Senior Helen Kreschollek gets a good look at the hoop against the Liberty Hurricanes.
The Saucon Valley High School girls’ basketball team started their 2017-18 season on a high note Friday night in Bethlehem. Coach Jerry Calabrese and his Lady Panthers travelled to Liberty High School for their season opener and left with a gutsy 34-29 overtime victory.
Saucon Valley jumped onto the scoreboard first when junior Brooke Riefenstahl drove hard to just inside the foul line and popped a little jumper for two points at the 5:15 mark of the 1st Quarter. Liberty’s Lauren King answered with a baseline jumper to even the score. But, Kat Naiburg buried a three-pointer with 2:35 remaining to put the Panthers back on top. Brooke Riefenstahl finished the first quarter scoring when she converted one of her two free throws. At the first break, the Panthers led 6-3.
Much of the season opener between the Panthers and Hurricanes was dominated by defense.
Liberty ‘s Tanasia Howard got the Hurricanes off to a quick start in the 2nd Quarter when she hit a jump-shot to get the Hurricanes within a point. “Battle-Kat” Naiburg responded when she took a give-and-go feed from Brooke Riefenstahl and powered through the Liberty defense to finish with a layup. Naiburg was fouled on the play and made her free throw. The Hurricanes went to work and managed a 6-0 scoring run to claim an 11-9 lead late in the period. Free throws by Naiburg and senior Helen Kreshollek, however, knotted the score at the half.
The game was up for grabs at the halftime break.
The Panthers roared out of the gate in the 3rd Quarter when Brooke Riefenstahl took a nifty feed from Helen Kreschollek and converted a layup. Naiburg followed suit by taking a little misdirection handoff from senior Shannon Willliams and sneaked unnoticed through the back door for an easy bucket. Liberty responded and netted a couple of baskets of their own, but Riefenstahl and Kreschollek were able to match the late Hurricane scores. At the end of the 3rd Quarter, Saucon Valley held a 19-15 advantage.
Kat Naiburg playing tough defense for the Lady Panthers.
It seemed as if the Panthers were taking control of the game when Shannon Williams hit a couple of free-throws to get the scoring started in the 4th Quarter. However, the Hurricanes rattled off eight unanswered points to take a 23-21 lead. Naiburg was able to hit a free-throw to end the Panther drought, but Liberty would score again to make it 25-22.
Saucon Valley manufactured their own little scoring run that started with a Helen Kreschollek score. The Panthers’ Kiele Riefenstahl intercepted a Hurricane pass on the next possession and dished it to her sister Brooke who drew a foul that put her on the foul-line. She hit the front end of a 1-and-1 and tied the score 25-25. Kreshollek followed with a couple more free throws to put the Panthers up by two with 1:22 remaining in the game. However, Liberty’s Bridget MacDonald was able shake free from the Panther defense and hit a layup to tie the game. The Panthers burned a couple of time-outs and played for the last shot, but came up empty when Brooke Riefenstahl’s shot rimmed out.
Panther Coach, Jerry Calabrese using a timeout to talk a little strategy.
The Panthers scored first in the four-minute overtime period when Brooke Riefenstahl successfully went give-and-go with her sister Kiele. Saucon followed up with a couple of free-throws from Naiburg and another from Kiele Riefenstahl before Liberty’s Tanasia Howard hit a layup with 9.1 seconds to go. Howard’s basket cut the Hurricane deficit to 32-29. Liberty would foul with time running out putting Naiburg on the line where she cooly converted both free-throws that all but ended the game. The Panthers held on to win 34-29.
Saucon Valley defeated Liberty in the season opener.
Liberty was led by Tanasia Howard and her 8 points. Lauren King added 5 for the Lady Hurricanes.
Junior Katherine Naiburg had 13 points to lead the Panthers. Junior Brooke Riefenstahl added 10 and senior Helen Kreschollek was good for 7.
JV Score: Liberty 36, Saucon Valley 29 (Ally Frace 7 pts., Abby Soltysiak 6 pts., Grace Albano 6 pts.)
Up Next: The Lady Panthers will host the Lehighton Indians on Monday at the high school. JV tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. with the Varsity starting about 6:15.
Good luck Ladies, the Source is with you!
The Panthers battling for a rebound.
Brooke Riefenstahl drives hard toward the hoop as Coach Calabrese look on.
Senior Helen Kreschollek makes good on an offensive rebound.
