Taylie Auth didn’t hide that the Plum girls basketball team was nervous heading into a home Section 1-5A matchup with Penn Hills on Monday night.
The Mustangs guard had ample reason to be nervous. With how tight the top half of the section is, there is little margin for error between first place and fifth place. Plum surged into a tie for first place by knocking off the Indians, who led the Mustangs by a half game entering the contest, 45-39.
The Mustangs never trailed but saw Penn Hills threaten its lead several times down the stretch.
“I think we definitely hold ourselves to a high standard,” Auth said. “We were all nervous coming into this game. Coach (Rich) Mull told us you have to show how much you want it, and we got after it.”
Auth made three 3-pointers in the first quarter and led the Mustangs with 14 points. The Mustangs (8-3, 4-1) only made one two-point shot in the first half. Plum’s other four field goals were from long range.
While Plum’s offense wasn’t consistent, Auth thought the early 3-pointers helped them settle in.
“It definitely got us ready,” Auth said. “(Penn Hills) beat Shaler and that got us on our toes. When we hit the 3s, everyone got so much more excited. It helped us step up our defense.”
Riley Stephans, who finished with 13 points, also added a first-quarter trey for the Mustangs.
“It obviously helped,” Mull said. “We’ve been talking about more consistency across the board with our shooting and our defensive effort. That was big for us.”
Penn Hills (5-6, 3-2) couldn’t find enough consistency on offense to prevent its losing streak from slipping to four games. Freshman guard Harmony McLean all scorers with 15 points, including nine in the first half.
The Indians battled back to tie the score at 19 by halftime. However, Penn Hills coach Robert Cash said the Indians didn’t play with enough urgency.
“I didn’t think we came to fight until we were down nine or 10,” Cash said. “When the score was even, we never had the lead, I think we relaxed and didn’t take the opportunity to go and get the lead. Instead of having that hunger and being that beast the whole game, we didn’t go after it until we thought we were going to get blown out.”
Penn Hills opened up the second half with a scoreless stretch that lasted nearly three minutes. Tamia West, who finished with 10 points, scored a field goal to stretch the lead to 23-19 during a 9-0 stretch to open the second half for the Mustangs.
Penn Hills trailed by nine points entering the fourth quarter but quickly cut the lead to 35-32 on consecutive 3-pointers by Malaya Middleton. Middleton finished with 11 points.
However, the Indians weren’t able to get much closer. Plum was patient with its possessions and were able to chew up a lot of clock to seal the win.
“In the past, the outcome may have been different,” Mull said. “Hopefully things that we are working on are paying off in game situations. We made more good decisions than bad decisions.”
Plum hopes to pick up a few more wins to stay in a tie at the top of the section.
“I think it’s proving something,” Auth said. “I think if we stay together as a team, we will be good.”