South Fayette’s pressure wears down Penn-Trafford
South Fayette’s pressure wears down Penn-Trafford
McMURRAY – The South Fayette girls basketball team’s destruction of Penn-Trafford was slow, methodical and brutally effective.
South Fayette, the defending state champion, had an answer for everything Penn-Trafford threw its way. And South Fayette’s full-court pressure defense, like ocean waves that erode a beach over time, wore down the Warriors and took away any offensive flow Penn-Trafford hoped to find.
Ryan Oldaker scored 15 points, two teammates also scored in double figures and the Lions forced 20 Penn-Trafford turnovers for a 58-28 thumping in a PIAA Class 2A second-round playoff game Wednesday night at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.
The win sends South Fayette (27-1) into the quarterfinals Saturday against Baldwin, a 51-45 winner over Indiana.
South Fayette has won 27 of their last 28 games, and 50 of their last 51 against opponents from Pennsylvania. And the common link in all of those victories is the Lions’ ability to wear down opponents with its defensive pressure.
“We’ve been working extra hard on our defense,” said South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett. “We have basketball kids. They’ve bought into the conditioning and we make it so that our practices are tougher than the games.
“At this time of year, the postseason, most coaches want to scale back their practices. Our kids have been begging to go live in practice. Two days ago, we went hard for two-and-a-half hours. Our kids want to do that.”
The Lions’ conditioning paid off against Penn-Trafford (21-7), the WPIAL’s third-place finisher. The Warriors got off to a good start, were able to get the basketball into the lane against South Fayette’s defense and forced the Lions to make some defensive adjustments.
However, those good times for Penn-Trafford lasted only about six minutes and then the Lions’ defense suffocated the Warriors’ attack, particularly their long-range shooters.
“One of the plans was to run them off the three-point line,” Bennett said. “We scouted all their games on video and they attempt as many three-pointers as they do two-pointers.”
South Fayette held Penn-Trafford to only three three-point baskets including just one in the first half.
South Fayette got off to a slow start as Penn-Trafford led 7-6 with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter. But Oldaker put the Lions in front by grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it in. Oldaker then was called for her second foul and went to the bench, but her replacement, Kenzie Rumberger, made two free throws with seven seconds left in the quarter.
After a quick Penn-Trafford turnover, South Fayette point guard Lailah Wright found herself with the basketball, 28 feet from the basket, between the circles. She lofted a smooth three-pointer that went in at the buzzer, giving the Lions a 13-7 lead.
Wright’s shot seemed to pump life into the Lions’ attack. Their full-court pressure defense was more effective and Oldaker returned to the game and scored six points in the second quarter as the Lions opened a 28-15 halftime edge.
In the second half, Penn-Trafford was unable to generate enough offense to fuel a comeback. The Lions’ sticky defense held the Warriors to only five field goals and 13 points after halftime.
“We work on defense every day,” Oldaker said. ‘We know that defense wins championships. We grind on that every single day.
“Sometimes we might get a weird defense thrown at us and we struggle scoring for a while, but on the defensive end we keep that high intensity and continue to do what we do.”
Oldaker led what was a balanced South Fayette attack in the second half with seven points.
Haylie Lamonde scored 12 points for South Fayette with all of those coming after the first quarter. Wright had 10 points, and Juliette Leroux contributed seven points and seven rebounds.
Raya Johnson led Penn-Trafford with nine points.
“They probably got tired,” Oldaker said of Penn-Trafford. “That’s what we try to do. We play defense really hard.”