by Jake DeLuca
The West Shamokin Wolves girls varsity basketball went two weeks without playing a game after winning the Heritage Conference Championship, and after a slow start the Wolves continued their winning ways.
The Wolves hosted the Penn Cambria Panthers Thursday night in the District 6 quarter-finals.
The West Shamokin girls varsity basketball team had a two week break before their PIAA District 6 quarter-final match-up and endured a slow start against Penn Cambria, defeating the Panthers 40-27.
The Wolves and Panthers both got off to a bit of a slow start, with multiple forced and unforced turnovers occurring on both sides of the court.
The first half saw its fair share of lead changes and ties. The first half alone saw 3 ties and 7 lead changes, but it was the Wolves who would escape the first half with a 20-19 lead.
In the second half, West Shamokin seemed to settle down and the Wolves were able to put themselves in a position to take over the game.
In the third quarter West Shamokin limited Penn Cambria to just 2 points. On top of the Wolves defensive prowess, the Wolves also closed the third quarter on a 6-0 run. Heading into the 4th, West Shamokin lead 27-21.
West Shamokin continued to shut the Panthers down defensively while adding on to their lead.
In the second half West Shamokin allowed just 8 points while outscoring Penn Cambria 20-8.
After the game, Wolves guard Olivia Fusaro said the two weeks off caught up with the team in the first half.
“I think we’ve done that all season (slow start), but I think having a two week break really caught up with us on the court in the first half. We were all sucking air, so hopefully in practice the next couple of days we can work on that,” Fusaro said.
Fusaro finished with a game high 18-points against Penn Cambria.
Though it wasn’t the start West Shamokin Head Coach Frank Nagy wanted, he gives a lot of credit to Penn Cambria.
“I give a lot of credit to Penn Cambria, they came out, they got after us, and they wanted it more until the second half. That’s when I think we started to separate ourselves,” Nagy said.
The next stop for the Wolves is the PIAA District 6 Semi-Finals in which they will play the Everett Warriors at a neutral site yet to be determined.