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C-L Girls’ Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Dubois

STRATTANVILLE, Pa. – Frances Milliron scored a career-high 27 points, but it wasn’t enough for Clarion-Limestone, and their second-half comeback attempt against Dubois Area fell short in a 59-48 defeat on Monday evening at the Lions’ Den in Strattanville.

(Photos by Dave Cyphert/ ProPoint Media Photography. More action photos available for print and/or digital purchase are available here.)

C-L trailed 36-19 at halftime before outscoring the Lady Beavers 20-9 to pull to within six at 45-39. However, Dubois recovered to finish off the game with a 14-9 advantage to set the final score.

“The third quarter has been our nemesis the past few games,” said C-L head coach Gus Simpson. “Tonight, it was kind of our saving grace. We dug ourselves a hole in the first half by missing layups and having some missed opportunities. We had a couple of three-on-twos and even a three-on-one, and we turned the ball over, and they go back down to get a layup of their own which is a four-point swing. A few of those, and you are in a hole.”

Abby Guiher drained four three-pointers on her way to a team-high 15 points for Dubois, while Olivia Johnson added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Saige Weible and Taylor Smith each added nine points. Nine of the 10 players who played entered the scorebook for Dubois.

Anna Kennemuth scored six points for the Lady Lions. Milliron also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.

“We always look for the mismatch, and tonight it was Frances who had the mismatch,” said Simpson. “Some nights it’s been Kendall, some it’s been Frances. We’ve had different times where we’ve had contributions from just about everybody. We had Maddy Wenner score 11 points a couple of games in a row there; Sydney Simpson had a game where she scored like 14 or 16, so on any given night, we know we can get scoring from just about anybody. The girls are starting to find the open girl.”

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Milliron scored the first three points to give the Lady Lions a 3-0 lead. Dubois then answered with a 10-0 run to take a 10-3 lead at the 3:07 mark of the period. Each team scored four points the rest of the quarter, which ended with a 14-7 Dubois lead.

Once again, Milliron started with the first four points as C-L cut the lead to three at 14-11 early in the second. Dubois’s 15-0 run pushed the lead to 18 at 29-11 with 3:12 to play in the half. Guiher drilled two of her three’s during that span. C-L then held an 8-7 scoring edge the rest of the quarter to trail 36-19 at halftime.

Dubois built a 19-point lead of 41-22 midway through the third quarter. A 7-0 run by the Lady Lions cut the lead back down to 12 at 41-29 with 2:10 to play. A three by Alexas Pfeufer put the lead back to 15 at 44-29. Four different players scored in a 10-1 run over the final two minutes of the quarter to cut the lead to six at 45-39 after three. Milliron and Maddy Wenner scored two while Anna Kennemuth drilled a three, and Alyssa Wiant made an old-fashioned three to end the quarter.

Dubois scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to push their lead to 12 at 51-39. A three by Janelle Pezzuti and a short jumper by Milliron cut the lead back to seven at 51-44 with just under four minutes to play, but that would turn out the be as close as C-L would get the rest of the way.

With the lead, the Lady Beavers went into a ball-control offensive mode and finished off the contest with an 8-4 advantage to set the final score.

“If we had one more quarter, I think we might have been able to get them,” said Simpson with a bit of a chuckle. “We built too big of a hole in that first half, but I’m so proud of these girls for continuing to go out and battle and hustle to the very end. We have Moniteau on Wednesday, which will be an interesting game, and then the playoffs, so anything can happen.”