MOUNT CARMEL - It looks like Christina Perles is starting to fit in a little better at Mount Carmel.
Perles, a transfer from Lourdes Regional, had her second straight big scoring night with 26 points Saturday as the Red Tornadoes won a key early season Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference Division II game over Lewisburg, 64-51. Mount Carmel is 4-1 overall, 2-0 in the division, and Lewisburg dropped to 3-2, 1-1.
Perles hit 9 of 15 shots from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line and benefitted from the good overall play of the rest of the team, which forced the Green Dragons into 25 turnovers and was able to run the floor with abandon.
Perles' big game came on the heels of a 25-point game against Central Columbia and not long after being held to four points in a loss to North Schuylkill.
"I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable with the team," Perles said. "Everybody really welcomed me from the start, but I was learning to play the three (forward) position. Now that Elise (Nestico) is hurt, I'm back to the four position and I'm a little more comfortable there."
Perles also said the Red Tornadoes, with some new personnel, probably weren't quite ready for North Schuylkill's pressure defense early in the season.
"I think so," she said. "They're all really good defensive players, not just a couple of them, and they really got on top of your shot."
"Christina really had a strong game underneath," said Mount Carmel coach Lisa Varano. "She really took the ball to the basket well."
Perles was far from the only strong performer. Ali Varano had 17 points and seven rebounds, Anna Raybuck had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Varano, Raybuck and Paige Hornung all had five steals.
"Defense wins games and I thought we really picked it up tonight," said Mount Carmel coach Lisa Varano.
Part of the defensive plan was to have Ali Varano key on Lewisburg sharpshooter Maria Keleher in the Tornadoes' zone press as much as possible. Keleher still managed 20 points, hitting 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range, but she and the rest of her teammates had trouble finding shots against the press.
"That was the plan," Lisa Varano said. "Maria is a really good shooter and if she has open shots, she hits them."
Mount Carmel broke the game open fairly early by scoring eight straight points at the end of the first quarter for an 18-8 lead, which the Red Tornadoes bumped up to 20 points (39-19) at halftime. Mount Carmel forced 16 turnovers in the first half.
Game Summary
LEWISBURG (51) - Kelleher 5 6-11 20, Stanko 1 0-2 2, K. Conrad 1 0-0 2, Gajda 0 0-2 0, Doyle 2 1-2 6, Auckerman 0 0-0 0, E. Conrad 2 1-2 5, McFadden 3 0-0 6, Lesher 3 0-3 6, Blakeslee 1 2-2 4. Totals 18 10-26 51.
MOUNT CARMEL (64) - Hornung 2 0-1 5, Varano 5 7-10 17, Perles 9 8-9 26, Raybuck 4 2-5 10, Dunkle 0 0-0 0, Bolick 0 0-0 0, Winhofer 0 0-2 0, Hood 0 0-0 0, Stellar 1 0-0 2, Parker 1 2-2 4. Totals 22 19-29 64.
3-point FGs: Lewisburg (5) - Kelleher 4, Doyle; Mount Carmel (1) - Hornung.
JV: Mount Carmel 38, Lewisburg 27