RECAP
On a night when a former standout was honored for her point-scoring prowess, Steel-High came up a tad short in its Mid-Penn Capital game against visiting East Pennsboro on Friday night.
With 3,366-point scorer Malia Tate-DeFreitas watching from the bleachers, the Rollers dropped a 53-47 decision to the Panthers, who feasted on 33 turnovers.
STANDOUT STARS
Sam Marino splashed three 3-pointers and scored 15 points, Amber Grob was a force at both ends with 14 points and several steals to spark the defense, and Kailee Yoder chipped in with 12 points for East Pennsboro, which improved to 6-8 in the division and to 9-11 overall.
Ayana Flowers scored 9 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, I’Jianique Williams scored 12 points and nabbed 12 rebounds, and Malani Tate-DeFreitas, playing in front of her big sister, hit three 3s and scored a season-high 11 points for Steel-High, which slipped to 4-10 in the division and 6-15 overall.
But the Rollers should safely be in the upcoming District 3-A playoffs, where they’ll be out to defend their crown.
MORE NUMBERS
Steel-High won the rebounding battle, 40-31. … East Pennsboro survived 19 turnovers — 13 in the first half, which ended in a 26-all tie after the Rollers grabbed a 9-8 first-quarter lead. … Marino has 44 3-pointers, tops among Mid-Penn players. … Yoder had a team-high 8 rebounds for the Panthers.
QUOTABLE
East Pennsboro coach Bob Kelly — “We’re kind of an outside shooting team, at least by desire, but I thought we were able to get more inside baskets in the second half. And we were able to go 6-for-6 at the line down the stretch to ice it. So I’m very pleased.”