By Wayne A. Bauer
Daily Press Staff

CLARION - The St. Marys Area Lady Dutch basketball team successfully defended their District 9-AAA title on Saturday afternoon at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym as they defeated the Clearfield Lady Bisons by a 56-28 score. The Lady Dutch played an excellent defensive game as they held the high scoring Clearfield squad to just 10 field goals (eight two pointers and two treys) in the game.

“This was a total team effort today as every one of the girls played a good, hard game, especially on defense,” said SMAHS head coach Bob Swanson. “We got some excellent play from Megan Herbstritt, who dedicated the game to her grandmother, who passed away a few days ago. Megan finished the game with nine points, 11 rebounds and five steals.”

“Amanda Simbeck was awesome on the boards for us today as she finished with 18 rebounds. She added 10 points and two steals to record a double-double. Tia Cunningham came through with 10 big points, some coming are very crucial points in the game, while Emily Hathorn played very well on defense. Kayla Hoohuli, who played much of the game in foul trouble, finished with 16 points for us and nine rebounds to go along with four steals. I was also pleased with the play of our three main bench players, Gina Pelgrin, Leanne Levenduski and Chelsea Walker who all played a very solid game,” said Swanson.

“Kayla got into early foul trouble, three in the first quarter, and I had to sit her down for awhile,” said Swanson. “We played pretty well without her for awhile then Clearfield started to cut into our lead, reducing it to three, so I decided to put her back in the game. When she reentered the game it seemed to re-generate the game and from then on the game was ours.”

“The championship is well deserved by the girls as they have worked very hard all season long and for the past several years building our program into what it is now,” said Swanson. “They girls have made a difference in the program and they can enjoy this win for awhile before getting back to work to prepare for the PIAA playoffs later this week.”

St. Marys has three girls in double figures Saturday led by Kayla Hoohuli with 16 points, followed by Tia Cunningham and Amanda Simbeck with 10 each. Megan Herbstritt chipped in with nine points, followed by Emily Hathorn with six, Chelsea Walker and Rachel Walker with two each, and Gina Pelgrin with one.

Clearfield was led in the scoring department by Gwenn Porter with eight, Amber Byerly with six, Sarah Kovalick with four, Jayme Ryan and Madison Sopic with three each, Jocelyn Schultz with two, Elizabeth Peters and Lori Zalno with one each.

The Lady Dutch jumped out to a big lead against the Clearfield girls as they scored the first 10 points of the opening quarter. Hoohuli hit a field goal following a steal, then connected on a trey following a steal by Herbstritt. Simbeck hit two foul goals and a field goals followed by a foul goal by Herbstritt. Clearfield’s first point of the game came at the 4:54 mark on a foul goal by Sopic. She followed up with a trey making it 10-4, but Herbstritt scored to make it 12-4. Porter hit a foul goal to make it 12-5 at the end of one.

Hathorn opened the second quarter with a bucket 14-5. Clearfield scored the next four points to make it 14-9. Simbeck scored for the Lady Dutch, but Clearfield answered with a trey by Ryan to make it 15-12. Swanson then put Hoohuli back in the game. St. Marys scored on a jumper by Herbstritt followed by a three point play by Hoohuli to take a 20-12. Clearfield made 20-13 on a foul goal and that was as close as they were to get to the lead. Pelgrin hit a foul goal for St. Marys following by one by Simbeck and a field goal by Hoohuli to make it 24-13 at the half.

Cunningham opened the second half with a trey, followed by a bucket by Kovalick. Cunningham, Hoohuli and Hathorn (2) each added field goals to give St. Marys a 35-15 lead. Porter then scored for Clearfield, but Cunningham, Simbeck and Hoohuli answered for the Lady Dutch, 41-17. Clearfield added a field goal and foul goal before the period ended, but Chelsea Walker hit the final bucket of the period to give St. Marys a 43-20 lead after three period.

Cunningham again hit a trey to open the fourth quarter, 46-20. Clearfield scored followed by two Simbeck foul goals and two layups by Herbstritt to make it 52-22. The Lady Bisons added a field goals followed by two Hoohuli foul goals, 54-24. Another Clearfield score was followed by a lay-up by Rachel Walker to make it 56-26. Clearfield then scored the final bucket of the game to make the final score St. Marys 56, Clearfield 28.

Game notes

St. Marys turned the ball over 18 times compared to 26 for the Lady Bisons. The Lady Dutch recorded 17 steals and Clearfield had seven.

St. Marys shot 29.2 percent for the game while Clearfield, due to the tight Lady Dutch defense, was held to 18.2 percent. St. Marys hit on 50 percent from the foul line, while Clearfield hit on 37.5 percent from the line.

St. Marys is now 23-2 and will enter the PIAA playoffs as the No. 1 team out of District 9. They will play on Saturday against Mount Pleasant, the District 7 fifth place team at 4 p.m. at Clarion University.

Clearfield is now 13-11 on the season and will play on Tuesday evening at Franklin against the Franklin High School girls at 7 p.m.

Clearfield 28

Annie Janocko 0-0-0-0-0, Sarah Kovalick 2-0-0-2-4, Jocelyn Schultz 1-0-0-0-2, Amber Byerly 2-0-2-3-6, Angela Moore 0-0-0-0-0, Elizabeth Peters 0-0-0-0-0, Gwenn Porter 3-0-2-5-8, Jayme Ryan 0-1-0-0-3, Madison Sopic 0-1-0-0-3, Lori Zalno 0-0-1-2-1. Totals 8-2-6-16-28.

St. Marys Area 56

Gina Pelgrin 0-0-1-4-1, Kayla Hoohuli 5-1-3-5-16, Tia Cunningham 2-2-0-0-10, Leanne Levenduski 0-0-0-0-0, Emily Hathorn 3-0-0-0-6, Chelsea Walker 1-0-0-0-2, Amanda Simbeck 2-0-6-10-10, Megan Herbstritt 4-0-1-3-9, Mandy Gerarge 0-0-0-0-0, Rachel Walker 1-0-0-0-2. Totals 18-3-11-22-56.

Score by quarters

Clearfield  5  8   7  8  28

St. Marys  12  12  19  13  56