WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — A feathery, short jump-hook with her left hand.
Swish.
A pull-up jumper from 10 feet away.
Swish.
A soft bank off of the glass.
Swish.
It was that kind of night for Davina Pry.
The sophomore forward scored 23 points and also pulled down 20 rebounds as the Moniteau girls basketball team rolled to a 64-45 win over Clarion-Limestone Tuesday night.
“I think this was the best game I’ve had so far,” Pry said. “I don’t think this season I’ve been playing up to my full potential, but today I think I finally showed what I could do.”
So did the Warriors (9-7, 4-2 KSAC Large School). It wasn’t just Pry who was playing at a high level. Everyone on the floor for Moniteau performed well.
Catherine Kelly scored 13 points; Abbey Jewart pitched in 10; So did Allie Pry off the bench; And Kendall Sankey also scored eight for the Warriors.
“I’m very thrilled,” said Moniteau coach Dee Arblaster. “That’s what we have talked about — balanced scoring for us to be successful.”
Allie Pry did what she has done all year: gave Moniteau a lift off the bench.
“She’s my little spark plug,” Arblaster said. “I know starting is a big thing for a lot of kids, but for me that sixth-man off the bench is a big part of my game plan. I think she’d rather start, but it fires her up to not and she understands her role.”
Jewart also had a good night, despite playing with a freak hand injury. Jewart had a large chunk of skin at the base of her left thumb ripped off when she got it pinched in a door.
“She shot well, which is good because she needed some confidence,” Arblaster said.
But the night largely belonged to Davina Pry, who gobbled up rebounds and made subtle and effective moves in the paint.
Clarion-Limestone (9-7, 4-2) had no answer.
“It was a mismatch for us,” said Lions’ coach Gus Simpson. “I can’t speak highly enough of Moniteau and how all those girls did.
“We beat them earlier in the year, and they came in to this one with a little chip on their shoulder, and deservingly so. No excuses for us. They played a better game than us.”
Davina Pry was 10-of-14 from the field. As a team, Moniteau shot 67 percent (28 of 42).
Moniteau was also strong on the boards.
“In practice we’ve really been working on rebounding,” Davina Pry said. “That was one of my main goal tonight. I think everyone really worked well tonight as a team to look for open shots.
“I’ve been trying to go both ways, with my left and my right, so they can’t predict where I’m going,” she added. “It’s been working out really well.”
Not much worked for Clarion-Limestone, which was coming off a 41-34 home loss to Ridgway less than 24 hours earlier and has now lost five consecutive games.
Frances Milliron scored 21 points and Kendall Dunn added 14 for the Lions, who fell behind 12-3 out of the gate and could never recover.
Moniteau led 32-18 at the half and then broke the game wide open in the third quarter, building a 48-24 advantage.
The lead got as big as 30 at 64-34 with a little less than four minutes remaining in the game.
Clarion-Limestone was playing without Alex Leadbetter, who was injured Monday against Ridgway.
“There’s no shame in tonight,” Simpson said. “Our girls played hard to the end. That’s all you can ask. We have a lot of girls sick and starter home injured, but we have to have the next girl up play well.”
The trick now for Moniteau will be maintaining what they showed against the Lions Tuesday.
The Warriors have a big game against a resurgent Keystone on Thursday looming.
“I wish we could (bottle this) for Thursday,” Arblaster said, “because that’s gonna be a tough one.”
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