The Ellwood City girls basketball team used a decisive third quarter to race away from rival Riverside Monday evening and pick-up a 60-31 RivEll Cup victory that secured a Class 3A playoff berth.
The Wolverines used a 24-4 third quarter onslaught to pull away from the visiting Panthers.
Claire Noble led all scorers with 25 points including five 3-pointers to pace the Ellwood City offense.
Delaney Sturgeon (13 points, 5-6 free throws) and Caitlin Kreitzer (10 points) joined Noble in double figures.
Riverside struck early with Camryn Friello leading the way with a 3-point barrage. Friello scored 12 of her team-high 14 points in the first quarter.
The Panthers played a tight first half and only trailed by seven points but Ellwood City held the Panthers offense to only eight second half points.
Friello added six rebounds for Riverside (4-13 Overall) while Gigi Finch scored eight points and dished out four assists in the defeat.
Ellwood City (14-6 Overall, 6-2 Section 1-3A) becomes the third team from its section to clinch a WPIAL playoff berth, joining Neshannock and Beaver Falls. The playoff berth is the first for the team since 2018-19 and only the third this century. The last time the girls won a playoff game was 1995.
The Lady Wolverines will next travel to face Mohawk on Thursday. The team will then host fellow playoff bound foe, Beaver Falls, next Monday at home for senior night.
“We are preparing for our last three section games, especially Thursday and Monday against Mohawk and Beaver Falls,” says head coach Dena Noble. “Now that we’ve made the playoffs, we can set higher goals for ourselves.”
The team will look to make a playoff run according to its coach.
“We want to earn a higher seed by finishing on the upper end of our section and we hope to make a playoff run. We are looking to add to that history this year.”
photos courtesy: Next Level Photography
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