Jan 29, 2015 4 min read

Entering Thursday’s night’s Section 4-AA game against Charleroi, the Washington girls’ basketball team was not only looking to remain atop the section, but also to avenge its only section loss of the season.

Thanks to the efforts of Mikala Maltony and Tajah Gordon, the Prexies accomplished both.

Maltony and Gordon each recorded double-doubles as Wash High opened up a tight game in the fourth quarter en route to a 48-40 victory.

“It’s big to get this one,” said Wash High head coach Mike Maltony. “We wanted to avenge the earlier loss. We still have Beth-Center and Frazier left with Trinity in the middle of them. It’s going to be a tough week, so it was huge to get this win.”

Maltony finished with a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds and Gordon added 16 points and 17 rebounds.

The game was tied, 25-25, late in the third quarter before Maltony hit back-to-back layups to put the Prexies up 29-25. Wash High never looked back.

Charleroi (7-4, 11-8) didn’t make a shot from the floor for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter as Wash High (9-1, 12-6) put together a 13-4 run to start the quarter and all but put the game away. Gordon did most of her damage, scoring 10 points.

“She’s that type of player,” said Mike Maltony. “She wants the ball. Sometimes we have to peel her back and make her pass instead of taking it to the hole. She did that tonight.”

The Prexies got off to a nice start and led by as many as seven in the first half.

A large part of that was because of Maltony, who scored 10 of her 18 points before halftime.

Things changed for the Prexies after Maltony picked up her second foul early in the second quarter.

The Cougars had a lot of trouble getting open looks against the Wash High zone, but eventually used their defense to get their offense going.

Wash High started getting careless with the basketball and a rash of turnovers late in the second quarter led to all of the Charleroi field goals.

The result was a 13-4 Charleroi run to close the second quarter and an 18-16 halftime lead. A lot of the damage for the Cougars was done by Sierra Short, who finished with a game-high 20 points.

“We got down early, but my girls persevered,” said Charleroi head coach Joe Grodz. “They never quit. They kept pushing and pushing. We made some adjustments offensively and got better looks. But our pressure has been the key to our success this year. We are young though. When you start three freshmen and a sophomore, you essentially are starting a JV team against varsity teams. It’s just inexperience. Wash High’s experience got us.”

While Wash High struggled with turnovers, the Prexies’ defense was solid as they limited the Cougars to one shot on most possessions.

The rebounding proved to be a big difference for the Prexies, as did their interior defense. Gordon led the way, blocking eight shots.

“Mikala and Tajah played real well underneath,” said Maltony. “I told them in practice that they could own the boards. We had a bit of a height advantage and we used that to our advantage.”

Washington’s final two section games are against Frazier and Beth-Center, the two teams right behind them in the standings

“We have to take better care of the ball,” said Maltony. “That’s the way we have played all year. Mistakes have killed us. We get all shook up and start throwing the ball away. We had 12 turnovers in the first half and close to double that in the second. If we can protect the basketball, we will be all right.”