HAZLETON - Marian senior Gabby Green appeared to earn a chance for 3-point play with just 38 seconds remaining in Wednesday's PIAA Class A second-round game with Old Forge.
The Fillies were mounting a late comeback and Green seemingly earned the opportunity to tie the game from the foul line. But when the whistle blew, Marian fans gathered in Hazleton Area High School didn't see the call for which they hoped.
Traveling ... on Green.
Green's bucket was negated and the ball was awarded back to Old Forge, which went on to win 43-39.
"I didn't see it that way," Marian coach Paul Brutto said. "It's obviously a backbreaker. You didn't know if she was going to make the foul shot, but it certainly changes the whole complexion of what you have to do.
"It's a tough call in a tough spot."
District 2 champion Old Forge (22-3) led most of the game, and held a 36-27 advantage with 2:35 to play. The Fillies (25-3) rallied with an 8-1 run to make it 37-35 as Green hit a 3-pointer and Savanna Krusinsky hit 2-of-2 from the free-throw line and added a three-point play. Krusinsky led Marian with 11 points.
Green's travel call came on the ensuing offensive possession, after an Old Forge free throw. The Devils then hit 3-of-4 from the foul line to ice the victory - though Green did hit a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to cut the final deficit to four points.
"I didn't think I traveled," Green said. "I felt like they were holding me down."
The travel was one of 15 turnovers committed Wednesday by the Fillies, who had success this season by winning turnover battles by large margins.
"We'd try to dribble and they stripped it and there were some careless ones where we just threw the ball to them," Brutto said. "But their defense was tough to attack at the same token. When we attacked it intelligently, we did well against it.
"We dug ourselves a hole and every time we got to the edge of getting out of it, something would happen where we were back in it."
One of those factors was turnovers. Another big one was fouls.
Marian clawed within two points with 4:49 remaining in the fourth quarter before Emily Sofrano, Abbey Whildin and Krusinsky each picked up their fourth fouls over a span of less than 2 minutes.
Old Forge hit 4-of-6 from the foul line during that stretch and Teri Vieira added a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils a seven-point run.
Rhyan Barnic led Old Forge with 13 points, shooting 10-of-15 from the free-throw line. She was 7-of-10 in the fourth quarter alone.
"It's a little more of a ticky-tack kind of reffing game than maybe we're used to in the Schuylkill League," Brutto said. "But at times, we did foul. They were aggressive driving to the basket.
"They were a little quicker than maybe we would've anticipated. We couldn't really press them the way we would've liked between the foul trouble and the fact that they were doing a good job against it.
"All year, I said we're not a good half-court team," Brutto added. "We needed transition points. We got them here and there, but not nearly what we've gotten most of the year. And that hurt us."
Marian's press, which proved difficult to crack for most teams through the regular season and much of the postseason, was not effective against Old Forge early. After the Fillies scored the first bucket of the game, the Devils ended the first quarter on a 12-4 advantage.
"First quarter, they were going through (the press) and shooting layups," Brutto said. "Then we got in foul trouble, so it was a combination of those things."
Old Forge previously was 0-3 against Schuylkill League teams in the PIAA playoffs since 2008. The Devils lost to Nativity (2008), Marian (2012) and Tri-Valley (2013) during that span.
Next up for Old Forge in Saturday's quarterfinals is Jenkintown, a 49-41 winner over St. John Neumann.
Marian ends its season as the District 11 champions and Schuylkill League runner-up after a one-loss regular season that earned the Fillies the Division III title.
"We were down nine with 2 minutes left and got it that one possession," Brutto said of Wednesday's loss. "That says a lot about the character of our team. We didn't play our best game, but I think it was as good an effort as we could give."
Six seniors depart the team, including starters Sofranko and Lindsay Nemeth, and reserve forward Ericha Holman, who often came off the bench for the Fillies.
"It's been great playing with my teammates," Green said. "We're like a family. I couldn't ask for anyone better than them."