Jan 12, 2015 3 min read

McMURRAY – Entering Monday night’s Section 4-AAAA game, the girls basketball teams at Canon-McMillan and Peters Township were desperately in need of a win. The Big Macs and Indians didn’t disappoint after battling it out for 36 minutes with the Indians prevailing, 69-64, in overtime on their home court.

“We had a two-game losing streak and we really needed to get a home section win,” Indians coach Bert Kendall said. “We felt like this was one we could get, but we knew it was going to be tough. I am so proud of our girls. We really executed in the overtime.”

In particular, the Indians (3-4, 8-5) executed well at the free-throw line in overtime. Although they were only 15 of 24 for the game, they converted on 8 of 10 in overtime to seal the win.

“We work hard on our free throws,” Kendall said. “It paid off today in the fourth quarter and overtime.”

The Big Macs (3-4, 8-5) had two chances to win in the final 30 seconds of regulation but came away unsuccessful with each attempt. With the score tied 59-59 and 28.6 seconds left, sophomore Cheyenne Trest drove the lane but did not convert.

“We knew based on their defense they were going to collapse wholeheartedly on Cheyenne when she drove,” Canon-Mac coach Frank Zebrasky explained. “The play was for her to turn and kick it back out to Danielle (Parker), who was probably standing wide open but we didn’t do it.”

The Big Macs had another opportunity after forcing a jump ball with seven seconds left, but Trest missed the shot and the game went to overtime.

The rivals played neck-and-neck throughout the game but Peters held the lead for the majority of the game.

The Indians relied on sophomores Emily Konwick and Alyssa Konopka with the two scoring 27 and 16 points, respectively.

Konopka helped the Indians get their first lead of the game at 8-5 and went through a stretch in the first half when she connected on four three-pointers in five possessions.

Canon-Mac took a 27-25 lead with two minutes left in the half, but Konwick highlighted a 7-0 run to end the half with a three-point play.

“I haven’t looked at the scoresheet, but I know she had a lot of points,” Kendall said. “We worked yesterday in practice trying to get the ball down into her. We thought there would be a soft spot in that zone and we had just that. Tonight was her night.”

After playing only seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, the Lady Macs’ star senior Danielle Parker, erupted in the second. Parker, who entered the contest averaging 18.5 points per game, will see that number escalate after her 30-point performance.

“She only played seven minutes in the first half,” Zebrasky said. “She put in a good performance.

“Cheyenne and Danielle played pretty good for a two-man effort. They are our scorers. Some other kids did great scoring too. Whenever we needed to get a loose ball or make a shot we didn’t get it. To their credit they did and made some foul shots at the end.”

Trest finished the game with 16 points after missing C-M’s last game with an ankle injury she suffered against Mt. Lebanon.