COAL TOWNSHIP - Of the 12 girls who played for Shamokin in Friday's season opener against Marian Catholic in the Lourdes Tipoff Classic, six were freshmen, including two starters.
So it wasn't surprising that the Indians had a case of the jitters and committed 11 turnovers in the first quarter and fell behind by eight points. What was surprising was that once they settled down, they played the Fillies, who were gunning for head coach Paul Brutto's 500th career win, pretty much evenly the rest of the game.
Marian won 44-29, but actually finished with one more turnover, and if the Indians shot a little better at the foul line (5 for 18), they might have made it very much a game at certain points.
"We're very young, and we have a lot of girls who are only playing their first or second year of varsity basketball," said first-year head coach Jordan Rickert. "It was actually a good opportunity for us to open against a team like Marian. They're very fundamentally sound and find the open man, so it was a good test for us."
Marian was playing without several key players due to injury, but had the steady presence of senior guards Ashley Fannick and Abby Whildin to carry the Fillies through rough spots. Fannick led all scorers with 13 points, and added five assists and six steals, and Whildin added 10 points, hitting a couple of three-pointers.
But the Indians controlled the boards and forced some turnovers of their own to get back into the game. And had junior center Gabby Lahr not been in foul trouble, they'd have been even tougher on the boards. Lahr scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds, but actually only played about half the game because of fouls.
Senior Shaylee Pesarchick scored 10 points with six rebounds. But after those two, the rest of the team shot just 2 for 18 from the floor.
"This season is going to be all about teachable moments and winnable lessons," Rickert said. "We're going to have to learn things from every game."
"I'm really happy for our kids," Brutto said. "We're facing a lot of problems in terms of injuries and playing some young kids. In a game that got close at times, they hung together and won.
"We expected that because we've got a couple new starters and we were subbing a couple young kids," Brutto said of the turnovers. "I thought that showed at times but we were able to pull it together in the long run and do what we needed to do."
Marian will play Lourdes Regional in today's championship game, and Shamokin will take on Sunbury Christian in the consolation game.
Game Summary
SHAMOKIN (29) - Erdman 0 1-5 1, Erb 0 0-0 0, Bonshock 1 1-2 3, Pesarchick 4 2-5 10, Lahr 6 1-5 13, Eby 0 0-0 0, Shoff 1 0-0 2, Aurand 0 0-0 0, Pope 0 0-0 0, Nazih 0 0-0 0, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Hasuga 0 0-1 0. Totals 12 5-18 29.
MARIAN (44) - Whildin 3 2-4 10, Fannick 5 2-5 13, Corrale 2 0-0 4, Shaud 0 1-2 1, Kaminski 4 0-0 8, Agosti 2 0-0 4, Mahon 0 0-0 0. Capparell 1 2-2 4, Raabe 0 0-0 0, Mooney 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-13 44.
3-point FGs: Shamokin - None. Marian (3) - Whildin 2, Fannick.