Big Macs point guard keys section victory
Canon-McMillan’s Cheyenne Trest dribbles through the Peters Township’s defense Monday. Trest scored a game-high 26 points in the Big Mac’s victory.
Canon-McMillan’s Kierra King tries to hold on to the ball as Peters Township’s Ally Zuccarini tries to steal during the first half of Monday night’s game.
CANONSBURG – The Canon-McMillan girl’s basketball team has alternated wins and losses their past eight contests.
Monday night against Peters Township they were due for a win.
Thanks to some outstanding free-throw shooting down the stretch, the Big Macs got one, upsetting the Indians, 59-53, in a big Section 4-AAAA battle.
“We need to win at home and that was the message,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Lou Waller. “This was the most points we have scored all year, so it was nice for the offense to give us a lift.”
Point guard Cheyenne Trest led all scorers with 26 points for the Big Macs (5-2, 8-5), with 19 of them coming in the second half.
C-M extended its lead to as many as seven points in the fourth quarter, but the Indians, who saw an eight-game winning streak snapped, kept the game close, mostly on the scoring of Madison Kerr, who led PT (5-2, 12-2) with 22 points.
However, each time the Indians made a charge, the Big Macs went to the free-throw line and converted.
Canon-Mac made only 14 shots from the floor, but was 28 of 33 at the foul line, with Trest scoring 15 of her points there. The Big Macs made 20-of-23 free throws in the second half, including 15 of 18 in the fourth quarter.
“Free-throw shooting was huge,” Waller said. “We have been practicing free throws. We wanted to be aggressive and get to the line a lot.”
The Big Macs also were helped by their defense and rebounding.
Peters Township entered the game leading the section in scoring at just over 60 points per game, but Indians had trouble figuring out the Big Macs’ 1-3-1 zone, especially in the first half when they were held to 20 points.
Peters Township shot the ball poorly, shooting just 27 percent from the field.
“When you shoot 27 percent from the floor, you aren’t going to win many games,” said Peters Township head coach Bert Kendall. “We just didn’t shoot good. It’s as simple as that. It was just one of those nights. A missed opportunity.”
As the Indians continued to miss shots, Rebecca Turney was there to clean them up. Turney finished with 15 points, but more importantly grabbed 17 rebounds.
“It’s nice to have that,” said Waller. “Not only does she do a great job rebounding the ball, but she is also an excellent outlet passer so we can get the ball and go.”
The two teams played to a 14-14 tie through one quarter.
Trest scored the game’s first five points, which was the Big Macs biggest lead of the half.
The Indians took their biggest lead of the game early in the second when Alyssa Konopka’s three-point shot made it 19-14. Canon-Mac stayed right with PT though and although they only made two shots from the floor in the quarter, took a 22-21 halftime lead on a layup by Turney at the buzzer.
“We just need to keep getting better,” Waller said. “Win our home games and we will be fine. These kids are just getting used to my coaching style so we have a long way to go to get things figured out, but this was a big win for sure against a very good team.”