Coudersport girls fall at Eisenhower; finish 25-3

Coudersport went to extremes in its efforts to pull an upset over Eisenhower in a girls' basketball playoff game Saturday afternoon at St. Marys.

However, the Falcons' bid to join the state's Sweet 16 was rebuffed by a tall and talented Golden Knights squad.

A barrage of three-pointers and a liberal substitution strategy failed to produce the desired results in a 64-27 defeat. Coudersport finished with a 25-3 record.

Coach Brian Green knew he had to try something unconventional after he learned that junior Jessica Wilson, his second-leading scorer, top rebounder and main inside force, would be sidelined by injury.

Unable to penetrate the Eisenhower zone, the Falcons fired a whopping 35 three-point shots, only five of which found the mark. There were few putback attempts, as the Knights held a commanding 34-12 rebounding edge.

"We knew we would have to shoot the ball well to win," Green said. "Unfortunately, we struggled from the field, and Eisenhower had a huge size advantage. They made us work for everything on offense."

Another weapon in Green's arsenal was a tenacious defense that had rattled many previous opponents. Eisenhower (21-6) handled the pressure well and worked the ball inside for highpercentage shots, finishing 26 of 51 from the field.

"They did a nice job passing the ball around," the coach noted. "I thought we could rattle their guards, but that didn't happen."

Coudersport bids farewell to just one senior, Hope Morris, and should return with a strong team in 2007-08.

"We'll be right back here again next year," Green said. "We need to remember what happened here and use that as motivation."

Eisenhower (64): Jones 9 1-2 19, Riel 6 4-4 16, Santo 5 2-2 12, Kennedy 2 1-2 5, McIntyre 1 0-0 2, Williams 1 2-2 5, West 0 0-1 0, Crosby 2 0-0 5. Totals: 26 10-13 64.

Coudersport (27): Kristy Kamper 4 2-2 11, Karli Duffee 2 0- 0 6, Kelly McVay 1 2-2 4, Jordan Bright 1 0-0 3, Stephanie Kelley 1 0-0 3, Maureen McCusker 0 0-2 0, Kayla Bohn 0 0-0 0, Sabrina Hershey 0 0-0 0, Hope Morris 0 0-0 0, Tigan Chiumento 0 0-0 0, Emily Giannotti 0 0-0 0, Katie Karpinski 0 0-0 0, Allison Giannotti 0-0-0 0. Totals: 9 4-6 27.