Peters Township goes distance; beats Bethel Park in overtime
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Saddled with foul trouble with plenty of time to play, Peters Township basketball coach Bert Kendall could wait no longer to put Makenna Marisa and Isabella Mills back into the fray against arch rival Bethel Park. When he made his decision, he gave both specific orders.
“I had to make a decision to put those guys back in and I said ‘go do this. Be smart. Use your feet. Don’t reach. Don’t give anybody a reason to consider blowing the whistle.”
Neither did. And while two of their other teammates ended up exiting the contest as well as two adversarial players, PT’s M&M combination spearheaded one sweet victory. Behind Marisa’s 25 tallies and Mills’ 16 markers, the Indians triumphed over their nemesis, 68-60, in overtime.
Mills was particularly sharp in the overtime in which the Indians outscored the Hawks, 14-6. The senior knocked down 6-of-6 free throws while the Indians connected on 12 of 15 in the extra four-minute frame.
“Isabella really stepped up and controlled the ball and made the foul shots. They were so important,” Kendall said.
Equally vital was Marisa’s performance. Held to eight points in the first half as the Indians fell behind, 5-0, at the start and 29-27 by intermission, the Penn State recruit exploded for nine of her team’s 12 points in a pivotal third quarter.
“There is some value in being a senior,” Kendall acknowledged. “They see more games, see more situations. To their credit they were able to hang in there.”
The start of the third quarter afforded the Indians the only breathing room in the contest. Fueled by Marisa, they opened with an 11-point run that turned the two-point deficit into a 38-29 lead.
From their the game seesawed with Westphal scoring at 1:33 to maintain a 52-51 advantage and Mills following with a go-ahead hoop. But Westphal tied it with 17.1 left in regulation to force overtime.
Sisters Maddie and Emma Dziezgowski joined Westphal in double digits with 10 and 11 tallies respectively. Freshman Journey Thompson finished with eight for the Indians while McKenzie Lehman and Jordan Bisignani both chipped in seven markers for the Indians.
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