web1_TTL031018GBBHughesvilleRedeemer2.jpg

PIAA basketball: Holy Redeemer girls open Class 3A bracket with win

web1_ef907621bb5142d9b1fd56bea37799c6-26f623b0e3064922b8fdda935337e4fd-0.jpg

AI has a dirty little secret: It’s powered by people

COAL TWP. &#8212; With a sudden dash and a daring flip, Brenna Babcock slithered down the lane, made a layup and drew a foul before converting a three-point play that pulled Northwest within four points.It was just under six minutes into the opening quarter.And it was as close as the Rangers came to catching Southern Columbia all night.The first state girls basketball game in school history got off to a rough start for the Rangers, Southern Columbia&#8217;s Madison Klock and Sarah Rodriguez combined for 30 points and the Tigers finished strong at the foul line to secure a 45-34 victory in a PIAA Class 2A girls opener at Shamokin High School.&#8220;We&#8217;ve never made it this far before,&#8221; said Babcock, a junior guard who finished with a game-high 17 points. &#8220;It was really different. I think a lot of us had nerves.&#8221;While the Rangers appeared shaky at the start, Southern Columbia had no such trouble.Rodriguez hit two baskets as the District 4 champion Tigers opened state play on an 8-0 run that had Northwest playing catch-up the remainder of the game.&#8220;I think, really, to start the game, we weren&#8217;t ready to compete,&#8221; Northwest coach Scott Miner said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t sense any nerves with any of our players. We just weren&#8217;t ready to compete.&#8221;That changed quickly.The District 2 silver medalist Rangers, who formed the first team from Northwest to play in a District 2 title game and advance to the PIAA tournament, didn&#8217;t score their first basket until Jordan Harrison hit a short jumper with 3:07 to play in the first quarter. But they closed within 12-8 less than a minute later, and had a shot to cut into Southern Columbia&#8217;s 15-10 lead with a layup attempt at the buzzer.It didn&#8217;t fall.Neither did a layup attempt that rolled out at the end of the first half, sending the Tigers into intermission with a 25-17 lead.That&#8217;s pretty much how their first foray into the state field went for the Rangers.They&#8217;d get close enough to make things interesting, but never close enough to make 18-8 Southern Columbia sweat as the Tigers advanced to Tuesday&#8217;s second round of state play.&#8220;The closest we got (after the first quarter) was five,&#8221; Miner said. &#8220;We just couldn&#8217;t get it down to two or three to be putting a little bit of pressure on them.&#8221;Not that Northwest didn&#8217;t try.The Rangers used a press defense to force 11 turnovers in the first half and 18 for the game, led by six steals from Babcock and three by Harrison.&#8220;I tried to get up on them as much as I can and just pressure them,&#8221; Babcock said.And Northwest was determined not to let the game get out of reach.Babcock hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining in the second quarter to bring the Rangers within six points and used a breakaway layup with 2:37 to play in the third quarter to pull Northwest within seven, then Danielle Bowman made the first of her two jumpers to close the gap to 38-32 with 2:10 to go in the game.But Klock converted four foul shots in the final 70 seconds to finish with a team-high 16 points, Rodriguez added 14 and Southern Columbia&#8217;s Jill Marks and Morgan Cole used their superior height and reach to make sure nothing came easy in the paint for the Rangers.&#8220;We got it down to six, I thought we were going to come back,&#8221; Babcock said. &#8220;But we just kept making stupid errors. They tipped a lot of balls, deflected so many.&#8221;That was Northwest&#8217;s greatest fear coming in.&#8220;We talked all week about the length and defense that they have,&#8221; said Miner, whose Rangers finished at 14-11. &#8220;But it&#8217;s kind of like when the old UNLV teams played their press. It&#8217;s all well and good that you practice for it, but until you see it firsthand &#8230; We weren&#8217;t used to that.&#8221;Now the Rangers are aware of what&#8217;s in store around the rest of the state, if they plan to make it back to the PIAA playoffs again.&#8220;I think we definitely learned from it,&#8221; Babcock said. &#8220;Now we know how it&#8217;s going to be. We&#8217;re ready for next year, to come back and do it again.&#8221;PIAA CLASS 6A FIRST ROUNDNeshaminy 41, Hazleton Area 28Hazleton Area senior Maddie Mrochko used a 3-pointer to score her 1,000th career point late in the final quarter, but Neshaminy bolted to an early lead and the Cougars couldn&#8217;t recover in a state opener at Berwick Middle School.Neshaminy extended its four-point lead at the end of the first quarter to 25-12 at halftime, a 13-point advantage it maintained to the end.Neshaminy, District 1&#8217;s No. 8 team, will face fellow District 1 team, No. 6 Plymouth-Whitemarsh, which downed Central York 58-43 in another state opener, in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A tourney Tuesday.District 2 champion Hazleton Area finished its season at 15-10.PIAA CLASS 2A FIRST ROUNDSouthern Columbia 45, Northwest 34NORTHWEST (34) &#8212; Jordan Harrison 3 2-4 8, Trista Babcock 0 0-0 0, Brenna Babcock 7 2-3 17, Reagan Harrison 1 0-0 2, Danielle Bowman 2 0-0 4, Tess Edwards 0 1-2 1, Maddie Mclendon 0 0-0 0, Kendra Saxton 1 0-0 2, Hailey Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-9 34.SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (45) &#8212; Sarah Rodriguez 6 2-2 14, Abby Hager 2 0-2 4, Madison Klock 5 5-9 16, Jill Marks 2 1-2 5, Morgan Cole 3 0-2 6, Morgan Marks 0 0-0 0, Rylin Wisloski 0 0-0 0, Sami Palacz 0 0-0 0, Hannah Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 8-17 45.Northwest`10`7`8`9 &#8212; 34Southern Columbia`15`10`7`13 &#8212; 45Three-point goals &#8212; NW 1 (B. Babcock); SC 1 (Klock).<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_web1_basketball.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_web1_basketball.jpeg</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Northwest runs into trouble in dropping girls basketball state debut