By Patrick Connelly
Allied News Sports Editor
SLIPPERY ROCK — With the inside presence of Jalisa Archie and Deidre McKenith-Williams, Farrell High head coach Ed Turosky believes the Lady Steelers can go places in the PIAA Class A Playoffs, and they proved it Saturday in a 73-31 rout of Coudersport at Slippery Rock University.
“I’ve said from Day 1, as far as they go, we’ll go,” Turosky said. “You need a couple girls inside to just control things for you.”
And that they did.
After Marissa Carry hit a 3-pointer 48 seconds into the game to give Farrell the early 3-0 edge on the Lady Falcons out of District 9, Archie hit back-to-back free throws on the Lady Steelers’ next possession before snagging a rebound for an easy put back when Farrell came down the floor again.
Coudersport’s Hannah Fink put up the Lady Falcons’ first points on a long tray, cutting the deficit to 7-3 before Archie again connected on 2 straight markers from the foul line.
“Jalisa had a huge 1st quarter for us,” Turosky said of the sophomore’s first 6 points. Archie had 5 of her 9 rebounds in the opening frame alone, while McKenith-Williams snagged another 4.
“They controlled the boards,” Turosky lauded. “The key to everything (in the 1st quarter) was Jalisa and Deidre.”
With 4:41 left in the 1st quarter, D’Asia Chambers swiped the ball from one of the Lady Falcons and took it the length of the court for the lay-in, extending the Lady Steelers’ lead to 11-3. A tray by Chambers about a minute later put Farrell up 14-5 before Turosky’s team closed out the quarter up 20-11.
Chambers grabbed an offensive rebound and dropped another bucket early in the 2nd quarter. Forty seconds later, Carry connected on her 2nd of five 3-pointers in a hot afternoon for the sophomore from beyond the arch.
“She's just tough,” Turosky said. “She hit that first one (and) I was excited ... then she hit another.”
After a few misses, the coach said he told Carry to keep her head on the basket and she again found her stride.
“If you’re a scorer and you can shoot, you got to keep shooting,” Turosky added. “If you don’t shoot, you can’t make them. I always tell my kids you can take any shot you want as long as its a good one.”
Carry hit 3 treys altogether in the 2nd quarter where she scored 11 of her game-high 28 points.
Chambers, Archie and McKenith-Williams also all connected on field goals in the quarter as Farrell took a 43-17 lead into the break.
The Lady Steelers then outscored Coudersport 23-8 in the 3rd quarter before coasting to the win.
“I thought the kids were very unselfish,” Turosky said. “I thought they moved the ball well against (Coudersport’s) zone to look for open shots. I thought they penetrated the gaps pretty well. I think they did a lot of the little things right.”
Chambers finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Archie also scored in double figures with 10 points.
The Lady Falcons were led by Jenna Matzinger’s 9 points.
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PIAA CLASS A PLAYOFFS
COUDERSPORT 11 6 8 6 31
FARRELL 20 23 23 7 73
COUDERSPORT — Karpinski 1-2-2-5, McCuster 1-0-0-3, Brown 1-0-0-3, Matzinger 2-3-4-9, Fink 2-0-0-4, Green 1-0-0-3, Morey 1-2-4-4, Kane 0-0-0-0, Henning 0-0-0-0, Gleason 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Matzinger 2, Green 1, Karpinski 1, McCuster 1, Brown 1. Totals: 9-7-10-31.
FARRELL — Carry 11-1-1-28, Robinson 3-1-1-7, Archie 3-4-4-10, McKenith-William 3-1-1-7, Chambers 8-1-1-19, Scott 0-0-0-0, Floyd 1-0-0-2, Samuels 0-0-0-0, Oliver 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Carry 5, Chambers 2. Totals: 29-8-8-73.
