Moyer, Lourdes Regional stop Shade superstar

Mar. 16—MECHANICSBURG — Paityn Moyer had one job Wednesday night: Defend Shade superstar Jenna Muha as though Lourdes Regional's postseason life depended on it, because it probably did.

The 6-foot-2 Muha, who's bound for Division II Frostburg State, entered the PIAA Class A second-round game averaging 32 points. She had three times as many 40-point games this season (six) than games with 20 points or fewer.

Make that two times as many.

Moyer excelled as the "one" in the Red Raiders' box-and-one defense against Muha, limiting her to nine points through three quarters. Moyer even found time for a side hustle, hitting four 3-pointers as a part of a season-high 20-point effort that sparked Lourdes to a 55-34 victory at Cumberland Valley H.S.

"I was just hoping my shot fell, and once I saw that first one go in I felt it. I was like, I think I'm going to have a good shooting night," said Moyer. "I'm happy about the offense, but I'm more proud about the defense."

Moyer scored eight first-quarter points, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Red Raiders blitzed the District 5 third-place Panthers, 16-6. Though Lourdes suffered a second-quarter drought that carried into the second half, Masie Reed went off for 12 of her 19 points in the third quarter to re-ignite the rout.

"It's not really surprising," said Reed. "We just had to come out and have a good first quarter to get a little bit of momentum going."

Lourdes (20-7), which qualified for states as the District 4 third-place finisher, earned a PIAA quarterfinal berth for the fifth time in the last eight seasons, and first since 2019 when it was state runner-up. The Red Raiders will face District 4 runner-up St. John Neumann (18-9), a 40-37 winner over District 1 champ The Christian Academy, on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

Neumann beat Lourdes in the district semifinals, 63-47 on Feb. 25.

Muha, the Panthers' career-leader in points and rebounds, played until the final whistle, scoring 11 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter to finish her career with 2,349. She went 9-for-23 from the field overall (0-for-6 from 3-point range), and just 4-of-14 through three quarters while Lourdes built a 42-17 lead.

"The coaching staff I have basically devised our game plan with the box-and-one along with press. Obviously the kids went out and executed the game plan," said Red Raiders coach Mike Klembara. "(Muha) is a heck of a player — she didn't come alive until the fourth quarter and that's when the game was decided. (Moyer) did play extremely well. I'm very proud of her. I'm very proud of the way they all performed."

Lourdes scored off the opening tip, with Moyer taking a long outlet pass on a beeline to the hoop. She then went to the other end of the court and thrust both arms up in the air to face-guard Muha. Denying the ball to the tall swing player was the goal, and Muha took just one shot in the opening four minutes as the Red Raiders went ahead 7-0.

"I wanted to stay in front of her, not let her get the ball and box her out — but not foul. Do not foul the girl because that's what we were most worried about was fouling out," said Moyer. "We wanted to keep her under 20 the entire game, and having her at four in the first half was crazy. It was very exciting."

Moyer's second triple of the first quarter made it 14-4, and her third of the game bumped the margin to 19-6 just 30 seconds into the second period. The Red Raiders didn't score again in the half, however, shooting 0-for-12 and committing three turnovers. Shade got just two buckets in the period, including a questionable putback before the horn, to pull within 19-10.

"Only being up nine at half definitely wasn't a good thing, but we came out in the third quarter really strong," said Reed. "My 3 shots weren't falling, so I definitely wanted to drive to the hole more (in the second half)."

After Moyer's fourth 3-pointer ended the Lourdes scoring drought of 9 minutes, 23 seconds, the third quarter belonged to Reed. She hit her season-average (11.8 ppg.) in the stanza, scoring on several breakaways and off the dribble.

Lourdes' pressure created 10 of Shade's 25 turnovers in the third, and Muha managed just five more points.

"We felt any young lady, or young man, that you're facing and you're inside their uniform like that, can be extremely frustrating. That's what we wanted to do," said Klembara. "In all my years of coaching, I don't think I've ever met a young lady that scored that many points on average per game. We were playing around with a diamond-and-two; we were playing around with a triangle-and-two; we were going to play her straight. We decided, let's keep it as simple as possible and easy to adjust so we went with the box-and-one behind the press."

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PIAA CLASS A GIRLS BASKETBALL

SECOND ROUND

At Cumberland Valley H.S., Mechanicsburg

LOURDES REGIONAL 55, SHADE 34

Lourdes Regional (20-7) 55

Masie Reed 9 1-5 19, Paityn Moyer 6 4-6 20, Chloe Rishel 3 2-2 8, Leah Kosmer 3 0-1 6, Cassidy Grimes 0 2-4 2. Totals 21 9-18 55.

3-point goals: Moyer 4.

Did not score: Tori Lindemuth, Anna Keer, Gabby Coleman, Luci Shingara.

Shade (17-11) 34

Jenna Muth 9 2-5 20, Kendahl Stutzman 2 0-0 4, Zoe Ketchock 1 0-0 2, Kennedy Landis 3 0-0 6, Alena Dabbs 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 2-5 34.

3-point goals: None.

Did not score: Hailee Chapman, Alexis Stoppe, Allie Deneen, Dylila Weyant.

Score by quarters

Lourdes Regional;16;3;23;13 — 55

Shade;6;4;7;17 — 34