Hot Fry burns Slippery Rock on Sharpsville senior night

Dan Hiner, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·3 min read

Feb. 8—SHARPSVILLE — The Sharpsville High School gym had balloons on either end of the half-court line. It provided an avenue for the senior and their parents to walk down for the ceremonial photos.

It was Senior Night, and one of the upperclassmen flipped the switch from honoree to high scorer in a 47-17 win over Slippery Rock Thursday night.

Chasie Fry finished with 19 points, including nine in the first quarter. Fry added five rebounds with a team-high three assists.

The early offense by Fry propelled the Blue Devils (5-5 Region 4, 10-10) to a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

"We were all excited for the big game," Fry said. "We got through our senior night walkthroughs and everything and we put our game faces and we were ready."

The Blue Devils led 25-2 with just over five minutes to play in the first half. The Rockets (2-8, 3-17) got their first basket off a jumper from Molly Bissell with three minutes left in the second quarter.

Bissell led the Rockets with six points. Libby Campbell recorded four points with five rebounds and three assists, and Leah Double scored two points with a team-high six rebounds.

"They came out strong in the first quarter and we couldn't bounce back from that," Stephanie Croll said. "We weren't executing our offense to our full potential. We missed a lot of open girls on screens, we missed a lot of open cuts to the hoop, we missed a lot of layups. There's not much you can do about that."

The Blue Devils kept the pressure on during the third quarter, outscoring the Rockets 16-6 to force the running clock.

Tori Kimpan finished with 12 points with four boards for the Blue Devils, and Brianna Hanley scored nine points with a game-high eight rebounds.

The win capped a night for seniors Paige Messett, Lyndzie Springer, Paige Doyle, Hanley, Kimpan and Fry.

Thursday's victory also got the Blue Devils to the .500 mark. They have won four straight and five out of their last six — the one outlier coming by way of a 48-40 loss to Wilmington.

Fry said the recent success has come as the team has grown. The Blue Devils have seen progress from the younger players to help the upperclassmen.

Sharpsville will close the season with two away games. The first will come on Monday at Hickory, and the Devils close the regular season with a trip to Sharon on Thursday.

"This senior class ... I have six of them, and they're great," Rob Hubbard said. "I took over the program two years ago and they've bought in from Day 1. They deserve all the success they're having right now because they put the hard work in. I'm very proud of them and couldn't ask for six better seniors to lead our program."

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SLIPP. ROCK 0 4 6 7 17

SHARPSVILLE 14 13 16 4 47

SLIPPERY ROCK — Caffaro 0-1-4-1, Bissell 3-0-0-6, Popovec 0-0-0-0, Lin 0-0-0-0, Sabo 1-0-0-2, Romanivich 0-0-0-0, Double 1-0-2-2, Campbell 1-2-2-4, Zuschlag 1-0-1-2. 3-pt. goals: None. Totals: 7-3-9-17.

SHARPSVILLE — Springer 0-0-0-0, Doyle 0-0-0-0, C. Fry 7-1-3-19, Kimpan 5-0-0-12, Messett 0-0-2-0, Steiner 1-0-0-2, R. Fry 0-0-0-0, Hassan 0-0-0-0, Palko 0-3-4-3, Masters 0-0-0-0, Hanley 4-1-2-9, Slemmer 1-0-0-2. 3-pt. goals: C. Fry 3, Kimpan 2. Totals: 18-5-11-47.