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PIAA-AAA GIRLS BASKETBALL: Greencastle beats Audenried 55-33 in 'scramble'



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DALLASTOWN >> Greencastle-Antrim's Jane Herman described the Blue Devils' win over Audenried Charter in one word. A scramble.

Despite turning the ball over 26 times, Greencastle jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 55-33 win in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA girls basketball tournament. It was the Blue Devils' first-ever win in the state tournament.

Greencastle (25-3) will face District 3 foe Berks Catholic (22-6) in the second round on Wednesday. Berks Catholic defeated Pope John Paul II 63-57.

"It feels good to get a win, even though we didn't play our best game," Devils coach Mike Rhine said. "We knew what was coming, but we just didn't adjust to it well at times."

The Lady Rockets, who end their season with a 17-9 record, played a trap defense the entire game and forced Greencastle into a physical game.

"We honestly couldn't tell if it was man or zone," Rhine said. "We lost our spacing at times, and they frustrated us, but we did a good job of spreading the floor at times and really penetrating the holes in the defense."

Jenay Faulkner, who finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds, said, "We definitely haven't seen anything like that. It's a different style than we're used to, but we did our best to adjust, and we executed well enough."

After neither team scored through the first four minutes of the game, the Blue Devils ended the quarter on a 13-0 run to take a 13-2 lead. Then, Herman went to work. She scored eight points in both the second and third quarters, hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished 7 of 14 from the field. She finished with a game-high 20 points.

"I'm just glad we kept our heads together," Herman said. "It got pretty physical there down the stretch, but we kept playing smart and kept our heads in it."

Rhine said, "Jane was awesome. She stayed after practice and shot the other night, and I'm happy for her. She deserves anything good that comes her way."

The Blue Devils went into halftime with a 29-14 lead and continued to build on the lead in the second half. Hannah Crist finished with 12 points behind 8-for-10 shooting from the foul line, and Meghan Hirneisen added 10 rebounds. Katie Gelsinger also added eight points and 14 rebounds.

Deja McKinney led Audenried with 11 points, and Jaquay Williams added nine. Greencastle finished just 2-for-17 from beyond the arc.

"To their credit, they got us out of whack and beat us up a bit," Rhine said. "We'll be ready to get back to work on Monday."

NOTES >> Greencastle shot 20 of 55 (36.4 percent) from the field, including 2-for-17 long-range, but were just 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) at the foul line ... The Rockets shot just 12 of 56 (21.4 percent) from the floor and were 1-for-17 from the 3-point line ... Greencastle outrebounded Audenried 47-30 ... The teams combined to shoot 7 of 34 from the field in the first half.

AUDENRIED (33)

Deja McKinney 4-11 3-4 11, Jaquay Williams 3-8 3-3 9, Rashima Peterson 1-5 0-0 3, Romeria Tucker 0-9 0-0 0, Labriyah Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Denijsha Wilson 3-16 2-3 8, Ameesha Thomas 1-4 0-1 2, Karina Short 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals — 12-56 8-11 33.

GREENCASTLE (55)

Jane Herman 7-14 4-5 20, Hannah Crist 2-9 8-10 12, Jenay Faulkner 5-11 0-3 10, Katie Gelsinger 4-11 0-0 8, Meghan Hirneisen 1-8 1-9 3, Shelby Stouffer 1-2 0-0 2, Hannah Zimmerman 0 0-0 0.

Totals — 20-55 13-27 55.

Audenried212118—33Greencastle13161511—55

3-point goals — AC 1-17 (Peterson), GA 2-17 (Herman 2).