California girls oust D9 champs Venango Catholic

CLARION, Pa. – WPIAL Class A fifth-place finisher California used a second-half starting 14-2 run to oust District 9 champion Venango Catholic from the PIAA postseason with a 40-28 win over the Lady Vikings in a first-round game Saturday night at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

Venango Catholic (21-6) led 18-17 at halftime but managed just one basket in the first 14:55 of the second half allowing California (25-2) to take control of the game.

The Lady Vikings ended up connecting on just 3 of 25 shots (12 percent) in the second half after going 8 of 19 (42.1 percent) in the opening 16 minutes to take the one-point lead at the break.

Taylor Moltz led Venango with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Ava Homan had 10 points and nine boards.

Kylie Huffman paced California with 16 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and two assist, while Lyndsey Huhn added 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and an assist. Huhn’s first basket of the game with 1:22 left in the first quarter gave her career points 1,000 and 1,001. She finished the night with 1,009 career tallies.

The loss marked the first time the District 9 champion dropped a first-round PIAA game since Elk County Catholic lost 34-32 to Rochester in 2010.

CALIFORNIA 40, VENANGO CATHOLIC 28

Score by Quarters

California 6 11 8 15 – 40

Venango 9 9 2 8 – 28

California – 40

Lyndsey Huhn 5-13 0-0 10, Jenna Miller 1-3 3-4 5, Bailey Vig 1-4 0-1 3, Kylie Huffman 4-8 7-8 16, Katharina Pankratz 1-1 2-2 4, Brooke Clements 1-1 0-0 2, Marissa Bitonti 0-2 0-0 0, Dominque Gaston 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-33 12-15 40.

Venango Catholic – 28

Ava Homan 3-15 4-7 10, Allison Guth 3-6 0-0 6, Claire Niederriter 0-3 0-0 0, Colleen Cunningham 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Moltz 5-18 0-0 12, Ashley Finch 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Dziekciasz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-44 4-7 28.

Three-pointers – California 2-9 (Vig 1-3, Huffman 1-3, Huhn 0-1, Miller 0-1, Gaston 0-1). Venango Catholic 2-9 (Moltz 2-8, Dziekciasz 0-1).