N. Castle's first playoff game is 63-37 blowout

The Hurricanes (24-1) will face the winner of today's Shaler-Hempfield game.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
WEXFORD -- The New Castle girls' approach to the regular season was a simple one: Treat one game as the next step toward what will hopefully be a successful season.
After completing an almost perfect 23-1 record in the regular season, the Hurricanes, despite a slow start, took their next step in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs by dismantling Woodland Hills 63-37 Friday night.
Early jitters
"We had some early jitters and that might have been due to a couple of things," said New Castle coach Luann Grybowski. "We didn't practice for a few days when we were off with the snow problems. I had already given them a couple of days prior to that so we only had one day to practice before the Blackhawk [final regular season] game. But right now, that is OK because we were able to shake them off and win the game."
In a sloppy opening period, the Wolverines held leads of 2-0 and 6-4 before New Castle scored eight unanswered points on the front end of a 12-4 run to lead 16-10 at the end of the opening period.
Woodland Hills (11-14) cut its deficit to four (14-18) in the first two minutes of the second quarter, but again the Hurricanes answered with seven straight points to take a 25-14 lead before taking that same 11-point margin (31-20) to the locker room at halftime.
With a minute left in the first half and New Castle leading by seven (27-20), the Wolverines were a free throw away from cutting their deficit to a half-dozen. But New Castle went on a 15-0 run, holding the Wolverines scoreless for more than five minutes to blow the game wide open.
"That was the big part of the game for us," said Grybowski. "Smith, LeBlanc and Gates are the big threats in their offense and we felt if we could hold two of the three in check, we would be in good shape. Smith had the big first half, but after that, we held her down."
Grybowski felt the quick start to the second half was crucial to her team winning with ease.
"That was the real key to the game," said Grybowski about the quick start in the second half. "I told them we needed to get out the gate fast and see how they respond. We outrebounded them and really pounded the glass, even more than we did in the first half."
Jamie Smith finished with 18 points to lead the Wolverines.
"We just didn't defend her very well," explained Grybowski. "But in the second half, we just face-guarded her after she let go of the ball and didn't let her get it back. Actually two of their players [Smith and Nakia DeBlanc] had most of their points in the first half so I asked them at halftime if they were going to let two players beat them. I guess that is what it took because they stepped up. I am really proud of them because we played great basketball in the second half."
Sams prevails
Despite facing a box-and-one defense thrown at her by Woodland Hills, Jaleesa Sams still managed to toss in 30 points and pull down 18 rebounds to lead her team.
"My teammates shot them out of it," said Sams about the Wolverines getting away from the box defense. "They started hitting some shots from the outside and that loosened things up to allow me to get open easier."
No player other than Sams hit double figures, but the Hurricanes spread the wealth around as eight players scored at least four points, a group led by Logan Hartman with eight and Kara Joseph with six.
Nakia DeBlanc joined Smith in doubles with 10 points.
The Hurricanes (24-1) will face the winner of today's Shaler-Hempfield game.