The Ellwood City girls basketball team made the most of their upset bid on Wednesday, but after battling all game against the higher seeded Cougars of Carlynton, the Wolverines finally fell 44-39 in their opening round match-up at North Hills.
The teams were tied 18-18 at the half before Carlynton opened the second half with an 11-2 run. Ellwood came back with a 9-2 run to close the gap, but was unable to regain a lead after leading Carlynton for brief moments in the first half.
Senior Natalia Greco led the Wolverines (13-10 overall) with 16 points, including eight in the first quarter while fellow senior Isabella Roth finished with 7 points in defeat.
Junior guard Jada Lee scored 13 points in the second half and finished with game-high 18 points for Carlynton (19-4) who advances to the quarterfinals of the Class 3A Playoffs.
The Cougars will face Avonworth on Saturday at a time and place to be announced. Ellwood City was defeated twice by Avonworth during its regular season section play.
For first-year head coach Marc Heil, sights will now be set on next year with an opportunity to build on a double-digit win season.
“I told the girls that we won 13 games this year, which was the most in at least 15 years at our school,” Heil told a TimesOnline.com reporter after the game. “This was a historic season for our program.”
The Wolverines will be returning three starters, freshman Kyla Servick and sophomores Olivia Battaglia and Maria Ioanilli. Sophomore Chloe Sturgeon who gave valuable playing time from the bench will also return to help replace the departure of the two seniors, Greco and Roth.
And that’s final. Lady Wolverines put up a HUGE fight as they were the underdog #13 against #4 Carlynton, losing 44-39. Great job ladies and congrats on the 13-10 season and playoff selection! pic.twitter.com/9NV9b5jO2w
— Ellwood City Wolverines Sports (@EC_Wolverines) February 21, 2019
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