State’s Suhey gives CM girls trouble

STATE COLLEGE — The ability to respond to adversity will always be a major key for success of any sports team.

When the Central Mountain girls’ basketball team were stunned 53-51Thursday evening by Penns Valley, how the Lady Wildcats responded to the loss would speak volumes for the upcoming District VI playoffs.

For three solid periods Friday evening in the State College High School North gymnasium, Central Mountain was able to handle everything the Lady Little Lions threw at them, but the outcome was determined by a career-scoring game of 34 points by senior Emily Suhey in a 66-55 loss for the Lady Wildcats.

Playing five games in seven days and also watching as the flu bug ran rampant through the Central Mountain lineup, the Lady Wildcats coach Mike Gentzel never looked in any directions for excuses for the loss.

“There is no excuses, be it so many games in so many days or players having the flu,” Gentzel said. “Emily Suhey was just outstanding and she made a lot of tough baskets. At times we were able to contain her, but (tonight) she was feeling it.”

While Suhey had a career night, her previous high was 29 points against Altoona earlier this year, Kelsey Guth (16) and Chrissy Cooper (12) also hit for double figures. As a team, State College canned 25-of-55 shots for a respectable 45 percent shooting performance. Suhey also recorded a double-double, adding 14 rebounds to go with her 34 points.

Meanwhile, Central Mountain received an outstanding performance from Mallory Moore who tossed in 23 points and Emily Williams 13. As a team, the Lady Wildcats canned 20-of-50 shots for a decent 40 percent.

“We struggle when we don’t shoot well,” Gentzel explained. “But we did show a lot of fight. There was no excuses, but I will admit five games made it one tough week. The challenge was to play our game, and the kids responded well. They fought hard, and now it’s time to rest and get healthy for the playoffs. That’s big because Brandt has had the flu, but (tonight) she sucked it up and I was pleased with her effort. It’s the same with the rest of the team. Now we can rest up for a couple of days before we have to prepare for the same teams and watch some film and see what we have to do.”

Central Mountain won the battle of the boards 37-34, with Lauren Dwyer and Courtney Walsh grabbing 10 caroms each while Suhey’s 14 rebounds paced the Lady Little Lions.

Suhey started the game with four points, but Walsh had a putback for Central Mountain. Following a baseline jumper by Cooper, Sandy Stevenson drove the lane, and on the next possession Moore was fouled on a trey attempt and canned all three free throws for a 7-6 Lady Wildcats lead.

Suhey responded with a driving layup, followed by Guth’s score in the lane and Suhey hitting from the key for a 12-7 lead. Moore answered from the left-corner and then Williams buried a trey from the top of the key for a 12-all first period.

State College won the second period 15-9 behind Suhey, Cooper and Tara Branigan for a 27-21 halftime lead. Moore, Dwyer and Walsh scored for Central Mountain in the period. The Lady Wildcats hit 8-of-28 in the half (29 percent), while State College canned 12-of-31 (39 percent).

The first half saw two ties and four lead changes. Dwyer’s trey from the left wing gave the Lady Wildcats their last lead of the game, 19-18, as Suhey scored off a putback followed by a jumper from Cooper. Moore’s shot from the left-corner had Central Mountain within 22-21, but that would be as close as the game would get as Cooper hit a trey from the top of the key and Meghan Hart had a steal then fed Branigan for an easy layup and the 27-21 halftime lead.

Moore’s trey to start the third period made it a 27-24 game, but State went on a 9-0 run to build the lead back to 36-24. Walsh and Williams hit back-to-back hoops to get the lead down to 36-30, but again Suhey responded for a 41-30 State lead. The Lady Little Lions closed the period on a 10-7 run for a 51-38 lead into the fourth period.

“I realize it is tough to play five games in seven days but we’ve played three straight days and that’s what happens in this game,” State College coach Bethany Irwin said. “We wanted to come out and run right at them because we know Central Mountain can hit a lot of threes and also run. Give them a lot of credit; they can shoot. But (tonight) was Senior Night and the emotions were running high for us.”

Moore scored nine and Williams seven while Dwyer canned a free throw for the Lady Wildcats points in a 17-point fourth quarter. Central Mountain reduced the lead to 11 a couple of times but had no real answer for Suhey, who pumped in seven points and Guth eight for all of State College’s points in the final period.

“We knew Central Mountain is a seasoned team and we had to keep after them because they don’t have a lot of depth,” explained State’s Irwin. “We knew if we kept after them, we could take them out of the game. Emily (Suhey) shot well but we came out slow and that happened at Hollidaysburg and we had to play through it as we were both coming off huge losses (State College lost 46-41 to Hollidaysburg Wednesday).”



State College 66, Central Mountain 55

CM 12-9-17-17 — 55

SC 12-15-24-15 — 66

CM (55)

Sandy Stevenson 2 1-2 6, Mallory Moore 8 6-8 23, Emily Williams 5 0-0 13, Courtney Walsh 3 1-1 7, Lauren Dwyer 1 1-2 4, Kristin Brandt 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20 9-13 55.

SC (66)

Cooper 5 0-0 12, Branigan 1 0-0 2, Miller 0 0-0 0, Suhey 14 5-6 34, Guth 4 8-8 16, Toretti 0 0-0 0, Hart 1 0-0 2, McDonald 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25 13-14 66.

3-point field goals: CM 6 (Stevenson, Moore, Williams 3, Dwyer); SC 3 (Cooper 2, Suhey). JV score: State College 53, Central Mountain 27. High scorers: CM, Charese Bova 6; SC Kate McDonald 13. Records: CM 22-2, SC 17-4.