Lilly Houghtalen saw the basketball go up and quickly got into position to thrash for the offensive rebound.
“I knew I had to box out, rebound and be there,” she said.
The 5-foot-9 sophomore forward grabbed the miss and quickly deposited the ball in the basket to put Hempfield up 30-29 with 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining against pesky North Hills.
The Lady Spartans, despite some tense moments, made that score hold up to secure a narrow, one-point nonsection win and remain unbeaten Thursday night at Spartan Field House.
“Defensive struggle,” Hempfield coach Bob Madison said.
Despite a short bench and second-half fatigue, Hempfield moved to 5-0 with defense as their calling card, finally putting away the Indians and standout sophomore guard Zoe Devlin, who had a game-high 14 points but was one of only three scorers for the Indians (1-4).
“Nothing came easy tonight for anybody,” Madison said. “A win is a win. We were way too loose with the ball (offensively), but our defense was so good all night.”
Senior 5-10 forward Gabby Coccia led Hempfield with 13 points and added three blocks. Junior guard Reagan Fisher added seven points.
For the second straight season, Hempfield is off to a 5-0 start. It started 6-0 last year. The team has two more nonsection games before opening Section 2-6A play next Thursday at home against Mt. Lebanon.
“For about a minute there (in the fourth), I thought we were going to break,” Madison said. “I saw some looks on their faces. But we weathered the storm.”
After her go-ahead basket, Houghtalen missed two free throws with 34.8 seconds left. Then, she came up with the ball off a blank 3-point attempt by the Indians and was fouled again with 5.7. Again, she went 0 for 2, but the Spartans held on.
“Coach (Madison) and my teammates all supported me,” Houghtalen said. “They said, you can do this. I know I will make them next time. We have a good team. Nobody is too selfish, and everyone is aggressive.”
Hempfield played without sophomore guard Carina Rimmel (knee injury) and freshman reserve Lena Hisman, so junior Olivia Eiseman made her first varsity start.
“Our bench was lighter than normal,” Madison said. “Eiseman was really good. We might have been a little tired at times. We have to take better care of the ball if we want to get where we want to go.”
Hempfield turnovers and missed shots against a 2-3 zone allowed North Hills to hang around and take back the lead early in the third quarter.
That and the play of Devlin.
Hempfield led 10-9 after the first quarter and had a 17-12 lead in the second after senior Ava Shipman hit a 3 from the top of the key.
Devlin, who already has a Division I offer from Buffalo, scored off a steal to cut the score to 17-14 at halftime.
Junior Delaney Amato made a turnaround shot in the lane before Devlin finished another steal with a layup to put the Indians in front 18-17 early in the third.
Fisher scored five straight points to push Hempfield’s edge to 22-18 before Devlin struck again, scoring on a break to tie it 24-24 after three.
Amato made a 3 and then two free throws to open the scoring in the fourth and give North Hills a 29-24 advantage.
Coccia, though, delivered a layup in the lane, a bank shot and a blocked shot to close the gap to 29-28 with two minutes remaining before Houghtalen’s go-ahead hoop.
“Our defense was good again,” Coccia said. “Ava and Lilly worked to shut down their girls. Our ball movement has been good and we’ve been playing solid defense. We just have to work on our communication when we get frazzled.”
Junior Lily Zickefoose added eight points for the Indians, and Amato had seven.
North Hills has lost four in a row.