By JOHN D’ABRUZZO
j_dabruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

ALLISON PARK — The first quarter proved to be a dagger in the heart of the Neshannock High girls basketball team.

The Lady Lancers scored just one point during the period Saturday en route to a 48-26 loss to South Fayette in a WPIAL Class AA preliminary-round game. The contest was played at Hampton High School.

“When you put yourself in the hole, you’re going to struggle to get yourself out of it, especially down 15 points,” third-year Neshannock coach Greg Huston said. “And we kept (the deficit) around 15 the rest of the way.

“It’s tough to come back from that, especially when you’re losing confidence because you’re wondering if you’re ever going to make a shot. That weighs on your mind a little bit and we got a little rattled there.”

South Fayette (18-5) dashed off to a 16-0 advantage before Neshannock junior forward Ericka Warvell hit the front-end of a pair of foul shots with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Lady Lancers (11-12), who committed 21 turnovers in the game, turned the ball over five times in the first quarter. They also missed six layups, three jumpers inside the arch and a pair of 3-point attempts as the Lady Lions took a 16-1 lead after the quarter.

“Obviously, we really struggled to put the ball in the hoop,” Huston said. “You have to give South Fayette credit for that; they did a nice job defensively.

“We even struggled on open shots. Even when we were open, we rushed.”

South Fayette changed defensive schemes through out the game.

“They were mixing it up with a triangle-and-two, then a matchup zone, then to man-to-man, so they were all over the place,” Huston said. “They disguised everything really well, too. When you come up court, you didn’t know what you’re seeing.”

Warvell helped Neshannock get into the game by scoring six of her team-high 12 points in the second quarter. The Lady Lancers outscored the Lady Lions 12-10 in the second and went to the half trailing, 26-13.

“The girls were prepared and they knew what to expect,” first-year South Fayette coach Matt Bacco said. “Our strategy going in was to try to make life difficult for (Chelsea) Kauffman and (Courtney) Frengel.

“Lizzy King did a good job pressuring Kauffman and I think it took them some time to adjust to that pressure. I guess by the time they did we had a 15-point lead and we held on to it.”

Kauffman, a junior forward, and Frengel, a senior forward, were held to four points apiece.

South Fayette senior forward Colleen Graeser led all scorers with 15 points, while King and senior guard Sara Throckmorton chipped in with 13 each.

Throckmorton, who came off the bench, hit three 3s. She came into the game when the Lady Lions’ star point guard, Paige Uram, left early in the second quarter with a left ankle injury.

“It took a little time to adjust early on,” Bacco said. “After she went down, the girls were a little rattled but we made the adjustments and everyone accepted their role.”

South Fayette maintained its lead and went up 40-20 after three quarters.

The Lady Lions also shined from the foul line in the second half, sinking 9 of 11 attempts. They hit 11 of 16 in the game, while Neshannock notched 4 of 6 attempts.

“It’s always different in the playoffs with different officials,” Huston said. “Plays that are called for fouls up in New Castle don’t get called down here.

“It was a rough game the whole way and they called it both ways, so I’m not complaining, but it is a different style of game. We just never really adjusted to it.”

South Fayette advances to the second round and will face Burrell (16-5) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny.