Feb 23, 2022
Penn Cambria and Richland players battle for a rebound. Photo for the Mirror by Roger Kerekes
By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
CRESSON — If you love offense, you would have loved the early shooting barrage the Penn Cambria and Richland girls’ basketball teams put on in the first quarter of their District 6 Class 3A quarterfinal matcup Tuesday night.
The good news for the No. 3 Lady Panthers, they were just getting warmed up in the opening stanza of the battle between the two Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference foes.
In the end, Penn Cambria had four scorers in double-figures as the Lady Panthers pulled away for the 62-48 victory over the No. 6 Lady Rams at the Penn Cambria High School gymnasium.
“We were more prepared for them to dump it inside, so we had to adjust after the first quarter,” Penn Cambria coach Keith Saleme said. “I told the players that Richland gave us one of their best shots they can give us and we’re still tied after one quarter. Just keep grinding. We got another 24 minutes of basketball and the girls kept playing hard.”
Both teams buried 10 3-pointers in the first quarter as Isabella Burke scored 12 points from downtown, and Emily Hite added 10 points — six from beyond the arc — for a tie at 21-21.
“We knew (Lady Ram center Jordyn) Kinsey is a big threat underneath, we had two people on her, but they just started hitting those threes, so we had to make adjustments,” Penn Cambria’s Emily Hite said.
The Lady Panthers (17-7) defense picked up in the second quarter. Devon Cornell came up with a steal at one point and fed Bailey O’Donnell for a jumper with 7:20 on the clock.
Hite led all scorers with 22 points followed by Marah Saleme with 12 and Cornell and O’Donnell chipping in 11 each.
“That’s the best I’ve seen (Richland) play a first half of basketball, and we still had the lead,” Coach Saleme said. “If we can maintain the way we’re playing, we’ll be just fine. We wore them down a little bit down the stretch and those shots at the beginning of the game they knocked down, when you’re tired, they don’t necessarily go in.”
The Lady Rams cut into that deficit as Burke found Avery Marshall open for the jumper with three minutes to play, as Penn Cambria led, 35-29, at the break.
Burke led Richland (13-10) with 17 points followed by Kinsey who added 11.
Richland coach Greg Burke noted that the turnover bug bit his team hard as the Lady Rams finished the 2021-22 season with a record of 13-10.
“We talk about positioning on the court where you turn the ball over,” he said. “Does that lead to baskets on the other end? Not that you’re satisfied with any turnover.
“It can’t be a 3-on-2 layup situation. Too many times it turns into that, and you don’t have the opportunities to come up the basketball court and score.”
Avery Marshall struck again with a putback of her own in the third quarter, but as Richland clawed its way back into the game, Penn Cambria kept burying the Rams.
Marah Saleme and Hite sank a couple of buckets late in the third quarter as they took a 47-40 cushion into the final quarter. Marah Saleme was also strong at the line, going 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Panthers now get a date with second seed River Valley on the road Saturday at time to be announced in the semifinal round.
RICHLAND (48): A. Marshall 4 0-2 8, Stem 1 0-0 3, Burke 4 5-7 17, Roman 0 0-0 0, Kinsey 4 3-3 11, Roman 2 0-0 6, L. Marshall 1 1-2 3, E. Matejovich, 0 0-0 0, Garner 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 9-14 48.
PENN CAMBRIA (62): Hite 7 5-6 22, Saleme 2 5-6 12, Lilly 1 2-6 4, Cornell 4 1-3 11, O’Donnell 4 3-6 11, Anderson 0 0-1 0, Vinglish 0 0-0 0, Harpster 0 0-0 0, Crossman 1 0-0 3, Della 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 16-28 62.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Richland 21 8 11 8 – 48
Penn Cambria 21 16 10 15 – 62
3-point field goals: Richland 7 (Stem, Burke 4, Roman 2), Penn Cambria 5 (Hite 3, Saleme, Cornell)
Records: Richland (13-10), Penn Cambria (17-7).
Officials: Derrick Soellner, Keith Redfoot, Glenn Smith.
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