Blue Jays outlast Tigers in early clash

Dec. 15—ALMEDIA — Emmie Rowe has excelled as an undersized post player throughout Central Columbia's consecutive district championship seasons and into her senior year.

Games such as Wednesday's league crossover against Southern Columbia and the Tigers' two 6-footers should give the 5-foot-9 Rowe problems. Then again, you don't measure athleticism and heart in inches.

Rowe scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds to power the Blue Jays to a 62-56 victory in an entertaining Heartland Athletic Conference matchup.

"We've been wanting to beat Southern for a really long time, and we knew we had to use our athleticism, our speed and everything we have to our advantage," said Rowe. "We just had so much energy going into this game."

Central, the two-time defending District 4 Class 4A champion, bounced back from an eight-point loss Saturday to 6A Central Dauphin in Elizabethtown College's ETown Showdown to improve to 4-1.

Southern Columbia, last year's Class 2A state runner-up, dropped to 2-3.

The Tigers tied the score at 49 on senior Ava Novak's driving layup with 5:58 to play. The Blue Jays outscored them 13-7 the rest of the way, helped by four of Southern turnovers in the final two minutes.

"We just panicked and didn't take care of the ball like we should have, and, obviously, that just turned into points for them," said Tigers coach Kam Traugh. "We really haven't gotten into a flow, although I think this is one of our best games this year. We just had too many turnovers. Way too many to win a basketball game."

Novak scored 16 points to lead four Tigers in double figures. Alli Griscavage, an all-state senior post, had 14 points and nine boards, while twin tower Brooke Charnosky, a first-year starting sophomore, added 12 and 10. Loren Gehret added 10 points and seven steals.

In a game of wild swings — during the final six minutes of the first half alone, Southern led by eight, trailed by seven, and then led at the horn — Rowe was Central's rock. She had at least six points in every quarter, and almost everything she scored was in traffic around the hoop.

"They're obviously a really good team, a successful team that has a lot of good parts," said Blue Jays coach Ryan Novak. "So she knew she had to sort of hold the fort down in there against Griscavage and try to compete and beat her to the spot and do the best we can while our guards tried to pressure the ball."

The teams combined for 15 first-quarter turnovers, with Gehret making four steals for the Tigers, but the Jays set a tone by matching Southern on the glass with nine boards.

"They definitely have the size on us — we don't have a lot of tall people on our team — so we just use our speed to our advantage," said Rowe. "For me, I just try to go fast and get on the boards that way, rather than using my size. Our team rebounds really well. Even if I don't get it, I'm confident that the rest of the girls are going to clean up the long rebounds."

Ava Novak hit the first of her four 3-pointers and Griscavage scored on a curl to the bucket to put Southern ahead 22-14 with about six minutes left in the half. Central responded 12-0 spree that included eight Rowe points.

"We let this team have 14 points off 11 offensive rebounds," said Traugh. "We've been preaching that you need to get those rebounds. That's been a struggle of ours — boxing out. I don't know why, but it is. I'm disappointed with the rebounding."

Tatum Klebon's follow-up hoop with 3:04 left stopped the run, but the Jays led 31-24 on an Alyx Flick 3-pointer at the 1:38 mark. Southern closed the half 8-0 helped by another Ava Novak 3.

"Those swings felt like a heavyweight fight, and it was in such different ways and contrasting styles," said Ryan Novak. "It felt like, finally, when the clock hit zero we could breathe a little bit."

The teams played an even third quarter, and Southern erased a four-point deficit early in the fourth. From the point of the 49-all tie, however, Flick had an assist to Rowe in transition and a bucket off her own steal after Southern pulled within 55-53. Flick finished with 12 points, five rebounds, five steals and five assists.

"She's so great at doing what she does," Rowe said of Flick. "She's so athletic, and she gets us so many extra points, even if she's not the one putting them in."

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CENTRAL COLUMBIA 62, SOUTHERN COLUMBIA 56

Southern Columbia (2-3) 56

Brooke Charnosky 5 2-3 12, Alli Griscavage 7 0-0 14, Tatum Klebon 2 0-0 4, Loren Gehret 3 4-4 10, Ava Novak 6 0-0 16. Totals 23 6-7 56.

3-point goals: Novak 4.

Did not score: Tasmiya Russell-King.

Central Columbia (4-1) 62

Alyx Flick 5 1-4 12, Emmie Rowe 13-2-5 28, Caitlyn Weatherill 2 0-0 5, Lindsey Bull 1 1-2 3, Madelyn Blake 2 1-2 5, Haley Bull 3 1-3 9. Totals 26 6-16 62.

3-point goals: H. Bull 2, Flick, Weatherill.

Did not score: Avery Kissinger.

Score by quarters

Southern Columbia;15;17;13;11 — 56

Central Columbia;11;20;13;18 — 62