Frengel’s return lifts Neshannock
Neshannock (50) Vs. New Brighton (38)
By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com

The Neshannock High girls basketball team got an added boost last night.

Courtney Frengel netted 13 points in her first action in a month as the Lady Lancers claimed a 50-38 win over New Brighton in a WPIAL Section 2-AA contest.

Frengel, a 5-foot-7 senior guard/forward, sustained a sprained left ankle in a 54-26 loss to Riverside on Jan. 5. She was out nine games.

“I never thought in a million years she’d be back,” Neshannock coach Greg Huston said. “She did whatever she had to do to be well enough to play; she came out and played well.

“I expected her to play 10 minutes and score two points and she did much better than that. She had one day of practice (since the injury) and to play that well is a tribute to her.”

The victory secures the final spot out of Section 2-AA for Neshannock (6-6 section, 11-11 overall). The loss eliminated the Lady Lions (5-7, 8-11) from the playoffs.

“We took care of business and we’re happy about that,” Huston said. “We’re happy to be in but we’re not satisfied with that.

“We want to go in and do some damage. It’s not just a relief to get in.”

The WPIAL will announce the pairings at a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Embassy Suites in Coraopolis.

Frengel ranked second in the county in scoring at 15.7 points a game before the injury. She returned to practice Wednesday.

“I really wanted to play because it was senior night and we needed this win,” Frengel said. “I didn’t expect to be back until the playoffs.

“I got my boot off on Monday and I was surprised at how much I played. It hurt pretty bad but I got used to it.”

The Lady Lions held just one lead, which came at 2-0 just 11 seconds into the game.

Chelsea Kauffman, a 5-3 sophomore guard, scored six of her game-high 17 points in the first quarter as Neshannock built a 12-3 lead. Kauffman’s two foul shots with 6:41 left in the opening frame gave the Lady Lancers the lead for good at 4-2.

“It was really important to come out strong,” Kauffman said. “Our defense kind of shook them up early.”

Said Huston, “Chelsea is a small, gutsy player that gets the job done. She’s not the fastest, the tallest or the strongest but she gets results.”

The Lady Lions opened the second stanza on a 7-0 run to get within 12-10 with 5:06 left in the half. They were able to get into their press on made baskets to disrupt Neshannock’s flow. However, the Lady Lancers closed the half on a 14-6 spurt for a 26-16 halftime advantage.

“We have seen a press like that before,” Kauffman said. “Probably at the beginning it was a little tough but we figured it out.”

The Lady Lancers led 39-29 after three periods and 42-29 with just 2:05 to play. But, New Brighton wasn’t ready to give up.

“We wanted to get a lead in case we went into a little bit of a slump,” Huston said. “Fortunately the slump never really came and we were able to sustain the lead; we were able to hit some big shots to maintain that lead.”

The Lady Lions scored the next six points to get within 42-35 with 1:14 remaining. New Brighton’s Jasmine Oravitz drained a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to close the gap to 44-38, but the Lady Lancers managed to hang on for the win.

Foul shooting helped seal the victory as Neshannock finished 19 of 23, including 7 of 8 in the fourth frame.

Ericka Warvell added 10 points for the winners.

Lauren Pier paced New Brighton with 10 points.
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Neshannock 12 14 13 11 0 50
New Brighton 3 13 13 9 0 38
Box Scores
NEW BRIGHTON (38)
Chelsea Barnes 2 2-2 7
Erika Carter 2 0-0 4
Cynderra Mobley 2 0-0 4
Lauren Pier 5 0-0 10
Kyonna McFrazier 2 1-4 5
Alexa DeMarco 0 1-2 1
Taylor Guthrie 1 0-0 2
Jasmine Oravitz 2 0-0 5.
Totals: 16 4-8 38.

NESHANNOCK (50)
Alice Desbarax 0 0-0 0
Ericka Warvell 2 4-4 10
Chelsea Kauffman 4 9-11 17
Courtney Frengel 4 4-4 13
Shawna Creese 0 0-2 0
Marianne Piatek 3 0-0 6
Ashlee Stevens 1 0-0 2
Ashlee Patton 0 0 0-0 0
Tara Richardson 0 2-2 2.
Totals: 14 19-23 50.

NEW BRIGHTON 3 13 13 9 — 38
NESHANNOCK 12 14 13 11 — 50

3-point goals — New Brighton 2 (Barnes 1, Oravitz 1), Neshannock 3 (Frengel 1, Warvell 2).
JV score: No game.
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