RICH KELLY
ANDOVER TOWNSHIP — Relentless is a word that pretty much describes how the Pymatuning Valley girls basketball team plays in every game, especially on the defensive side.
When the offense isn’t working, they still throw wave upon wave of quick players at you from all angles, and something usually good will happen even once in a while, and when they do it enough, they usually come out on top.
Such was the case again Thursday night as they won their second straight Northeastern Athletic Conference title with a less-than-scintillating but still efficient 60-46 win over game but outmanned Mathews.
The NAC crown is the third in the last four years for PV.
Things appeared to be in hand for the Lakers early in the third period after Nicole Virostek (18 points, 3 steals) scored on a fastbreak to give the Lakers a 28-16 lead. But the Mustangs cut the gap to 28-23, theVirostek hit a pair of free shots with 5:16 to play in the period, and that ignited a run by the Lakers that extended their lead on Senior Night to double digits, and they never again were threatened.
Bunnies were safe around Andover Township most of the night, as PV couldn’t shoot them with any success, hitting just 11 of 39 tries, mostly layups, in the first half and ending the game with just 24 hoops in 75 tries, a 32-percent clip.
The key was that they forced 38 Mustang turnovers, including 17 steals. Twenty-six of those turnovers came in the first half, and there was no flow to the Mathews offense to be found.
“This kind of success breeds more success,” PV coach Jeff Compan said during the postgame celebration on the court as his players cut down nets. “We’d like to think the girls feel it’s chic to be part of the PV girls program, now. This was not a pretty game for us.
“We talked about executing our game plan, but all that really matters is the final score. The girls played hard, and our three seniors (Brittany Jock, Sara Comp and Olivia Holt) got to go out with another title. We have a lot of young girls coming back, so I think we’re in good shape for a while.”
Virostek led the way with 18 points, Holt added 11 to go with a dozen rebounds and Colleen Wonderling had 10 points and five steals, all in the first half, as the Laker defense limited the Mustangs to just 42 shots in the game.
“We’re banged up right now,” Mathews coach John Cicero said. “We have one more game, with Lordstown on Monday, then we’re off for two weeks before tournament starts. We hope to just get healthier by then.
“Credit Jeff (Compan) for having a quality program here that looks like it will be solid for a long time.”
The Lakers now stand at 16-2 and 11-0 in the NAC, while the loss drops Mathews to 10-9 and 7-4 in the NAC.
Rachael Roscoe and Emily Culp each tallied 14 points for the Mustangs, and Roscoe snared 11 rebounds and blocked a trio of shots.
The PV seniors enjoyed their last home game, but also felt sad the high school career was coming to its final days.
“Before the game, I was a little anxious and a little sad,” Holt said. “It hasn’t really set in yet now that it’s over here on this court for me. I’m really excited, though, that we won the game and another NAC title.”
Jock played a valuable role coming off the bench, although she started this game. She contributed a trio of steals and like number of assists.
“My time here went really fast,” she said. “It’s sad that it’s over, but we had some really great times here, and I’m happy we won again.”
Comp also started her last home game.
“I was pumped up to play before the game,” she said. “It feels great to win another championship, we accomplished a lot here and did a lot for pride in ourselves and the school.”
Kelly is a freelance writer from Jefferson.
