Williamson’s 20 leads Howard Hanna over AMD

Howard Hanna matched its win total from last season in the opening week of the summer.

AMD Industries and Slagus Howard Hanna went head-to-head during the second night of Steel City Summer Basketball League action Wednesday night in a matchup that is an early game of the year contender.

In a back and forth affair, it was Slagus Howard Hanna that remained undefeated with a narrow 57-52 victory over AMD.

“I thought we played with energy from the start of the game to the end, and I thought that was the reason we won,” Slagus Howard Hanna head coach Nick Dizon said. “I didn’t think we were as sharp as we needed to be early in the game, but we defended well and kept the energy to cut the lead. As the game went on, I thought we moved the ball a little better, and I was impressed with our poise down the stretch once we got the lead.”

Sutton Williamson, who has been one of the early standout players this season, led all scorers with 20 points while Allie Wilson had an 11 point, 12 rebound double-double and Mia Sostaric added 10 for Slagus Howard Hanna (2-0).

For AMD Industries (1-1), their shorter bench looked to be a bit gassed down the stretch as SHH had several subs to keep their intensity high.

“We played great,” AMD head coach Bria Rathway said. “We had a great first half and a great performance. When they’re subbing four and five at a time and we have two with some in foul trouble, it’s tough. I’m excited to see when we have our full squad, but some of these girls are playing in this league for the first time, and they’re still getting used to playing with each other.”

AMD had a balanced offensive attack in the loss as Makayla Canty led the way with 10 points. Bella Klobucar, Emily Eisenberg and Giuliana Giannikas each had eight more while DaShae Cochran had seven and Riley McCabe and Aubrey Graney had six each.

It was AMD Industries that pulled out to an early lead, but Slagus Howard Hanna worked to keep it within reach before storming back.

Eisenberg and Graney helped AMD pull out to a 17-8 lead to open the action, prompting a timeout from SHH with 6:20 remaining in the first half.

Canty scored the first points after the break to make it 19-8, but that would be the largest deficit of the game for the victors.

After that layup, Slagus Howard Hanna rattled off a 10-0 run to make it 19-18 with two minutes left in the opening half. Canty and Giannikas made five free throws while McKenna Bittner knocked down a three before halftime to make the score 24-21 in favor of AMD going into the break.

Cochran got AMD started in the second half, but Wilson and Jules Ott matched her efforts for Slagus Howard Hanna. Finally, with about 11 minutes left to play, Wilson knocked down a triple to tie the game at 34.

Williamson gave her squad a lead with a three of her own, but AMD scored five straight to take back a 40-37 advantage. Canty split a free throw to even things at 41 before a barrage of three-pointers from both teams had the offense flowing.

McCabe connected on the first triple before Williamson answered right back 12 seconds later. Klobucar nailed a triple to give AMD a 47-44 lead, but Sostaric hit a trifecta to tie it up again before Delaney Amato hit a three to give Slagus Howard Hanna the advantage.

With 2:10 left in the game, Giannikas tied the game back up at 50 with the last of the six consecutive three-pointers.

After that exciting run, it was Williamson and Wilson that scored the next four pivotal points for SHH. AMD was unable to score and had to foul Sostaric with 27.3 seconds left, and she split on two attempts to give Slagus Howard Hanna a 55-50 lead.

Canty scored with seven seconds left and Williamson hit two free-throws to reach 20 points and end it at 57-52.

Slagus Howard Hanna will use their full squad to try and pile more wins together going forward. “Our depth is really important to the way we want to play,” Dizon said. “We want to play pedal to the metal. We want to push the pace, and we can’t do that with just five kids. We’re asking our kids to give their all for a few minutes, and our depth is allowing us to keep the energy up.”

As for AMD, there’s nothing to worry about after a tough loss against a strong team. They’ll hope to grab another victory in their next matchup.

“It’s about the little things,” Rathway said. “We’re getting to the hole. We’re getting open looks. We just have to knock them down, that’s what it comes down to. It’s not from lack of getting to the hole or getting good looks, we just have to hit big shots in timely situations.”

Trailside 75, Cedarbrook 59

All but one player on the Trailside roster scored as head coach Dan Slain’s team picked up its first win of the season over Cedarbrook (0-2).

Norwin’s Bella Furno led Trailside (1-1) with 16 points and Serra Catholic’s Abby Genes scored 11 of her 13 in the second half.

Rhyan Sledge and Kaelynn Settles each scored 7 points and five different players scored 6 points each.

For Cedarbrook, Elizabeth Forward’s Michelle Jellison finished with a game-high 18 points. North Allegheny’s Leah Skweres went for 15 and Monessen’s Madison Johnson ended with 13.

Trailside will take on BeeGraphix Monday with Cedarbrook facing Howard Hanna.

BeeGraphix 63, Monessen Florist 53

Canon-McMillan guard Lauren Borella scored a game-high 19 points

to lead BeeGraphix to a win over Monessen Florist.

Hayley Bennett (South Park) and Bently Layhue (Trinity) each scored a team-high 13 for Monessen Florist. Baldwin’s Lynsey Bernotas chipped in 12.

Albert Gallatin’s Mya Glisan chipped in 11 points for the winners.

Monessen Florist kicks off Monday’s tripleheader Monday against AMD Industries. BeeGraphix will face Trailside.