EASTON — A team cannot win if it makes mistakes, especially on the biggest stages.
Blue Mountain committed 22 turnovers in Saturday’s District 11 Class AAA girls’ basketball quarterfinal against Southern Lehigh, including 13 in the first half.
The result was a 55-47 loss to the Spartans at Easton Middle School that ended the Eagles’ season at 15-8.
“All those turnovers came back to haunt us,” Blue Mountain coach Ruth Weidman said. “If we had turned that around in the second half, it could have been a different outcome.”
Abigail Fanelli recorded a team-high 16 points, with 12 coming the first half for Blue Mountain.
Erin Ebling added 10 of her 14 total points in the second half. The Eagles’ two leading scorers combined to shoot 10-of-12 from the foul line.
“Abby’s our team’s high scorer, but she was hampered by fouls in the second half,” Weidman said. “Erin was able to get some good looks, stepping up big and finding ways to score.”
The game got off to a slow start offensively for both teams. Fanelli sunk the first basket of the contest more than two minutes in, but Southern Lehigh kept it tight, and trailed Blue Mountain by just one point at the end of the first quarter.
Despite the Eagles’ nine second-period turnovers, Fanelli tallied nine points to get her team out to a seven-point lead at 19-12 midway through the quarter.
The Spartans (21-3) picked up steam when Madyson Campbell and Amanda Mobley scored seven points apiece as Southern Lehigh closed the quarter on a 13-4 run to take a 25-23 halftime lead.
Campbell netted a game-high 23 points, shooting 12-of-14 from the line, and Mobley finished with 19 points and three steals for the Spartans.
Mobley, a freshman, had her most memorable play come courtesy of a steal and an assist from her older sister, Brianna Mobley, in the closing seconds of the third period.
After she recovered the stolen ball, Brianna passed it half the length of the court to Amanda, who was running in stride to toss in a buzzer-beating layup.
The big play capped a 14-7, third quarter for Southern Lehigh, which built a 39-30 lead.
“It’s hard to recover when you give up all those points to their star players,” Weidman said.
The Eagles opened the fourth quarter on a quick 5-0 run, but couldn’t get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
Blue Mountain’s uphill battle in the final period was not made any easier by the team’s five turnovers, but the Eagles still managed to outscore Southern Lehigh 17-16 during the final eight minutes.
With the win, the Spartans move on to face the second-seeded Allentown Central Catholic in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Weidman said she was proud of her team’s effort, and that her girls stayed in the game even with the lopsided turnover stat.
“Honestly, they gave it everything they could and made the other team earn it,” Weidman said. “Our girls represented not only Blue Mountain, but also the Schuylkill League very well.”
The Eagles’ coach also praised her graduating seniors, and said she is looking forward to seeing how her remaining players will use this loss as motivation for next season.
“Emily Smith, Emily Steinhilber and Madeline Connors have all come a long way, and I’ll miss them,” Weidman said of her three seniors. “Now we have to see how the others will take that next step.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class AAA Quarterfinal
At Easton Middle School
BLUE MOUNTAIN (47) — Kaledas 2 0-1 5, Smith 0 0-0 0, Fanelli 5 4-5 16, Connors 0 0-0 0, Moyer 1 0-0 3, Steinhilber 2 0-0 4, Dean 0 0-0 0, Kutz 1 3-4 5, Ebling 4 6-7 14. Totals 15 13-17 47.
SOUTHERN LEHIGH (55) — Cerciello 0 2-2 2, A. Mobley 8 2-4 19, Schaeffer 0 0-0 0, Koziel 0 0-0 0, Saraceno 1 0-2 2, S. Cyr 2 4-6 9, Campbell 5 12-14 23, B. Mobley 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 20-28 55.
BM (15-8) 9 14 7 17 — 47 SL (21-3) 8 17 14 16 — 55
3-point FGs: Kaledas, Fanelli 2, Moyer, A. Mobley, S. Cyr, Campbell