Warrior Run drops tourney final to late surge
Dec. 29—TURBOTVILLE — Lillian Wertz and her Warrior Run teammates aren't the itching-for-a-fight types, but they also aren't going to shy away from one.
When the Defenders struggled to score early in the Bill Higgins Holiday Classic championship game, they battled like crazy to frustrate St. Hubert Catholic as much.
"If the other team is really up on us or we're struggling (on offense), we definitely look to be strong on defense. That's where we can get those steals, that's where we can rebound so we can get it back on offense," said Wertz. "Just by getting a stop on defense and preventing them from scoring will ultimately help us. So we just compensate. If we aren't getting our shots to fall, we work twice as hard on defense."
Warrior Run surged to an eight-point lead late in the first half Thursday, then lived dangerously for much of the second with a one- or two-possession advantage. The visiting Bambies went ahead with a brief spurt by tournament MVP Alexis Price with just less than two minutes to play, and held on to win the inaugural event, 29-25.
"Defensively, I thought we executed well. They did exactly what we asked on defense to disrupt their Flex and their Wheel (sets)," said Defenders coach Rachael Herb. "Offensively, though, we lost our swords, missed too many easy layups. You put our layups in there, it's probably a 12-, 14-point game."
Warrior Run turned a 2-1 deficit after the first quarter (which opened with nine straight misses) into an 11-3 lead with 2:23 to play in the half thanks in part to senior Sienna Dunkleberger's seven-point second quarter. The Defenders stayed in front for much of the second half, from six points (at 15-6) to one (20-19) and eventually back to five (24-19) on a steal in the backcourt and basket from Maura Woland.
St. Hubert (5-2), a Class 5A program from the Philadelphia Catholic League, put together a 7-0 run in a little less than two minutes to claim its first lead since 2-1. Price, a senior, capped the spurt with a backdoor layup to tie and a putback for the lead with 1:24 left.
The Defenders (5-3), who shot 4-of-32 in the second half, missed their last eight looks from the floor. They were limited to an Alexis Hudson free throw over the final three-plus minutes, finishing the game at 18% (9-for-50).
"We're getting shots, and that's what we want," said Herb, "but we've got to get more to drop."
Hubert freshman guard Saige Primavera had a game-high nine points with eight rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team. Price added eight points, 10 boards and three steals. The Bambies forged a 44-31 advantage on the glass.
Dunkleberger paced Warrior Run with eight points, six rebounds and five blocks. Hudson scored seven points, and Wertz tallied six points, a game-high 12 boards, two steals and a block.
"Tonight, especially, it came down to the small things," Wertz said. "We just have to make sure we're making our layups. And I commend them: they were really good at the foul line. Just making sure that the opportunities that we do get on offense, we really take advantage of them. If we could just get the easy buckets to go in, we wouldn't have had that one-, two-point battle.
"Having a fight like this really sets us up for success in the future, if not necessarily tonight."
The Defenders, who had won two in a row, open Heartland Athletic Conference-Division III play Jan. 2 against Hughesville. It's a division in which all six teams qualified for the postseason last season, with three advancing to the state playoffs.
"In my mind, that's what the rest of the season is going to be," said Herb. "It's going to be a bloodbath; it's going to be two-to-four-point games; and it's going to be (a matter of) who can make their shots coming down to the end. So that's something, as a team, we've got to shift our mindsets as players. We've got to make the buckets that we're missing."
Greenwood got 12 points from all-tournament team honoree Leah Ritzman and beat Northumberland Christian 50-29 in the consolation game. The Wildcats (5-4) led 27-15 at halftime with Sophie Myers (10 points) and Bekah Brinser (nine) combining for three 3-pointers.
Carrie King and Ava Phillips led the Warriors (6-6) with 11 and nine points, respectively. Kara Wilhelm, who was named to the all-tournament team, added seven points in the loss.
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BILL HIGGINS HOLIDAY CLASSIC
At Warrior Run H.S.
Championship
ST. HUBERT CATHOLIC 29, WARRIOR RUN 25
St. Hubert Catholic (5-2) 29
Saige Primavera 1 7-10 9, Allison Coleman 1 0-2 2, Alexa Price 3 2-2 8, Luciana D'Andrea 2 0-3 4, Cailtin Hunter 1 0-0 2, Cassidy Dietz 0 2-4 2, Jaelynn Miller 0 2-2 2. Totals 8 13-23 29.
3-point goals: None.
Did not score: Molly Black, Lilyanna Martinez.
Warrior Run (5-3) 25
Maura Woland 1 0-0 2, Kelsey Hoffman 1 0-0 2, Alexis Hudson 2 2-6 7, Lillian Wertz 2 2-2 6, Sienna Dunkleberger 3 2-4 8. Totals 9 6-12 25.
3-point goals: Hudson.
Did not score: Liana Dion, Nat Hall, Chloe Burden.
Score by quarters
St. Hubert Catholic;2;7;9;11 — 29
Warrior Run;1;12;7;5 — 25
Consolation
Greenwood 50, Northumberland Christian 29
Greenwood (5-4) 50
Sylvia Gantt 1 0-0 3, Sophie Myers 4 0-0 10, Grace Miller 3 0-0 6, Gabi Gantt 1 0-2 2, Morgan Hale 2 2-2 6, Bekah Brinser 3 0-2 9, Sophia Jezewski 1 0-0 2, Leah Ritzman 6 0-0 12. Totals 21 2-6 50.
3-point goals: Brinser 3, Myers 2, S. Gantt.
Did not score: Danica Zurenko, Isabel Amey, Kamryn Walton, Maddie Weller, Maura Sarver, Jayden Brosius.
Northumberland Christian (6-6) 29
Kara Wilhelm 3 1-2 7, Carrie King 4 3-6 11, Ava Phillips 4 0-0 9, Sarah Heitzman 0 0-2 0, Evalin Owens 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 4-10 29.
3-point goals: Phillips.
Did not score: Audrey Spaide, Maddie Anderson, Julia Lamey, Tabby Reitz, Evy Wilhelm, Riley Conner.
Score by quarters
Greenwood;13;14;13;10 — 50
Northumberland Christian;5;10;6;8 — 29
Tournament MVP: Alexis Price, St. Hubert Catholic. All-tournament team: Sienna Dunkleberger, Warrior Run; Alexis Hudson, Warrior Run; Saige Primavera, St. Hubert Catholic; Leah Ritzman, Greenwood; Kara Wilhelm, Northumberland Christian.
