Spring-Ford girls return to final

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - With its second consecutive appearance in the PIAA Class AAAA final in sight, defending state girls' basketball champion Spring-Ford took control in the third quarter and rolled to a 47-32 win over North Allegheny in a semifinal Tuesday night at Chambersburg High.

Spring-Ford will play Cumberland Valley in the final at 6 p.m. Friday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

The Rams used a 15-0 run over an eight-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters and coasted from there.

Leading by 25-20 after a North Allegheny hoop by Taylor Lake, Spring-Ford started its game-deciding run with Molly Hynes' field goal with 3 minutes, 36 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Spring-Ford (27-6) led by 36-20 after three quarters and by 40-20 before North Allegheny junior Devvin LaBarge buried back-to-back three-pointers with four minutes to go.

But the Tigers, from District 7, got no closer than 44-32 with a little more than a minute remaining.

North Allegheny (25-3) shot just 11 of 50 (22 percent) from the field and turned the ball over 17 times. The Tigers came in averaging 60 points.

Early on, it was a feeling-out process for both teams as the Rams held a 10-9 lead after one quarter and led by 14-13 midway through the second quarter.

But an Abby Beyer three from the left wing kick-started an 8-0 run for Spring-Ford, and the Rams went to halftime in front, 22-15.

Sammy Stipa paced the Rams with 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Shelby Mueller chipped in with 12 points and four boards.

LaBarge took scoring honors for the Tigers with a game-high 16 points, hitting four three-pointers.

North Allegheny 9 6 5 12 – 32

Spring-Ford 10 12 14 11 – 47

NA: Devvin LaBarge 16, Taylor Lake 9, Meg Morningstar 5, Haley Zeise 2.

SF: Shelby Mueller 12, Julia Roshelli 2, Sammy Stipa 14, Amy Roth 2, Maggie Locke 5, Maddie Haney 4, Molly Hynes 2, Abby Beyer 6.