EF makes statement at Belle Vernon
BELLE VERNON – The Belle Vernon and Elizabeth Forward girls basketball game Thursday night was supposed to be a first-place showdown in Class 4A Section 3.
However, the game was anything but as the visiting Warriors rolled to a 64-43 win in a contest that wasn’t even as close as the final score.
“This was a big game and it was a statement game,” said EF coach Krystal Gibbs. “We played intensely and with fierceness.
“When you are coming over here, it is their court, so we knew we are in for a fight.”
A disappointed Belel Vernon coach Kaitlyn Slagus shared her thoughts on the difference in the game.
“The level of intensity (was the difference) and they wanted it more on the court,” she said. “They were more confident.
“We knew what they were going to do. I felt the girls were ready, they just outworked us.”
EF junior Alyssa Terza paced the Warriors with 28 points, including 24 in the first half, to give EF the inside track on the section crown.
“Alyssa Terza sparked us and was the biggest difference in the game,” said Gibbs. “She played big, and the whole team was like, ‘let’s go.’ We had kids all working together.”
In the first quarter, Terza went on an 8-0 run to spark the Warriors, and they built momentum heading into the second up 19-11.
“She is a really good shooter and shoots farther out than most high school players do,” Slagus said. “I think sometimes the girls think they are out far enough; they really aren’t and we tried to stress that in practice.
“When she hit those two back-to-back threes, it really did spark the run for them.”
EF (5-0, 10-4) outscored Belle Vernon (5-1, 7-6) by a 22-9 margin in the second quarter to take a 41-20 lead into the third, and the Warriors enacted the Mercy Rule with just under one minute to go in the quarter.
Terza came out late in the third and had outscored Belle Vernon herself, 28-27, until a Jenna Dawson three-pointer with 3:12 to go in the quarter.
Gibbs subbed out most of her rotation players early in the fourth. The Leps outscored the Warriors 11-2 in the frame to make the score more respectable.
Dawson led the Leopards with 17 points while Farrah Reader added 11.
Gibbs said a pair of nonconference games earlier this week prepared her team for the Leopards.
“We beat River Valley by one Monday and lost at Fox Chapel Tuesday,” Gibbs said. “To come into Belle Vernon and win like this is awesome.”
Both coaches know the teams will see each other again Feb. 6, possibly with an outright section crown on the line for EF and a potential share of BVA’s first section title since 1999 also up for grabs.
“We have to keep getting better,” Gibbs said. “If the girls put the effort in, we will improve daily.”
“We said at the end, it is one loss in the section and we will see them again,” Slagus said. “It isn’t the end all, be all.
“We have to stick together, and we do get a chance at them again at their place.”