Healthy Kilgus points SF to state tournament win
South Fayette’s Sam Kosmacki tries to drive through the Ambridge defense for a shot at the basket during the second half Saturday in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs at Peters Township High School.
South Fayette’s Autumn Mozick, Mikayla Fetchet and Skylar Aitken return to the bench with smiles as the final seconds win down in the Lions’ victory.
South Fayette’s Emily Anderson gets two of her 22 points. Anderson also finished with 10 rebounds.
McMURRAY – Many obstacles were thrown in the way of the South Fayette girls basketball team’s run to the WPIAL championship and its quest to continue its season deeper than last year’s first-round state-playoff loss to McGuffey.
One of those obstacles was dressed in street clothes rather than a Lions uniform for the latter half of the regular season.
But Saturday afternoon, South Fayette’s Carlee Kilgus was not in the attire she sported through January and February.
A Kilgus three-pointer in the third quarter gave South Fayette a lead it would protect the rest of the way en route to a 57-36 win over Ambridge in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs at Peters Township High School.
“That’s Carlee,” said South Fayette head coach Matt Bacco. “I would put my money on her all the time.”
Betting on a quick return to form was not something trainers and doctors wanted to do when Kilgus broke her foot early in the regular season.
“They said I probably would not be back because it was going to take a while to heal,” said Kilgus, who played as extensively Saturday as she did before the injury. “It is really tough coming back and playing that many minutes because I’m obviously not in the same shape I was before the injury. Just to be out on the floor and make a difference is an amazing feeling.”
That difference was magnified with the struggles faced by Ambridge (21-6) after it fell behind. The Lions forced seven turnovers in the final 10 minutes with one of their trapping-zone defenses implemented during the halftime adjustments. It was a defense they did not use in their WPIAL title run.
“It was something that we do not practice a whole lot,” said Bacco. “We drew it up in the locker room and the kids just executed the game plan. We were a lot more disruptive in the second half.”
That disruption forced Ambridge coach Nikki Santiago to do something she feared when the Bridgers drew South Fayette (23-3) in the first round.
“Our No. 1 thing was to control the transition points and not allow them to run,” she said. “We came out on fire. We were ready for what they were going to throw at us and practiced against it. There was a lot of reiteration as to what we were going to do coming in. I thought we had the perfect plan until the fourth quarter.”
The Lions 21-point fourth quarter was sparked by three steals from guard Mikayla Fetchet and nine points from Emily Anderson, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Ambridge was led by Sydney Rabold who scored 19 points, the only Bridger to reach double figures.
While Ambridge continued to dig into a deeper hole, South Fayette gained confidence with the composure of Kilgus handling the point guard duties for much of the second half. She had one turnover.
“I know that we always want to push and win the transition battles,” said Kilgus. “Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves, so just being able to control the ball and get into our offensive sets are most important. My foot still hurts but I just have to play through it, pick my team up and always be there. We have one goal and all these teams are just in the way.”
The next team will be Mercyhurst Prep a second-round matchup Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.
“We are hungry and not complacent by any stretch,” said Bacco. “This time of year, you are aware that it has been a long season and you want to manage minutes. We have played a lot of basketball. Winning the WPIAL championship is not a good reason to get complacent or play poorly, it’s a reason to get excited and play better. We are just getting started.”