Mar 18, 2019 5 min read

BELLEFONTE – Bert Kendall believes in the law of averages.

If something goes wrong, eventually it will change for the better.

Eventually came a lot longer, neared disaster and heartbreak, before taking a quick, unexpected turn straight to Hershey for the Peters Township High School girls basketball team.

In a situation it hadn’t faced all season, trailing and not being able to buy a basket, Peters Township gutted out four quarters and rallied to stun defending champion Upper Dublin in overtime, 51-46, in a PIAA Class 6A semifinal game Monday night at Bald Eagle High School.

“That’s our never-say-die attitude,” Kendall said. “I don’t think I was worried to be honest. I kept saying it was averages. A little of that came true.”

Enough came true to send Peters Township (29-0) to its first state championship game in program history Friday evening. Tipoff at the Giant Center against Garnet Valley (29-1), which defeated Neshaminy 51-48 in the other semifinal, is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Kendall threw averages out the window when Jordan Bisiginani made a half-court heave as the buzzer sounded to end regulation. The shot would have counted and sent the Indians to the state title game without overtime, but Kendall called a timeout with 1.5 seconds left.

“(Jordan) was trying to make me look bad,” Kendall joked. “I looked up and saw three seconds and started screaming for a timeout. I wish I didn’t ruin her heroics. She would have gone down in infamy.”

Instead, the Indians took full advantage of Upper Dublin’s 6-3 center Jackie Vargas fouling out with 59 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Peters Township scored its first eight points in overtime in the paint and secured the victory when senior Isabella Mills made four consecutive free throws in the final 24 seconds.

“(Jackie) is a player you want in at the end of the game,” said Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten. “I’m trying to bite my tongue on that drive where she picked up her fifth foul. Give credit to (Peters Township). It made big-time shots, especially in overtime. We were sloppy to end the fourth quarter. The game plan was followed perfectly. I just wish we closed it out better.”

Leading 35-32, Upper Dublin (25-5) missed four foul shots in the final 2:26 and another in overtime that allowed Journey Thompson, who was forced to sit most of the game with foul trouble, to make the second of two free throws to tie the game at 39-39 with 9.7 seconds remaining in the fourth.

“My teammates were all around me telling me to brush off the first free throw I missed,” Thompson remembered as Funsten called a full timeout to make the freshman think about game-tying foul shot.

“I’m sure in their heads they were thinking, ‘If she misses then it’s over.’ I just calmed myself down. I’ve done it one thousand times before. We were able to get a second opportunity (in overtime).”

Upper Dublin led the majority of the game, first taking the lead when Dayna Balasa made a three-pointer to open the second quarter to spark a 10-0 run for the Cardinals and give them a 17-11 advantage.

An Upper Dublin turnover, intentional foul and another infraction as the first-half buzzer sounded allowed Peters Township to dwindle its deficit to 23-20 after free throws from Makenna Marisa and freshman Avana Sayles.

“We had all the momentum (prior to that),” Funsten said of the last 20 seconds of the first half. “We took the timeout and drew something up. I would say normally one of our strengths is finishing quarters on a strong note. It was very uncharacteristic of us to go into halftime like that. I do think it had a little carry over into the second half.”

The shooting average didn’t improve for Peters Township, despite making only five of its 21 shots in the first two quarters. The Indians went 3-for-12 from the field in the third, then went 2-for-11 in the fourth. They made more field goals in the four-minute overtime (four) than they did in any of the first four quarters.

“It was one of those days and we were just…we thought with the averages we would start making shots in the second half,” Mills said after her 12-point night. “It really wasn’t like that. We had to trust ourselves and trust one another. It couldn’t be our last game.”

Marisa led Peters Township with 14 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Thompson finished with 12, and Sayles, who played a big role with Thompson sidelined, scored 6 points and grabbed six rebounds.

“No. I didn’t think I would have that kind of impact,” Sayles said. “It was very nerve-racking.”

Upper Dublin stretched its lead to as far as seven points in the second quarter. Jess Polin gave the Cardinals a five-point lead, 39-34, by making a pair of free throws with 1:26 left in the fourth before Peters Township scored the final five points in regulation.

“It took a while to get that tie,” Kendall said. “I felt comfortable, surprisingly enough, that things were going to go our way. This is exciting for our community and our school. We have worked hard every year and to be at this doorstep means a lot. These kids have earned everything they’ve gotten.”