SCRANTON – After a year away, Old Forge went right back to its state tournament success.
Freshman Lindsey Welsh scored 12 points and the Blue Devils came up with a big defensive effort Friday night to defeat East Juniata, 31-24, in a first round Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A girls basketball game at Scranton High School.
The Blue Devils went 14-6 in state tournament games between 2010 and 2015, winning at least one PIAA game six straight years and going to two state finals in Class A. They missed qualifying last year, but picked up where they left off, even with a move to Class 2A in the new six-classification system.
“Kierstyn (Breig) played in it, but all the other girls never played,” Lady Devils coach Ron Stachiotti said. “They were nervous.
“I was nervous.”
It did not matter.
Old Forge never trailed by more than two points.
The Lady Devils held 1,000-point scorer Laurel Amey scoreless for the first 20:19, then was even more effective the rest of the way.
“We didn’t give her many shots,” Stachiotti said. “That was our game plan. We had to concentrate our defense on that.”
After Amey turned an offensive rebound into a three-point play for her only points, Haley Lash followed with a five-footer. That gave East Juniata a 20-19 lead with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
The lead was the only one the Lady Tigers managed after the first quarter.
It did not last long.
Welsh hit a 3-pointer seven seconds later to start Old Forge on a 10-point streak.
Alexandra Nocera turned two steals into breakaways, one of them for a three-point play, to give Old Forge a 27-20 lead.
“She plays hard all the time,” Stachiotti said. “Her motor’s always going.”
Nocera was also part of the perimeter defense in Old Forge’s zone that held Amey to 1-for-14 shooting.
Breig, who had six rebounds and four assists, and Nocera each had eight points.
Alyssa Hibbs led East Juniata with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The teams were tied five times in the first 12:38 without either leading by more than two before Welsh hit a 3-pointer and Breig followed with a runner in the lane for a 15-10 lead with 2:50 left in the half.
After East Juniata briefly took its only second-half lead, Old Forge allowed just one field goal and four points during the final 11:12 to advance to the second round.
Old Forge moves into Tuesday’s second round against District 11 runner-up Mahanoy Area.
