“They’re tough to play against,” said Brutto about Weatherly’s style of play. “We got caught with the ball on the sideline too much early in the game, instead of taking it to the middle against their press. But we got much better against it as the game went on.

“We struggled with Shenandoah and Nativity, but still managed to win, and then we lost to two of the best small school teams in the state in Mahanoy and Minersville. So it’s been a tough week or so, but hopefully this is something we can build on.”

SHAUD ON FIRE … Shaud, who scored a game-high 19 points for the Fillies, never slows down. She’s forever flying around the court and probably sleeps well at night.

LURKING … Marian had a 43-27 edge on the boards, with McClafferty and Erbe gathering in eight apiece. Zoscin, who scored a team-high 11 points, added nine rebounds.

NOTEABLES … Marian shot 18-for-43, while Weatherly was 11-for-47. Game announcer JZ Zuber said he never has seen a Marian girls’ team lose three straight at home. “My streak is safe,” he laughed. The Fillies entered the game having dropped back-to-back home games to Minersville and Mahanoy Area.

WEATHERLY

Zoscin 3-5-6-11, James 2-1-1-6, Miller 2-0-0-4, G. Hinkle 2-0-2-4, T. Hinkle 1-0-0-3, Hoffman 1-0-0-2, Ache 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-6-9-30.

MARIAN

Shaud 6-2-2-19, Schwabe 2-6-6-10, Agosti 3-2-2-8, Erbe 2-1-2-6, McClafferty 2-1-2-5, Alansky 2-0-0-4, Murray 0-0-0-0, Reinoehl 0-0-0-0, Kreisl 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-12-14-52.

Weatherly 9 8 7 6 - 30

Marian 13 21 9 9 - 52

Three-pointers: Weatherly - T. Hinkle 1, James 1; Marian - Shaud 5, Erbe 1.