Photo by: Digital First Media/Pete Bannan
By Matt Smith
There was hot pizza from Thunderbird and lots of homemade goodies in the cafeteria for a post-game party honoring Springfield’s senior players Tuesday night.
Before they could feast, though, seniors Lexi Aaron, Taylor Hunyet, Kaitlyn Kearney, Anabel Kreydt, Mia Valero and Sophia Ward had to put on a show and defeat a much-improved Penncrest squad looking to make a good impression on the Cougars. The teams meet again Thursday, same time and location, in the quarterfinal round of the Central League tournament.
“All of our nerves and excitement. I think it kind of got to us in the beginning,” Valerio said. “We came out a little hectic.”
No worries. The Cougars eventually got their act together and rolled to a 44-27 victory. It was far from smooth sailing in the first half, but Springfield’s tremendous defense and hustle were the difference after halftime.
Springfield (18-4,14-2) is the No. 3 seed in the Central League playoffs. Penncrest (14-8, 9-7) will be the sixth and final seed in the tournament.
The upstart Lions hung around for a quarter or two, but the Cougars forced the visitors into 23 turnovers and held them to 11 points in the second half.