Turnaround continues for red-hot Whitehall

Once again this season the Whitehall girls basketball team had to make a tremendous comeback after getting in a hole early to make an impact.

Six-foot junior forward Liv Hines scored 13 points and freshman Tiana Carey contributed mightily in her first start of the season as the Zephyrs used a big third quarter and then held off Allen 35-31 on Tuesday night in a Class 6A District 11 first-round contest.

Whitehall (10-8), with just two seniors and under first-year coach Will Robertson, won its first district game in five seasons. It was also the Zephyrs’ third win over Allen this season, including 49-46 and 37-28 verdicts.

In this year of COVID-19 every team in District 11 was invited to the tournament. But the Zephyrs actually earned the bid following a 1-5 start by going 8-3 to finish the regular season with a 9-8 record.

Sixth-seeded Whitehall missed 24 of its 25 shots from the field in the first half as No. 11 seed Allen (2-12) led 13-5 after 16 minutes. The teams combined to make 3 of their first 36 shots.

Carey comes up clutch

The 5-7 forward got the start after leading scorer Joey Shaul, a senior, sprained her knee and missed the game. After grabbing seven rebounds in the first half, she added four more after intermission and came up with two huge buckets in the big third quarter.

First, she hit a driving layup, got fouled and completed the three-point

play. Then she scored on a baseline drive with one second left to get the Zephyrs within 23-22 after three quarters.

“We told her, ‘Let the game come to you. Don’t force it,’ ” Robertson said. “The work on the boards showed that. She did what she’s good at doing. And then, when the opportunity arose, she came up with two big baskets.”

“I think we picked up the energy in the second half,” Carey said. “And, of course, our shots were falling more. I’m just so happy and proud to be a part of the team. This win was for the seniors.”

Whitehall finishes comeback:

After being stymied by Allen’s 2-1-2 zone defense in the first half, Whitehall found a cure as Hines scored eight third-quarter points by making four straight shots as the Zephyrs shot 8-for-15 for the quarter.

Ella Laky gave Whitehall its first lead since 3-2 when she made two free throws to open the fourth quarter. Hines eventually gave the Zephyrs the lead for good, 30-28, with 3 minutes, 50 seconds left on a baseline drive. Laky followed with a drive from the right side while using her left hand to finish.

Senior guard Meg Hutter made what could have been the game-turning play when she missed the front end of a one-and-one while holding a 33-31 lead, but she got the rebound so Allen couldn’t have a chance to tie or win the game. She made a layup with 12 seconds left to complete the game’s scoring.

“Obviously we were not shooting the ball well early,” Robertson said. “So we wanted the kids to drive more and attack the basket. Then we got back to shooting from the outside a little too much before we got it back inside.

“These kids never give up. There was never a point in this game that I didn’t think we could come back, even down nine. We’ve been down nine before to them. The catalyst is our defense. They play tough defense and that keeps us in all our games.”

“This is really exciting for us because it’s the first time for all of us in districts,” said Hines, who also pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked three shots. “We kept the mindset that we wouldn’t give up. We turned the season around when we decided to share the ball and just got better as a team.”

Whitehall has now won 9 of its last 12 games.

“I think just the confidence in the kids grew with each game,” Robertson said. “I truly believe teams have to learn how to win. After the Central Catholic game that we lost, we were in the game and the kids looked around afterward and thought, ‘Hey if we can compete with them’ ... The lightbulb went on.”

“I’m so proud of these kids. And we really didn’t have a summer or fall together. What we do well is because of how hard they work in practice. They’ve been great.”

What’s next: Whitehall plays at Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Mountain Division champ Pocono Mountain West (11-2), the third seed, at 5 p.m. on Thursday in a quarterfinal.

“We watched them play a little bit — they’re very aggressive,” Robertson said. “They’re very physical and athletic too.

“We’ll have to figure out how to score against them. I’m confident in our defense. Even though we’re young we’re going to battle.”