DUBOIS, Pa. – Using a 16-0 run that started midway through the second quarter and lasted into the first two minutes of the second half, Punxsutawney rolled into its 10th straight District 9 title game with a 53-24 win over Moniteau at DuBois High School.
“It’s fun,” Punxsutawney head coach Mike Carlson said. “We are always looking for the opportunity to play for a title, and we always like to get the kids on the court at Clarion (University).”
Rewatch the game
What was especially fun for the Lady Chucks (16-6) was the final two minutes of the first half.
After starting the game on a 9-0 run, top-seeded Punxsutawney found itself in a battle with fourth-seeded Moniteau (11-11) leading by just five, 11-6, at the end of the first quarter and by eight, 18-10 with 5:03 to play.
The lead grew to 10, 20-10, on a Chloe Presloid basket with 4:36 to play, which actually started the key 16-0 run.
But it didn’t feel that way at first as neither team scored in the next two-plus minutes.
That’s when Punxsutawney exploded for 10 points in a span of 2:13 starting with a Danielle Greibel bucket and ending with a Maeve Hanley offensive putback just before the first-half horn.
That spurt, which included four points from Kierstin Riley, opened up a 20-point, 30-10, halftime lead.
Chloe Presloid. Photo by Jared Bakaysa JB Graphics
“We were just attacking the hoop even more than we had been,” Carlson said. “We had been settling (for shots) early then built up confidence as we continued with the half. I thought our defensive pressure started wearing on them late in the half.”
Punxsutawney’s defensive pressure gave Moniteau fits all night causing 20 turnovers, including 12 in the opening 16 minutes.
Many of those were forced turnovers with the Lady Chucks recording 20 steals led by five from Presloid and three each from Riley and Avary Powell.
“We worked a lot on getting in the passing lanes and getting our hands on all the balls for passes and tipping them out trying to force turnovers,” Presloid, who also had 14 points, nine rebounds, and four assists, said. “We really worked on that and focused on that this week.”
Punxsutawney kept the pressure on after halftime scoring the first four points of the second half to grow the lead to 24, 34-10, and the advantage went to as many as 28 on a couple of different occasions in the third and fourth quarters.
“We knew it would be a battle from the start,” Presloid, who was named the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game, said. “We knew we had to keep our energy up and work as hard as we could on defense to get those offensive possessions. That was our main goal.”
Danielle Greibel added 12 points while Powell had eight points and five rebounds. Riley added four points, six rebounds, and two assists. ,
Davina Pry paced Moniteau with nine points and six rebounds with Victoria Pry adding six points and four boards.
Punxsutawney will take on second-seeded Redbank Valley in the title game most likely Saturday afternoon at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
“They have some height against us,” Presloid said. “They have some good speed and they have some pretty good big men we have to work on guarding. I think it will be a good battle.”
Watch Presloid’s full postgame interview
NOTES: Punxsutawney has won seven straight District 9 titles having won the 3A crown last year, the 4A title from 2017 through 2020, and the 3A title in the old four-class system in 2015 and 2016 … This marks the 18th time in the last 21 years the Lady Chucks have played in a District 9 title game. Punxsy won five D9 3A titles in a row from 2002 through 2006 then was runner-up in 3A in 2007 and 2008 before again being runner-up in 2010, 2013, and 2014 before the current streak of seven straight titles started in 2015.
