PIAA GIRLS Grove City reaches AAA western semis

The Eagles defeated Punxsutawney 55-33 Wednesday.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CLARION, Pa. -- For the first time since 1993, the Grove City High girls basketball team is headed for the PIAA Class AAA western semifinals.
Asserting themselves from the opening tip, the Eagles (25-5) cruised to a 55-33 win over Punxsutawney (21-6) Wednesday at Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium.
Grove City will meet Villa Maria Academy Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
"I thought we played really solid defense as well ran our offense well all night long," Grove City coach Roger Flynn said. "We held them to just 17 first half points and really we didn't have a bad game out of anybody."
After trailing by four at the end of the first period, Punxsutawney fell behind 18-9 midway through the second period.
However, that is when the Chucks ran off six unanswered points to get to within three, but for the remainder of the period, Grove City had an answer, scoring 10 of the final 12 points of the first half to take a 28-17 lead at the break.
Charity stripe: One area that Grove City has excelled in all season has been at the free throw line and Wednesday's effort was no different, as the Eagles made 9-of-10 attempts, all in the first half.
"We talked before the season started about the importance of the foul line, and we might have lost one or two games this year when we didn't shoot particularly well, but we have won several games from the foul line this year," said Flynn.
Punxsutawney had been scoring in the high 50s to low 70s in many of its games, but the Eagle defense held the Chucks to slightly more than half their season average.
"We went to our basic man-to-man defense and we were real happy with the way the girls played it," said Flynn. "Other than giving up a fast-break layup once or twice, they are usually a high-scoring team."
Flynn was also quick to point out that when the Eagles had the lead, they were able to do a good job of protecting it.
"We really got a big game late out of Amber Chutz," said Flynn. "We had the lead, but she, along with the other girls, worked hard to maintain it. She brought a lot of energy into the game, came up with some key rebounds and forced some turnovers."
Fourth quarter run: The Eagles scored 10 unanswered points to open the fourth quarter, sparked by the shooting of Amber McFeely, to push their lead to 49-29.
"She [McFeely] struggled early, but she knows she is a good shooter and we talked with her at halftime," said Flynn. "She was determined to keep shooting and she made some big ones down the stretch that allowed us to get some separation from them."
Leading the Eagles were McFeely and Chelsea Smith with 16 points apiece. Punxsutawney was led by Brittany Nelson with nine points.
"They are really a good program so this has to be one of the best games we played all season," said Flynn. "Their only losses are to some of the top-ranked teams and many of them are still alive in the playoffs. We were just fortunate to get off to that early lead, and from there, we played well and capitalized on the opportunities we had."