Roughies Steal Victory From Lady Panthers

The Saucon Valley High School girls’ basketball team traveled to Catasauqua on Monday night for a Colonial League contest with the Rough Riders. Saucon and Catty were two teams looking to climb out from early-season holes that they had dug for themselves in the league standings.

The Panthers got on the scoreboard first when senior, Helen Kreschollek took a nice feed from teammate Kat Naiburg and finished with a layup at the 5:17 mark of the 1st quarter. Catty’s Makenzie Bradley answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but the Panthers ended the period with a 6-0 run courtesy of a couple of buckets by Katie Kramer and Brooke Riefenstahl combined with a couple of foul shots from Helen Kreschollek. At the end of the opening period of play the Panthers held an 8-3 lead.

Points were scarce as both teams were active on defense creating a great number of turnovers. The Panthers, however were able to hold onto their five point lead with a 3-pointer by Kat Naiburg and a couple of free throws by Katie Kramer. Catty’s Allanah George hit a “three” and added an additional bucket making the score 13-8 at halftime.

Saucon scored seven points in the 3rd quarter that included a three-pointer from freshman Ally Frace. In addition, the Panthers received a pair of buckets from juniors Olivia Williams and Katie Kramer. The Rough Riders were able to match Saucon’s offensive productivity with seven points of their own. At the end of three periods of play, the Panthers maintained their five point margin with a 20-15 score.

The Panthers and Roughies traded points and played each other relatively even for the first 6:30 of the final period. The last 1:29, however was all Roughies. First, Catasauqua’s Makenzie Bradley drove hard and hit a layup and then Tyra Brown hit a “three” at 1:02 to take a 28-27 lead. Saucon Valley went stone cold and could not convert anything on offense down the final stretch. Bradley added a foul shot with :14 seconds remaining in the game to end all scoring. Forcing the Panthers into roughly 19 turnovers, the Roughies stole the show coming from behind to secure a 29-27 victory.

Catasauqua was led by Makenzie Bradley and her 10 points. Allanah George added 8 for the Rough Riders.

Senior Helen Kreschollek led the Panthers with 7 points. Junior Katie Kramer added 6.

JV Score: Saucon Valley 41, Catasauqua 32 (Isabella Medei 14 pts., Ally Frace 13 pts.)

Up Next: The Lady Panthers travel to Wilson on Wednesday for another Colonial League contest. JV tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with the Varsity to follow at about 6:45 p.m.

Good luck Ladies, the Source is with you!