CLARION, Pa. (D9Sports) – The Punxsutawney girls’ basketball team will face Hampton out of the WPIAL in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs Saturday night at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
(9-1) Punxsutawney (20-4) vs. (7-3) Hampton (19-6)
When and where: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym
Winner gets: Villia Maria vs. Blackhawk winner
About Punxsutawney: The Lady Chucks will have gone 15 days between games by the time this contest tips off Saturday night. Punxsy’s last game was a 36-28 win over Bradford in the D9 championship Feb. 19 … That win marked the 11th in a row for Punxsutawney, who is in the PIAA playoffs for the second straight year after losing to Chartiers Valley, 33-14, in last year’s first round … The Lady Chucks are paced by the inside tandem of Hope Bridge and Leah Miller … Miller, a 6-0 sophomore, averages 11.4 ppg with Bridge, a 6-1 senior, adding 10.7 ppg. Alli Lunger, a 5-10 junior, chips in 7.2 ppg, but the Lady Chucks don’t have a guard averaging more than 4.6 ppg.
About Hampton: The Lady Talbots, who are in the PIAA playoffs for the first time since a 2013 first-round loss to Forest Hills, lost to eventual WPIAL champion South Fayette, 57-49, in the WPIAL semifinals. That broke a four-game win streak for Hampton, who had lost three in a row prior to the spurt … Allison Collins leads a trio of Lady Talbots scoring in double digits with 15.2 ppg. Laryn Edwards adds 14.3 ppg and Jenna Lafko 13.2 ppg … Hampton last played in Tippin Gym March 13, 2010, which was famous to St. Marys’ Kayla Ho’ohuli exploding for 52 points to lead the Lady Dutch to a 64-55 win over the Lady Talbots.