Jan 18, 2016 4 min read

McMURRAY – The blemishes in the first month of the season for the Peters Township girls basketball team were nearly non-existent. The Indians predominantly cruised in those 10 wins, overpowering teams with an average margin of victory slightly more than 25 points per game.

Bethel Park, despite gaudy lopsided performances, was able to not only match Peters Township’s impressive early record, but handed the Indians their first loss of the year Dec. 14. A game that was tied, 48-48, late in the fourth quarter, prior to a 13-4 Bethel Park run to seal the win.

The rematch Monday night flipped the script for the Indians.

Trailing by eight points with 4:09 remaining in the fourth quarter, Peters Township finished the game on a 19-3 run to complete the comeback over Section 4-AAAA leader Bethel Park, 56-48.

The Indians success came directly from the production of one of their youngest members on the team. Freshmen guard Makenna Marisa scored a game-high 29 points, 19 in the fourth quarter alone, taking command of the offense for Peters Township (7-2, 14-2).

“It seemed like she just became more determined,” said Bethel Park head coach Jonna Burke. “Those two three-pointers she hit show her maturity to me because we were so afraid of her driving the basketball. She is just an outstanding player. Having that type of a performance from a freshman is pretty big-time.”

Marisa went on an 11-point run that began with a deep, straightaway three pointer with 3:18 remaining. She continued that momentum on the free throw line, connecting on nine of 10 free throws in the waning moments.

“I practice free throws a lot but I have never made that many in a game,” said Marisa. “This win was so big and I just wanted to win it for the seniors. It’s an awesome feeling playing in front of a big crowd like that and that just gave me adrenaline.”

Bethel Park (7-2, 12-3), which was expending energy most of the game trying to recapture the lead, finally did so at the 3:44 mark in the third quarter with a layup from senior Shannon Conely.

Burke continued to rely on Conely and junior Justine Mascaro to handle the ball in the backcourt, players who aren’t typically tasked with that role for Bethel Park.

“A couple kids played the entire game,” said Burke. “It was difficult because our guard play wasn’t strong enough, so I’m sure they were feeling pretty beat.”

Whichever way Marisa was scoring, her opportunities came from the suffocating press of Peters Township, forcing Bethel Park into numerous turnovers.

“Our pressure bothered (Bethel Park),” said Peters Township head coach Bert Kendall. “Hitting free throws like we did allowed us to set up in our press defense. If we can establish full-court pressure it’s in our advantage.”

The Indians aggressive, fast-paced nature paid off as they went 19 of 28 in their trips to the free throw line, nearly tripling the amount of free throw attempts from Bethel Park (10).

Bethel Park was able to neutralize senior Madison Kerr, whose only point came at the free throw line with 28 seconds left in the game.

“It is such a grind in our section,” said Burke. “As a team, you can’t hang on a loss or a win too much because the next tough team is coming. If you were to tell me that we would split our games with Peters Township, I would be OK with that because I know how good they are this year.”

Bethel Park was paced by Conely, who led the Hawks with 20 points, and Mascaro, who contributed 16.

Alyssa Konopka managed 12 points for Peters Township despite playing most of the game in foul trouble.

“We feel like we have a lot of good players and that allows us to create a mismatch somewhere,” said Kendall. “We will always take what a defense gives us – but make no mistake about it – Makenna (Marisa) stepped up huge for us.”