The Herald, Sharon, Pa: Winter sports '97-'98

Published Sunday, March 1, 1998

DISTRICT 10 PLAYOFFS
Trojans 34, Berries 31
Trojans take AA 3rd spot

By Brad Isles
Herald Sports Writer

GROVE CITY _ Already assured of another game, win or lose, it would have been easy for the Greenville Lady Trojans to coast through their District 10 AA consolation game with Cranberry Saturday.

That wasn't the case, at least in the first quarter, as the Lady Trojans (18-9) shut out the Berries (21-5), 20-0, en route to a 34-31 victory at Grove City College Arena. The win avenged a 58-38 loss to Cranberry in the first round of the playoffs last year.

``I think we could have come in and said, `Whatever, we're going to the state playoffs regardless.' But that's not the kind of team we have,'' said Greenville coach Robin Fisher. ``These kids want to win. They want to represent their school and the MCAC to the best of their ability. They weren't going to be complacent. They'll never be complacent heading into any game.''

Greenville will now play District 6's No. 1 team, Central Cambria, on Friday. Cranberry, hoping to avoid a third-consecutive loss, plays District 7's No. 1 team.

``It doesn't really matter to me if it's six-one, seven-one or 11-one,'' said Cranberry coach Don Hall. ``We've just got to go out there and play. Our fans are not used to losing two in a row, I'm not used to losing two in a row. I don't like it.''

The Lady Trojans started the game by dominating every facet of play, led by 6-foot center Kirsten Keller. Keller was a force inside, scoring 7 of her game-high 13 points, while pulling down a handful of rebounds. She finished the game with 10 boards.

Cranberry, meanwhile, attempted an uncharacteristically-low eight shots and failed to make any of them.

``We should be shooting at least 20 shots,'' Hall said. ``The first quarter was the ballgame. We could have packed it up and said that was it but we didn't do that.''

The Berries regained their form in the second quarter, while Greenville began to struggle offensively. After shooting over 50 percent in the first quarter, Greenville finished the game at 33 percent.

J.R. Rudolph hit Cranberry's first shot of the game, a 3-pointer, at the 7:08 mark of the second quarter. That shot awoke the Berries' stagnant offense.

Stefanie Cross scored 7 of her 10 points in the second and Cranberry held the Lady Trojans scoreless the final three minutes of the quarter to trail 26-13 at halftime.

Greenville came out in the third quarter running its half-court offense and it worked on its first possession as Abrial Hayes hit from the baseline to push the Lady Trojans' lead back to 15 at the 6:30 mark. But it turned out to be Greenville's only hoop of the quarter.

Cynthia Wilks cut Greenville's lead to 10 on a basket inside and Kristie Redfield made it 28-20 with a jumper at the end of the quarter.

``Cranberry's not a bad team,'' Fisher said. ``I don't think Cranberry was shooting very well in the first half. We told (the players) not to force anything with the large lead. We had a few turnovers and we let Cranberry get back in it. They shot very well in the second half.''

It also helped Cranberry in that Keller was forced to sit out much of the third after picking up her third foul. That allowed the 6-foot-3 Wilks free reign of the paint. Wilks led Cranberry with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

``Having (Keller) in a little bit of foul trouble hurt us,'' Fisher said. ``We took her out and when you give up that much height it's going to hurt you in there.''

The fourth proved to be more of the same for the Lady Trojans _ a patient running of the offense, only nothing to show for it. Celeste Buiser put back a Tracy Walter miss to snap Greenville's seven-minute scoring drought, making it 30-20. But the Berries, on a Cross 3-pointer, a Wilks putback and a Marcy Gilmore jumper, made it a three-point game with five minutes left.

``There's no quit in these kids,'' Hall said. ``They don't quit. We don't quit. That's not our style.''

After Keller countered with a hoop in the lane, Rudolph scored on a putback and a Wilks bucketed a pair of foul shots to make it 32-31 with 30 second remaining. Cranberry's improbable comeback stopped there, however, as Walter iced the game with a pair of foul shots.

``I think our kids were a little inspired in the first half,'' Fisher said. ``Then they hung on and did the job at the end. I'm proud of them for that.''

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Updated March 1, 1998
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