HOMETOWN — Savanna Krusinsky didn’t miss a beat.
After sitting out last year with an injury, the Marian senior forward has shown she’s just as dominant in the paint as she was during the sophomore campaign that put her in the Schuylkill League spotlight.
Monday night, Krusinsky had a game-high 16 points and five rebounds for the Fillies in their 42-23 victory over Mahanoy Area, an early-season matchup between Division III contenders.
“It feels so amazing. Just the rush. I love it,” Krusinsky said.
Teammates Vanessa Whitecavage and Brenna Karnish floated and dished the ball to Krusinsky with ease all night, much like two years ago when an experienced corps of senior guards fed Krusinsky on the blocks with regularity.
“She’s doing damage and she goes unnoticed with a good job on help defense,” Marian coach Paul Brutto said. “A lot of times kids got beat and she was there to deny the drive. She really makes us a better defensive team, it’s not just the offensive end.”
Krusinsky also had four steals and two blocks. Junior forward Madison Stoyer added four more steals and a block in what was a dominating inside performance by the Fillies (5-0, 2-0 D-III).
Mahanoy Area (3-2, 1-1) couldn’t get close to the basket in the first quarter. The Bears had nine turnovers in the opening frame and scored all three of their first-quarter points from the free-throw line, which was the only place they got an advantage.
By halftime, Krusinsky and Whitecavage both had three fouls and Karnish had two. Mahanoy shot
7-for-9 from the stripe in the first half to pull within 28-15 at the intermission.
“We had a comfortable lead so we could sub people in,” Brutto said. “We’re not very deep so foul trouble is always in the back of our mind.”
Although the fouls continued to pile up in the second half, Mahanoy didn’t earn another trip to the foul line and was held to only eight points in the final two quarters.
The 13-point halftime deficit was the closest the Golden Bears could get. They finished the game with 20 turnovers.
“Credit their defense, they play great defense. We know that,” Mahanoy coach Tom Scheeler said. “We had to handle the pressure and we didn’t do it early. They have tough matchups with them. Their size inside and their perimeter shooters, it’s just tough work. But we didn’t quit. We kept battling.”
Karnish started the third quarter with a bucket to put Marian up 15 before Krusinsky made it 17 going end to end on a steal. Madison Cavenas put back a rebound for Mahanoy and Kiera Van Horn banked in a shot to cut the deficit back to 13, but it didn’t last.
Krusinsky scored back-to-back buckets on nice feeds from Whitecavage and Karnish to put Marian well out of reach with a 36-19 lead.
“We work on a lot of that in practice and Vanessa and I have been playing for a long time together,” Krusinsky said. “We click really well as a team so we know what we’re looking for.”
Mahanoy never gave up, and could take solace in its rebounding performance through much of the game. Cavenas had 10 rebounds to lead the Bears, who at one point held a 26-13 rebounding edge on the significantly bigger Fillies.
Marian narrowed that gap in the final few minutes, thanks to eight straight rebounds among Krusinsky, Stoyer and Gianna Agosti in the final two minutes.
Stoyer finished with six rebounds, while Whitecavage and Karnish added 11 points apiece. Laura Bisco led Mahanoy with eight points.
No matter how early, the win is big for Marian. Mahanoy’s turnaround season last year took it to the district playoffs and its hefty amount of returning players made it Marian’s biggest competition for the Division III title this year.
“You almost have to win at home because you have to go there (to Mahanoy) second half of the season, so home court is nice,” Brutto said. “There’s a long way to go. Crossover games will be a factor — see how we fare against Minersville, Tri-Valley and those guys — we’ll see how that plays out.
“But for right now, we’ll take it and we’ll worry about that when the time arrives.”
Game Summary
MAHANOY AREA (23) — Babinsky 1 2-2 4, M. Bisco 2 3-4 7, L. Bisco 3 2-2 8, Van Horn 1 0-0 2, Cavenas 1 0-1 2, J. Byrne 0 0-0 0, McGee 0 0-0 0, Abrachinsky 0 0-0 0, M. Byrne 0 0-0 0, Scalamonti 0 0-0 0, DeWitt 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 7-9 23.
MARIAN (42) — Whitecavage 5 0-0 11, Agosti 2 0-0 4, Krusinsky 8 0-0 16, Karnish 4 2-4 11, Stoyer 0 0-2 0, Raabe 0 0-0 0, Correale 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 2-6 42.
Mah. (3-2, 1-1) 3 12 6 2 — 23 Mar. (5-0, 2-0) 13 15 8 6 — 42
3-point FGs: Whitecavage, Karnish
JV score: Mahanoy Area 21-20