Lady Dutch end successful season with loss to Blackhawk
KNOX – After putting together one of the most successful seasons in program history under first-year head coach Zane Adiyeh, including winning their first state playoff game since the 2009-2010 season, the St. Marys Area Lady Dutch saw their run in the state playoffs come to an end on Wednesday night at Keystone High School in Knox with a 6333 loss to District 7 runner-up Blackhawk.
Blackhawk was last year’s PIAA 4A girls’ state runner-up, and the Lady Dutch knew going into the game that the Cougars would be a tough opponent.
“Blackhawk is a very, very good team,” Adiyeh said. “They play a very tough schedule. I think they’re going to go deep in the playoffs. They’re big. They’re strong. They’re athletic. They’re skilled. They’re deep. They’re a very good team. They’re well coached.”
All that being said, Adiyeh remarked that he was proud of how his team stood up to the challenge the Cougars presented.
“Our girls did a great job battling tonight,” Adiyeh said. “That team was very aggressive, as a lot of WPIAL teams are, and we did a good job matching it. We weren’t scared of it. We played very hard. I’m very proud of them.”
“I think our girls did a very good job,” Adiyeh added. “We don’t really see a lot of teams that are that big across the board and that deep. Our girls battled hard.”
Leading the Lady Dutch in scoring was senior Jayssa Snelick with 17 points. Fellow seniors Alexa Schneider and
Maura Caskey scored six and four points, respectively, sophomore Molly Hanslovan scored five, and freshman Taylor Gornati scored one.
Blackhawk had four players in double digits in scoring on the night, with Alena Fusetti leading the team with 17 points to match Snelick’s total. Aubree Hupp scored 15, Ava Pagani 11, and Andrea Kinger 10.
While the Lady Dutch were able to generate their share of chances early in the game, getting the ball into the hoop proved to be another matter.
Blackhawk scored the first six points of the game, with Haley Romigh and Fusetti each making a bucket and Hupp adding a pair of foul shots. The Lady Dutch got on the board when Snelick made her first bucket of the night with 5:15 still on the clock in the first quarter, making the score 6-2.
Threes by Piper Romigh and Fusetti soon put Blackhawk up by 10, 12-2, with Schneider responding with a three for the Lady Dutch with 1:23 to go in the frame to make the score 12-5.
Blackhawk ended the quarter with a pair of foul shots by Kinger and another three by Fusetti to lead 17-5 after the first eight minutes of the game.
The Cougars kept the momentum going and opened the second quarter with a nine-point run. Kinger scored the first four points, making a field goal and then a pair of foul shots, and Pagani scored the next five with a two and a three.
Snelick was fouled making a bucket with 1:44 left in the half but was unable to convert the three-point play, making the score 26-7.
Blackhawk scored four more points in the final 1:25 of the quarter, with Piper Romigh making a bucket and Pagani going two-for-two from the foul line.
The Cougars led 30-7 at the break.
The Lady Dutch entered the second half ready to challenge Blackhawk, and Hanslovan scored her first points of the game 40 seconds into the quarter. Hupp and Snelick then traded twos, with Snelick’s bucket putting St. Marys into double digits on the night, 32-11.
Blackhawk followed that up with three straight trips to the foul line. Hupp and Fusetti each went two-for-two, while Haley Romigh went one-for-two, making the score 36-11 with 5:18 left in the quarter.
Gornati got on the board with a one-for-two showing for the foul line for the Lady Dutch, and then Caskey answered a bucket by Kinger with a pair of foul shots.
Following two more points by Fusetti with 3:29 to go, Hanslovan had a chance at a threepoint play but could not get the foul shot to fall, and then Snelick made another bucket to make the score 41-18.
Blackhawk scored the next four points, with Hupp making a bucket and Pagani making a pair of foul shots. The Lady Dutch responded with five of their own on a two by Snelick and a three by Schneider. Fusetti ended the scoring for the quarter with a pair of foul shots with 7.8 seconds to go, making the score 47-23.
Caskey and Snelick combined for five points for the Lady Dutch to open the fourth quarter, with Caskey making a bucket 12 seconds in and then Snelick converting a three-point play with 6:18 to go. Following a bucket by Kinger, Snelick made a pair of foul shots with 5:31 remaining to keep it a 19-point game, 49-30.
A seven-point run over the span of roughly two minutes would extend Blackhawk’s lead to 5630. Fusetti opened the run with a three, and then Hupp made a pair of twos.
With 2:57 to go, Hanslovan went one-fortwo from the foul line. Hupp responded with a three for Blackhawk 21 seconds later. A bucket
by Snelick with 1:55 to go resulted in the final points of the night for St. Marys. Blackhawk added four more to their lead, with Mia Sheesley making a bucket and then Pagani scoring the final points of the night with 42 seconds to go to set the final score at 6333 in favor of the Cougars.
The Lady Dutch ended their season with a record of 22-6.
“We had an awesome season,” Adiyeh said. “It
was the first time we’ve had 20 wins in about 10 years and the second time in school history we’ve won a state playoff game – the first time in a very long time. Winning a district championship wasn’t a guarantee. Punxsy is a very good team. They beat us once this year and they beat us last year in the district championship. We had two really close games with them. Winning the district championship, winning a state playoff
game, and making it to this point, I’m very proud of the girls for how they played this season.”
Adiyeh also shared a few thoughts on the team’s three seniors – Maura Caskey, Alexa Schneider, and Jayssa Snelick – and the impact they had on the program.
“Our seniors did a tremendous job,” Adiyeh said. “Our seniors did a great job all year. We had a couple underclassmen playing a lot. They were great leaders for them.
They learned a lot from playing with them. It was awesome to watch them improve, not just this year, but getting here their sophomore year and watching how they grew for three years. I’m very proud of Alexa, Maura, and Jayssa and everybody on the team.”
Blackhawk 63
Jaden Tesch 0-0-0-0-0, Katilyn Enderle 0-0-0-00, Andrea Kinger 3-0-4-410, Alena Fusetti 2-3-4-417, Ava Davis 0-0-0-0-0, Aubree Hupp 4-1-4-4-15,
Mia Sheesley 1-0-0-0-2, Haley Romigh 1-0-1-2-3, Piper Romigh 1-1-0-0-5, Ava Pagani 2-1-4-4-11. Totals 14-6-17-18-63.
St. Marys Area 33
Jayssa Snelick 7-0-3-417, Maura Caskey 1-0-22-4, Alexa Schneider 0-20-0-6, Molly Hanslovan 2-0-1-5-5, Taylor Gornati 0-0-1-2-1, Raechel Braun 0-0-0-0-0. Totals 10-2-713-33.
Score by quarters
Blackhawk 17 13 17 16 63
St. Marys 5 2 16 10 33