BROOKVILLE, Pa. (D9Sports) — For the better part of 19 minutes, third-seeded and heavily favored A-C Valley was in trouble against sixth-seeded Johnsonburg in the District 9 Class 1A quarterfinals at Brookville High School.
(Photo: Cami McNany (left) and Kylee Eaton of A-C Valley were the co-Hager Paving Players of the Game)
Relisten to the game
The Lady Falcons trailed the young Ramettes, who didn’t have a senior on the roster, 30-22 following a Maria Jones basket with 5:15 to play in the third quarter.
But, as it has done so many times this season, A-C Valley rallied going on a 15-7 run paced by seven tallies from Ellie Thompson, who finished tied for the team lead with 13 points, to knot the game at 37 after three quarters.
“I don’t want to say we are used to being down, but we have been down in certain games and in tight games at halftime with teams that you are thinking when is it going to happen,” A-C Valley head coach Dave Sherman said. “When is it going to click? We came out in the second half, and we changed it up a little bit, and that gave us a little bit of a kick start.”
The change for A-C Valley was mostly on the defensive end, where the Lady Falcons changed the pressure defense they were in leading to a stretch of Johnsonburg turnovers that helped A-C Valley get back in the game.
“We changed into a different press,” A-C Valley guard Cami McNany said. “That was really effective. We were getting a lot of traps out of the first one. We came off their good player and started jumping their weaker guards.”
According to Sherman, that change actually took place late in the first half but it took until after halftime to see the results.
“We don’t transition well into different defenses,” Sherman said. “Sometimes, you just have to get it set up. We don’t jump in and out of stuff great. At halftime, I gave them a pretty stern warning if we come out in this you better be up playing hard (in the defense).”
Getting the game tied at 37 after three didn’t mean it was an easy fourth quarter for A-C Valley.
Jones, who had eight points, gave Johnsonburg the lead back early in the quarter with a hoop that made it 39-37, and then A-C Valley couldn’t capitalize on the other end giving Johnsonburg a chance to increase the lead.
But after the Ramettes couldn’t take advantage, McNany nailed a 3-pointer, her third of the game, to put A-C Valley up 40-39 with 5:37 to go.
“Cami stepped up and knocked down a couple of shots,” Sherman said. “Without Liv (point guard Olivia Boocks who was lost in January to a season-ending injury), someone has to step up and knock down those outside shots. We aren’t afraid to take them, they just don’t always go in. (Cami) has been shooting the ball well lately.”
Freshman Emma King answered right back off a pass from her sister, Cassidy King, to put the Ramettes back ahead one final time, 41-40, with 5:09 left.
Annie Viertel, however, answered with her second three of the game at the 4:36 mark to make it 43-41 A-C Valley, and then Kylee Eaton capped a strong night for herself with an offensive rebound and putback to push the lead to four, 45-41, with 3:35 left, the Lady Falcons largest lead since 22-17 late in the first half.
Eaton finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“I was seeing all kinds of shots,” Eaton said. “They would double down on Ellie (Thompson), and I was just wide open.”
Listen to more of what Eaton and McNany, the co-Hager Paving Player of the Game, had to say about the win.
Viertel added to the A-C Valley lead with a free throw with 2:11 to go making it 46-41, and more importantly on the play Johnsonburg’s top player Cassidy King, who finished with 15 points, including the first eight for the Ramettes, fouled out.
Emma King did hit one free throw with about 1:48 to go to turn it back into a four-point game, 46-42, but A-C Valley went 5 of 6 from the line in the final 1:19 to seal the win, a second straight trip to the D9 semifinals and a second straight berth in the PIAA playoffs.
“We are really pleased but we want to go farther and take it as far as we can,” Eaton said. “Right now, I am ecstatic to be where we are.”
A-C Valley will take on second-seeded Otto-Eldred in the semifinals at a time, date and location to be determined.
A-C VALLEY 51, JOHNSONBURG 42
Score by Quarters
Johnsonburg 15 8 14 5 — 42
A-C Valley 13 9 15 14 — 51
JOHNSONBURG — 42
Ella Stauffer 0 0-0 0, Amanda Williams 1 0-0 2, Rylee Cailio 4 0-0 12, Samantha Jacobs 0 0-0 0, Cassidy King 6 3-10 15, Emma King 2 1-2 5, Maria Jones 4 0-0 8. Totals 17 4-12 42.
A-C VALLEY — 51
Cami McNany 4 1-2 12, Emma Fox 2 0-0 4, Ellie Thompson 3 7-7 13, Allison Sherman 0 0-0 0, Annie Viertel 2 3-4 9, Brooke Irwin 0 0-0 0, Kylee Eaton 6 1-3 13. Totals 17 12-16 51.
Three-pointers: Johnsonburg 4 (Casilio 4). A-C Valley 5 (McNany 3, Viertel 2).
Rebounds: Johnsonburg 6 offensive, 14 defensive, 20 total (Jones 4, Emma King 4). A-C Valley 12 offensive, 17 defense, 29 total (Eaton 10, McNany 6, Thompson 5).
