CUMBERLAND — A pair of freshmen in their varsity debut led Mountain Ridge to a 57-48 win over Allegany on Tuesday.
Kealana Pua’auli and Taylor Lamberson each scored in double figures and made several key plays to lead the Miners (1-0).
“We dug deep, we made plays when we needed to,” Mountain Ridge head coach Todd Snyder said. “It was back-and-forth, we went up on them. We got ourselves into foul trouble in the second quarter and they clawed ahead. We fought back, we weathered the storm to get out down one at half.”
Mountain Ridge shot well to open the game, making three consecutive shots. Rhegan Lamberson assisted on two of them, both 3-pointers to give the Miners a 7-3 lead.
Pua’auli set up Lamberson for a 3-pointer to push the lead to 10-5 a few minutes later.
“I was pleased with the way that we shot,” Snyder said. “But we fell in love with the 3-pointer way too much. I wasn’t too happy that we continued to go to the 3-point line and just keep jacking up 3s. We shoot a lot of 3s, but we want those 3s to come later in the possession.”
The Campers (0-1) responded with three steals on defense from three different players. Avery Miller recorded a steal and turned it into a transition layup to cut the score to 10-8 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Mountain Ridge responded with a steal by Sydney Snyder. She passed to Pua’auli who hit a deep two-point jumper to give the Miners a 14-8 lead after one quarter.
After a slow start offensively in the first quarter, Allegany responded in the second with a 10-3 run.
Shylah Taylor led the Campers with two steals and an assist during the run.
Taylor’s second steal set up a fastbreak chance for Allegany. Miller found Taylor for a 3-pointer to cut the Campers’ deficit to 17-16.
After three Allegany misses near the rim, Miller finished a putback that gave the Campers its first lead at 18-17.
“They were just going to the 3-point line and standing,” coach Snyder said. “That’s not what we’re supposed to do. There’s supposed to be cuts and supposed to be five out. We weren’t going through, if we did go through we would’ve made layups. That would’ve opened up the 3 later on.”
Lamberson set up Pua’auli for a wide-open layup to tie the game at 19. Allegany responded with a corner 3-pointer from Miller to Taylor, taking a 22-21 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, Mountain Ridge trailed 28-26 with 6:33 left. The Miners responded with several and-one layups that helped them take the lead.
The first was on a Pua’auli layup off a Lamberson assist that tied the game at 26.
About a minute later, Pua’auli drove to the rim for a tough finish, drawing the foul and capitalizing on the three-point play to tie it at 28.
“That was huge because that’s what we want,” coach Snyder said. “We want to attack. We got to the foul line quickly in the third quarter, we got several and-ones and finished those off. That’s kind of what we wanted in the second quarter, it finally came in the third quarter.”
Reghan Sivic drew a foul about 20 seconds later and hit a pair of free throws to retake the lead for the Miners at 30-28.
The teams went back-and-forth scoring in the final five minutes of the third quarter. The Campers outscored the Miners 9-7 to tie the game at 37 heading into the final quarter.
Allegany tied it on an and-one layup by Miller in the final minute of the quarter.
After a slow start offensively, Taylor found rhythm in the third quarter for the Campers. She scored 10 points including a pair of 3-pointers to lead Allegany.
The fourth quarter was also tightly played with three lead changes and two ties.
“Our girls dug deep at the end,” coach Snyder said. “We got the rebounds when we needed them. We didn’t give them second or third opportunities, I think that was the key.”
The Miners took the lead for good on a free throw by Avery Tingler. A few minutes later, Snyder went coast-to-coast for a layup to push the lead to 49-46.
“Her game continues to evolve,” coach Snyder said. “She knows teams are gonna try and take her left away and work to the right. I didn’t think we were setting enough screens tonight for her to get some open looks, but it ended up working out.”
Up 49-46 with 1:23 left, Mountain Ridge took a timeout. On the ensuing inbound, Pua’auli set up Lamberson for a layup to push the lead to 51-46.
A few seconds later, Lamberson recorded a steal, forcing the Campers to start fouling.
Snyder led all scorers with 25 points, also recording a steal and an assist.
Pua’auli scored 12 points with four assists, a steal and a block. Taylor Lamberson finished with 10 points, two assists and two steals. Rhegan Lamberson did not score, but recorded six assists.
“The two of them bring intensity,” coach Snyder said of Pua’auli and Taylor Lamberson. “A lot of basketball knowledge, they bring some athleticism. They allow us to spread some things out and do some things we haven’t been able to do in the past.”
Miller led Allegany with 24 points, six assists, a steal and a block. Taylor scored 21 with four assists and four steals.
Mountain Ridge is coming off a historic season where it went 20-7 overall and won the region, reached the final four and the state title game for the first time in school history.
“I’ve told them they’ve got a bullseye on their back, they got a bullseye on the front,” coach Snyder said of defending last season’s accomplishments. “We’re gonna take every team’s best shot. We always have, but we’re definitely gonna take it this year. We just got to come out ready to play and bring the intensity every single play.”
Both teams play on Thursday. Mountain Ridge hosts Clear Spring at 6 p.m. in a varsity-only contest while Allegany is at Southern at 7:30 p.m.