Girls Basketball: Conestoga edges Villa Maria in battle of Chesco powers

MALVERN >> Following Conestoga’s 43-42 win against Villa Maria Monday, both coaches saw the bruising defensive battle as a valuable tune-up for their respective powerful squads coming down the stretch.

“This was a fun game, a district playoff-level contest,” Conestoga head coach Chris Jefferies said. “It’s good for us to play a team of this caliber — Villa Maria gave us a lot of defensive pressure. Our guards made some important plays for us tonight.”

With the victory, the Pioneers improved to 12-6, while the Hurricanes dropped to 14-5. Conestoga was led by 6-foot-5 senior forward Katie Mayock (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Villa Maria was paced by 6-1 sophomore Paige Lauder (21 points, 13 rebounds).

“One of the things we learned today that we need to improve is our game management,” said Villa Maria head coach Kathy McCartney, whose squad plays Mount St. Joseph in an important AACA matchup Tuesday. We had the ball three times in the final minute, but didn’t score – that’s my fault.”

No one scored in the final 39 seconds after Mayock hit two free throws to put the Pioneers up 43-42.

The Pioneers held a seemingly secure 37-30 lead after three quarters, but the Hurricanes rallied in the fourth quarter to make things interesting.

“We focus on our defense and our goal is to keep teams under 40 points,” Jefferies said. “For the first three quarters we met our goal.”

Mayock, who is averaging 11.3 rebounds per game and 3.0 blocks per contest this season, helped the Pioneers’ defensive cause with a number of key rebounds Monday. The SJU signee also scored 15 points, mostly from underneath with the help of some pinpoint passes (senior point guard Julia Weiss had seven assists)

During the first three quarters, Conestoga got a trio of treys from sophomore guard Emily Lortz. Nia Scott, who has been averaging 8.1 ppg for the Pioneers, added 10 points.

“Nia is a dynamic wing player for us,” Jefferies said. “She made some plays off the dribble tonight that were awesome.”

In the fourth quarter, Villa Maria came back, led by Lauder, who scored nine points in the final stanza. Following steals by guards Julia Samar and Myla Warley, Lauder scored twice to cut Conestoga’s lead to 39-37, then Lauder was fed twice underneath, and converted both times to give the Hurricanes a 41-39 lead.

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