8th-grade girls hoops doubles up Sheffield
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Punxsy’s 8th-grade girls basketball team found itself in a bit of an unusual spot on Wednesday, as the Lady Chucks trailed Sheffield after the first quarter by a 5-3 score. Punxsy closed the first quarter strong, though, and then continued that play deep into the second to take an 11-7 lead to halftime, then won the third quarter 10-0 to all but put the game out of reach. Ultimately, Punxsy won 31-15.
Punxsy’s 1-2 scoring punch at the top of the stat sheet was Avary Powell and
Samantha Griebel, who had eight and seven points, respectively. Following them were three with four points apiece in Brooke Young, Megan Edney and Mary Grusky, and Emily Wisnesky and Trew Gradison each added two.
The Lady Chucks fell behind early as they took some time to find their shooting rhythm, and that led to the two-point deficit after the first quarter. But after keeping Sheffield off the board for the final 100 seconds of the first, Punxsy nearly blanked the visitors in the second as well, were it not for a buzzer-beating two-point shot.
Neither team scored in the first two minutes of the third quarter, but Punxsy extended another defensive streak through the rest of the quarter while scoring 10 points in the final four minutes to take a comfortable 21-7 lead.
In the fourth quarter, the teams were near even, but Punxsy pulled off a 10-8 advantage to add two points to its lead and earn the 31-15 victory.
The Lady Chucks (5-0) are back in action on Monday against Brookville, and this time, the 7th-grade squad is also set to play after not having an opponent Wednesday. The younger team will tip off against the Lady Raiders at 4 p.m., with the 8th-grade game to follow.