State College girls bedeviled by Mt. Lebanon

By rscaife
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Updated: March 11, 2017

WINGATE -They battled until the bitter end.
Despite sporting an 11-13 record going into their first round PIAA playoff contest against 18-6 Mt. Lebanon, the State College girls basketball team kept it close for one half of play before the Blue Devils opened the third 10-3 run en route to a 62-44 victory over the Little Lions.
State College was by the tough play of Maya Bokunewicz who netted 17 points in defeat while teammate Kayla Hawbaker followed with an 11-point effort.
Taylor Love collected another 10-plus rebounding game but could only muster six points.
Mount Lebanon picked up a game-high 21-points while Alyssa Hyland had 13.
The two opened the first quarter of play battling back and forth Jess Wilhelm got scoring started for the Blue Devils in the first as she hit from inside.
State College knotted the game when Kelsey Love hit from underneath, tying it with 6:14 left in the period.
After battling back band forth for the five minutes, State College took the lead for the first time thanks to a back door basket by Kelsey Love.
However, the Blue Devils would outscored the Little Lions in the final three minutes to take a 13-10 advantage after one.
The game remained just as close in the second quarter as Mt.Lebanon would not allow State College to get in front as it got only as close as one point before the first half ended.
When the buzzer sounded ending the first half, Blue Devil Jamey Napoleon hit a final bucket, putting her team ahead 25-22.
The visiting team started to extend its lead opening up the third quarter and did just that when Kate Sramac hit a jumper to start off the 10-3 run.
Early on State College pulled to within two on a triple by sharpshooter Lexa Risha, cutting it to 27-25.
From there the Blue Devils started an 8-0 run as its defense took over.
Napoleon started the run and it was finished by two consecutive triples by Sramac.
Trailing 35-25, State College was able to cut the lead under double digits numerous times but were never able to fully recover.
By the end of the third quarter, State College was able to cut the Mt.Lebanon lead to single digits, 49-41.
But an 11-3 Mt. Lebanon scoring run in the final stanza was too much for State College.
However, the Lady Little Lions ended the year as District 6 runner ups.