NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Trailing by six with a little more than a minute remaining in the third quarter, things looked very unsettled for the Redbank Valley girls basketball team.
Moniteau was playing well on the Bulldogs’ home floor. The Warriors had momentum. They had Redbank on its heels.
Then Alivia Huffman happened.
The junior guard/forward — her position defies description these days — buried 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor in the final 35 seconds to turn that 39-33 deficit into a 39-39 deadlock going into the fourth quarter.
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Huffman and freshman Mylee Harmon then salted the game away in the fourth to help Redbank Valley to a 62-49 win over Moniteau Friday night.
“Huffman can do pretty much whatever she wants to do when she wants to do it,” lamented Moniteau girls basketball coach Dee Arblaster.
Huffman scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the final nine minutes of the game.
She did it from the outside and the inside. She did it driving the lane and pulling up for running jumpers.
She did it playing point guard and playing in the post.
(Alivia Huffman)
Huffman’s role is ever-evolving. When Harmon is on the bench, Huffman is the main ballhandler. When Harmon is on the floor, Huffman moves down low.
“I like it,” Huffman said, grinning. “I get tired playing up top.”
Huffman, though, was held to just five points in the first half as the Warriors took a 24-23 lead into the break.
Abbey Jewart hit three 3-pointers in the first two quarters and Victoria Pry scored six in the first half to help stake Moniteau to that slim lead.
Moniteau scored the first five points of the second half and pushed its advantage to as many as eight at 34-26.
But Huffman hadn’t gotten started yet.
“Like I said the other night, our mentality is anybody can step up and Alivia really stepped up, not only on the offensive side, but she also played good defense and got a couple of big rebounds,” said Redbank Valley coach Chris Edmonds.
After tying the game at the end of the third, Redbank Valley went on a 15-2 run to put the game essentially out of reach.
Harmon went 8 for 8 at the free throw line in the final quarter and scored 16 points for the Bulldogs. Harmon also dribbled away time off the clock once Redbank wrested the lead away.
Harmon has proven to be the Bulldogs’ closer of late.
“We like that — that’s something we just put in recently,” Edmonds said, “We’ve been working on that with Mylee and Alivia and others. But Mylee controls the game to enable us to do what we need to do to get the separation and then the W.”
Redbank Valley (16-4, 8-0) was 23 of 31 from the free throw line in the game.
Madison Foringer added 10 for the Bulldogs.
“They have too many weapons,” Arblaster said.
Catherine Kelly led Moniteau with 16 points. Jewart added 14 and Victoria Pry eight.
“Moniteau always plays hard,” Edmonds said. “Dee really coaches them well, so it’s always a good game. I expect to probably see them later on, either in the KSAC or the district playoffs.”
To get to the four-team KSAC championship tournament, Moniteau (11-8, 6-3) will have to beat Karns City at home on Tuesday.
The Gremlins (11-8, 5-4) knocked off Clarion-Limestone (11-8, 5-3) Friday night. The Lions played Redbank Valley on Monday and then close out the KSAC Large schedule with Cranberry Tuesday.
Union (13-5, 7-0) and North Clarion (16-3, 6-1) already have the top two spots locked up in the KSAC Small.
The Damsels and Wolves square off Tuesday at Union.
“We gotta win Tuesday,” Arblaster said.
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
