Girls Basketball - Greater Latrobe vs Penn-Trafford

January 16, 2023

Third Quarter Burst Lifts Penn-Trafford Girls over Latrobe 56-45

Penn-Trafford overcame a 5-point halftime deficit, more than doubling their first-half output in the third quarter, to beat Latrobe 56-45 in a Class 5A Section 3 girls basketball contest at Greater Latrobe on Monday, January 16.

The Lady Wildcats, riding a 6-game winning streak dating back to December 22nd, opened a 13-9 lead over Penn-Trafford through the first quarter on the efforts of Elle Snyder, Camille Dominick, and Josie Straigis. Snyder had two 3-pointers and Dominick had one, while Straigis scored the first 4 points of the game on a pair of field goals. Penn-Trafford's 9 points came on three shots, all behind the 3-point arc, with Olivia Pepple scoring a pair and Torrie DeStafano adding another. The teams scored a combined 18 of the 22 first quarter points from 3-point range.

Latrobe outscored the Warriors 10-9 in the second quarter and took a 23-18 into the halftime break. The teams combined for only 5 shots made from the field in the second, 3 from Latrobe and 2 from Penn-Trafford, including another 3-pointer for each. Penn-Trafford shot 4-of-6 from the foul line while Latrobe was 3-of-6.

Penn-Trafford came out in the third quarter like they were riding on a rocket. They quickly flipped the lead, scoring 10 unanswered points in the opening 2- 1/2 minutes, to go up 28-23 before the Wildcats scored two at the 4:46 mark to stop the Warriors run. By the time the quarter ended, the Warriors were on top 39-34. Penn-Trafford had four 3-pointers in the quarter, a pair from Kamryn Pieper and one each from Lilly Palladino and DeStefano. Dominick had 9 of the 11 points scored by the Wildcats.

A Josie Straigis layup 20 seconds into the final quarter brought Latrobe to within 3 points at 39-36, but that was as close as the Cats would get for the rest of the game. Latrobe turnovers led to more points for the Warriors, and Penn-Trafford pulled away to seal the 56-45 win.

Penn-Trafford was led by Olivia Pepple with 17, and Torrie DeStefano finished with 14. Pepple, DeStefano, Lilly Palladino, and Kamryn Pieper all had a pair of 3-point shots for the Warriors. Latrobe's Camille Dominick led all scorers with 21, and Elle Snyder had 13. Dominick and Snyder each finished with 3 buckets from behind the arc for the Wildcats.

Penn-Trafford (10-3, 4-2) travels for Connellsville for a section game on 1/19. Latrobe (10-5, 3-3) has a 24-hour turnaround as they visit Hempfield for a non-conference game on 1/17 before hosting section co-leader Oakland Catholic on 1/19.