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Snelick’s Career-High 29 Points Leads St. Marys to Second Straight D9 4A Girls Title

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CLARION, Pa. – Jayssa Snelick picked a heck of a time to have the best game of her career.

Snelick scored a career-high 29 points to lift St. Marys to its second consecutive District 9 Class 4A title thanks to a 68-48 win over Clearfield at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym Tuesday, March 1.

“We couldn’t be prouder to be District 9 champions,” first-year St. Marys head coach Michael Franciscus said. “The girls’ hard work from this entire season showed tonight. I’m so proud of them and how well they played. They deserve this.”

Rewatch the game

                                      

The Lady Dutch (18-5) had to overcome a hot-shooting start by Clearfield to claim the title.

Clearfield (10-13) hit five first-quarter 3-pointers, including three in the first 3:18 by Riley Ryen, and led 14-6 following a Hannah Glunt triple with 3:52 left in the opening stanza.

Another Glunt triple late in the quarter helped the Lady Bison go into the second quarter up 17-15.

Snelick was a big reason St. Marys was only down a deuce, as she scored 10 first-quarter points.

Clearfield still led by three, 20-17, following an Emma Hipps 3-pointer 1:18 into the second quarter when St. Marys went on a 12-0 run which was part of a larger 16-3 spurt to take a nine-point, 29-20, late in the first half.

                          

Snelick was right in the middle of the rally scoring six points during the 12-0 spurt, including the last five, to put the Lady Dutch up the nine with 2:25 left in the half.

Clearfield was able to score the final four points of the half to go into halftime down just five, 29-25.

But St. Marys scored 17 of the first 24 points of the second half using a 9-2 run hat including five points from Izzy Catalone to take a 15-point lead, 46-31, following a Maura Caskey basket with 1:47 left in the third quarter.

Again, Clearfield didn’t go away without a fight.

The Lady Bison closed the quarter on a 7-4 run with all seven points coming from the free-throw line to get back within 12, 50-38, going to the fourth quarter.

Then Clearfield twice closed the gap to nine points early in the quarter with the final time going on a Hipps 3-pointer with 6:40 to play that made it 53-44.

But St. Marys put the game away with a 10-0 run that started when Catalone missed a free throw but got her own rebound and threw a bullet pass to Oliva Eckels for a layup at the 5:39 mark.

By the time Snelick hit one of two charity shots with 2:43 to go the Lady Dutch were ahead 19, 63-44, and well on their way to another title.

Maura Caskey and Isabelle Caskey each added 11 points in the win with Catalone chipping in seven. Isabelle Caskey also had nine rebounds with Maura Caskey adding six.

Hipps, playing in her final game for Clearfield, led the way with 18 points for the Lady Bison. Ryen added 13 points and Glunt 11 before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter. Hipps, Glunt, and Cayleigh Walker each had five rebounds.

                                   

St. Marys will face Villa Maria in a subregional game with the winner going to the PIAA playoffs. Villa Maria was the PIAA 4A runner-up a year ago and beat St. Marys, 60-13, at Villa.

NOTES: St. Marys shot 37 free throws compared to 14 for Clearfield. The Lady Bison were whistled for 26 fouls, including a technical foul on Walker, while St. Marys was called for 11. The discrepancy was noticeable in the first half when Clearfield was whistled for 11 fouls to St. Marys’ 2 allowing the Lady Dutch to go to the foul line 15 times in the opening half to no trips for Clearfield. Only poor foul shooting – St. Marys was 7 of 15 in the first half and 17 of 37 in the game – kept the contest closer longer.

ST. MARYS 68, CLEARFIELD 48

Score by Quarters

Clearfield 17 7 14 10 – 48
St. Marys 15 14 21 18 – 68

CLEARFIELD – 48

Taylor Hudson 0 0-0 0, Hannah Glunt 3 2-2 11, Alayna Winters 2 0-0 4, Cayleigh Walker 0 2-4 2, Riley Ryen 3 4-4 13, Emma Hipps 6 3-4 18, McKenna Lanager 0 0-0 0, Lauryn Kitchen 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 11-14 48.

ST. MARYS – 68

Abby Erich 0 0-0 0, Jianna Gerg 0 0-0 0, Holly Anthony 0 2-4 2, Izzy Catalone 3 0-2 7, Rosa DePrator 1 0-0 2, Jayssa Snelick 9 9-11 29, Oliva Eckels 2 1-4 5, Maura Caskey 5 1-5 11, Alexa Schneider 0 1-4 1, Isabelle Caskey 4 3-5 11, Ava Johnson 0 0-0 0, Lucia HAyes 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 17-37 68.

Three-pointers: Clearfield 9 (Glunt 3, Ryen 3, Hipps 3). St. Marys 3 (Snelick 2, Catalone 1).

                       

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