Lewistown Lady Panther Basketball

2007-08 stories

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Panthers return favor: LAHS girls sweep regular season with IV

By JOEY GULINO, Sentinel assistant sports editor

HIGHLAND PARK — Some teams hit the playoffs hard.

If Thursday’s fourth quarter is any indication, Lewistown’s going to hit them like a battering ram.

The Panthers scored 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to obliterate a tense rivalry game and run away with a 67-50 victory over Indian Valley in the raucous Indian Valley High School gymnasium.

Trailing 47-44 midway through the final period, Hannah Geedey and Heather Wilson hit back-to-back 3s, and Lewistown (19-4) finally got the chance to set up its full-court press, which led to several turnovers by the Warriors (15-9) that fed the run.

If there’s a better way to close a big game, Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish is all ears.

“It’s very encouraging,” he said. “I’m very impressed with the girls, how they pulled together. I wanted to put the pressure on a little bit earlier, but the game was being called fairly tight. We were getting some girls with two, three fouls, so I saved it until a little bit later, and they really slapped it on.”

Indian Valley, meanwhile, did a good job of pressing Lewistown’s outside shooters with its 3-2 zone, which helped the Warriors stay a step ahead on the scoreboard for much of the game.

But once Lewistown got the chance to trap, Indian Valley coach Roger Herto says his team simply didn’t execute.

“We knew all game, at some point they were going to go to that, and they were very confident that they could wait and do it,” he said. “I thought the key was we didn’t convert. Two or three times, they ran it, we broke it and had a layup and missed, and when you don’t convert, then the game gets into what they want.”

The first quarter went the way the Warriors wanted, a slower, lower-scoring affair that was dictated by defense. Lewistown, however, was up to the task, and utilized a 1-3-1 zone to limit Indian Valley’s offense.

Steph Corbin helped stretch the zone by hitting three treys in the first half, all while Lewistown struggled from beyond the arc.

At least until the second half, when the Panthers fired at a 60 percent clip from downtown, and Kayla Espigh scored 15 of her team-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers.

“We played as a team and we worked really hard,” Espigh said. “We came out, we played aggressive, we hit our shots, and we all contributed.”

The bigger Warriors suffered a blow when forward Linzee Ruby picked up her second foul barely two minutes into the game, which forced her to the bench until the

third quarter.

Indian Valley also couldn’t seem to buy a bucket inside, points that could have come in handy in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we should have had a larger lead,” Herto said. “We had a little bit of a lead there. I was surprised with Ruby sitting the bench for most of the first half. I was very disappointed with that. Later in the game, they were allowing trapping and knocking people over, and early in the game, Ruby bumps somebody and she’s on the bench with two fouls, but that’s basketball.”

Lewistown forced six turnovers during its mega-run in the fourth, and capitalized on free throws by going 9-of-12 from the line during that stretch.

“Heather Wilson, Dani Rhoades, all those people up front (in the press) were really making it happen,” Kodish said. “We had everything going for us. It was like the snowball going down the hill. We were basically treading water, running in place, or whatever you want to say. It was a nip-and-tuck game, very close until we made our run, but it was a heck of a run to do it. 22-0, it doesn’t get much better than that.

After a Rachael Ziegler 3-pointer broke the 44-44 deadlock, the Warriors didn’t score again until Corbin hit a free throw with a little more than a minute to play.

Corbin ended up with a team-high 15 points.

“We just lost it,” she said. “We need to finish.”

Lewistown’s win comes on the heels of a 16-point victory over Penns Valley earlier in the week, and the Panthers will finish the regular season at Tyrone at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It makes us feel really good,” Espigh said. “It meant a lot to all of us. We really wanted to come out and win tonight, and we succeeded and we won.”

Indian Valley will now prepare for Huntingdon in the first round of the District 6 Class AAA playoffs, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. next Friday in Tyrone.

“We have a simple mission in front of us,” Herto said. “We have a week to get ready for Huntingdon, and that’s no gimme. We’re going to have our hands full there. We’ve got to do our best to try to be focused and beat Huntingdon.”

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Panthers overcome Penns Valley

By BRIAN COX, Sentinel sports reporter

LEWISTOWN — Nothing came easy for the Lewistown Panthers girls basketball team Tuesday night.

Not baskets, not foul calls, not rebounds. It was a night on which everything would have to be earned. Including a win.

Lewistown (18-4) survived a nearly seven-minute stretch in the first half without a score and a tough, physical game against visiting Penns Valley to defeat the Rams 44-28.

“It was a tough game,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “(Giving up) 28 points defensively, I’m very pleased with that effort. I thought the girls showed a lot of hustle and a lot of heart. The seniors wanted to win their last home game.”

All appeared to be going well for the Panthers early on, especially from long range.

Nine of Lewistown’s 10 first-quarter points came on 3s, the only three long balls that the Panthers hit on the evening.

Lewistown was out to a quick lead, but it would not remain that way for long. Penns Valley, champions of the Mountain League Nittany Division, started to feed the ball to the inside. The good play inside brought the Rams back even by quarter’s end and had the score tied at 10 heading to the second quarter.

Even though just 20 points were scored by the two teams in the first, it would look like a barn-burner compared to the second.

Lewistown went stone cold from the field, but Penns Valley could not really take advantage. Both teams struggled to get anything to fall from the field. A Dana Lee bucket gave the Rams the lead, but only by a basket.

Lewistown finally got into the act when Brittney Zimmerman hit a shot with five minutes remaining in the second to tie the score at 12. She was later fouled and hit a pair of free throws that gave the advantage back to the Panthers.

But Penns Valley was not done. Brittany LeVan hit a free throw with just 1:35 to play in the half to give the lead back to the Rams.

The lead see-sawed back and forth at the end of the half, with LeVan hitting a field goal to give Penns Valley a 17-16 halftime lead.

The third quarter was the turning point in the game. While the Rams remained ice cold shooting, the Panthers began to heat up.

Lewistown sprinted out of the half with a quick 6-0 run that forced a timeout by the Rams. It didn’t do much to break the momentum of the Panther offense. The home team would find itself out in front by 11 after the third with great defense in a very physical quarter.

“It was a hard-nosed basketball game,” Kodish said. “This was like a playoff game. (The officials) tend to let them play and let more things go in the playoffs. This was good. I was glad that we were able to come out on top.”

Zimmerman continued to be the catalyst for Lewistown as she chipped in six of her game-high 17 points in the third to outscore the Rams in the period by herself.

“Brittney Zimmerman really came through in her last game here on this floor,” Kodish said. “She had 17 points and I don’t know how many rebounds. She also had a lot of hustling plays.”

Lewistown had to earn its win in the fourth on the free throw line. The Panthers did not hit a single field goal in the final quarter, with all 10 points coming on foul shots. It was microcosm of the game, as the Panthers shot 83 percent from the line as a team in the game.

“That’s big,” Kodish said of his team’s foul shooting. “Saturday we were 5-of-12, so we were able to recover from that. Tonight we came in here and cashed in those free throws. We shot them in practice yesterday and they did the job tonight. I’m proud of each and every one of them.”

Lewistown has two games to finish out its regular season, beginning with the showdown with rival Indian Valley at 7:30 p.m Thursday night in Highland Park. The Panthers will also make up their game against Tyrone at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Tyrone.

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Lewistown knocks off unbeaten Seals

By Dan Graybill, Sentinel sports editor, dgraybill@lewistownsentinel.com

LEWISTOWN — Selinsgrove showed in the first couple of minutes why it was undefeated.

But after that Lewistown showed that it wasn’t afraid of the Seals.

After Selinsgrove jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, Lewistown controlled the game and defeated Selinsgrove 65-47 Saturday night in girls basketball action, ending the Seals’ undefeated season.

Kayla Espigh led the charge for the Panthers (17-2). She fired and hit two 3s in the first quarter that saw Lewistown take an 18-15 lead by the end.

Espigh kept shooting the entire game and finished with 20 points, including six 3s.

Dani Rhoades also hit a 3 in the first quarter, and she finished with 15.

“Espigh got hot,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “Dani Rhoades played out of her mind.”

Selinsgrove (18-1) controlled the tempo early on, wanting to run up and down the floor. The taller Seals also controlled the boards early in the contest.

Once Lewistown got control of the ball and grabbed some rebounds they controlled the tempo of the game.

The Panthers gave up six points quickly in the first quarter, but they would give up just seven the entire second quarter to distance themselves from the Seals.

With a little more than a minute to go in the half, Selinsgrove got a fast break, but Brittney Zimmerman hustled back to block the shot. Selinsgrove got the ball back, but immediately turned it over to Lewistown.

“She doesn’t always show up on the score sheet, but she is always in there battling,” Kodish said about Zimmerman.

Lewistown spread the ball around evenly in the second quarter and kept the Seals guessing.

Selinsgrove also got into foul trouble in the quarter. It sent Spring Krepps to the foul line three times and she made the Seals pay as she went 6-for-6 from the line.

Part of that was due to the substitutions Kodish made. He wanted to keep fresh legs in the game, especially after playing a game Friday night too.

“We got them in transition,” Kodish said. “We got some open 3s and some layups.”

As a whole the Panthers went 9-for-11 from the line.

Selinsgrove’s Emily Soper came alive in the third quarter, scoring 10 of her 20 points in the third frame.

However, Espigh countered for Lewistown. She knocked down three more 3s and 11 in the quarter to keep the Panthers on top by 20.

“I am very happy with the effort,” Kodish said. “We worked hard.”

The hard work will need to continue as another undefeated team, Central Mountain, comes to Lewistown at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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Lewistown 59, Central 48

MARTINSBURG — Lewistown put a cold-shooting first half behind it, as it scored 41 points in the second half for a 59-48 win.

Kayla Espigh scored a game-high 20 points, including four 3s in the third quarter. Heather Wilson drained a 3 of her own at the end of the quarter, as the Panthers put down 21 points.

The Panthers went 15-of-21 from the foul line to extend their lead.

“We were long ranging it tonight,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “It was a good night shooting on the foul line.”

Hannah Geedey added 13 points for Lewistown.

Lewistown will host undefeated Selinsgrove at 6:30 p.m. today for its coaches vs. cancer game. JV will begin at 5 p.m.

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Espigh, Panther girls crush Bald Eagle Area

From staff reports

WINGATE — Kayla Espigh scored 23 points, including 20 in the second and third quarters, to help the Lewistown girls basketball team blow out Bald Eagle Area 87-43 in a Mountain League game Wednesday.

Dani Rhoades added nine points in the third quarter and 12 overall, and the Panthers (15-2) hit 11 3-pointers.

“The game was rough around the edges,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “It was tough to get into a smooth groove, but after halftime I thought we came out and performed much better. The third quarter was a lot of Espigh and Rhoades getting us out of halftime.”

Lewistown outscored Bald Eagle Area 55-23 in the second half.

Heather Wilson scored 15 points and buried four 3-pointers, as did Espigh. In all, nine different Panthers scored at least four points.

“We had nice, spread-out scoring,” Kodish said.

Lewistown, currently No. 8 in the Class AAA state rankings, will hit the road at 7:30 p.m. Friday to face another Mountain League foe in Central.

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LAHS wins another ML tilt

From staff reports

HUNTINGDON — The Lewistown Panthers girls basketball team used stellar third-quarter defense to open a lead and go on to a 63-51 Mountain League road win over Huntingdon Friday night.

The Bearcats only managed two points in the third, thanks to a strong second-half effort from Kevin Kodish’s Panthers.

“After a lackluster first half where Huntingdon lead going into the half, we came out and played excellent basketball,” Kodish said. “We weren’t mentally prepared to play in the first half, but I was pleased with our effort after halftime.”

Lewistown outscored Huntingdon 31-18 in the second to win comfortably.

Brittany Zimmerman had a big night for the Panthers as she had 17 points to lead all scorers in the contest.

“Brittany Zimmerman had a fantastic game,” Kodish said. “She was the spark plug for us tonight.”
 

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Top 10 tussle: No. 8 Panthers down No. 9 Red Raiders

By JOEY GULINO, Sentinel assistant sports editor

LEWISTOWN — Lewistown entered Wednesday as one state-ranked team — and it celebrated by knocking off another.

The Panthers assaulted the offensive glass and neutralized Bellefonte’s size advantage to earn a scrappy 68-65 victory in a league and district showdown at Lewistown Area High School.

Having built a steady advantage thanks to second shots and suffocating defense, Lewistown held a 13-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter. A furious rally by Bellefonte over the final eight minutes couldn’t trip up the Panthers, ranked No. 8 in the state in the latest Class AAA poll.

Nor could the potent inside-outside combo of Josie Capparelle and Angie Proper, who exploded for the ninth-ranked Red Raiders in the second half.

“Bellefonte comes at you hard,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “We know they’re not going to quit. We had them by double figures heading into the last quarter, but they put the charge on, and started finding some girls down low. Finally we tightened up and were able to pull it out.”

The Red Raiders shot a miserable 26 percent through the first three quarters, but really put the heat on Lewistown (13-2) by shooting 71 percent and scoring 27 points in the fourth.

A pair of buckets by Capparelle cut Lewistown’s lead to 60-58, with two and a half minutes to play, and Hannah Geedey responded by drilling a 3-pointer at the other end.

After a steal and score by Bellefonte’s Lacee Port, Geedey found Kayla Espigh down low for two. A runner by Tosha Stover and a trey by Proper sandwiched a free throw by Brittney Zimmerman to pull the Red Raiders within one at 66-65. But two more free throws by Geedey stretched the lead back to three, and an offensive foul was called on Bellefonte to end the game.

“We made smart decisions in the last minute,” Kodish said. “We got to the foul line and, for the most part, converted. I’m happy with our kids’ performance.”

One of the reasons Lewistown kept its lead was Dani Rhoades, who scored nine of her 16 points in the third period and challenged the Bellefonte shooters at the edge of Lewistown’s zone.

“We played really well in the third quarter,” she said. “I’m just glad we pulled it through. We kind of slacked off a little bit after the third. We need to work on our fighting through screens for the next meeting.”

Fortunately for the Panthers, their press threw Bellefonte out of its rhythm. The Red Raiders didn’t want to necessarily push the tempo, but they couldn’t set up their halfcourt game as effectively with Lewistown pressuring up the court.

“We wanted to slow them down with the press a little bit, give them something different we haven’t shown them the last couple years, so we broke that out tonight,” Kodish said. “I thought we got the desired effect. We got them out of sync a little bit on the offensive end.”

As they’ve done all year, the Panthers swarmed the bigger Red Raiders underneath the basket on entry passes, and didn’t allow their forwards to get anything down low.

Bellefonte also played much of the game without the services of Stover, one of the team’s best defensive players, because of foul trouble.

Still, Bellefonte kept grinding in the second half, and Lewistown needed clutch plays by several different girls to seal the win.

“Dani Rhoades and Kayla made a couple key buckets,” Kodish said. “Hannah had key buckets and two foul shots and that dish to Espigh late, which was a critical layup at a critical juncture.”

Lewistown is now 2-0 against Bellefonte this season, and while the wins are important in the Mountain League race, the two rivals could meet again in the District 6 Class AAA playoffs, as they did last year in the district title game.

“I’m sure we’ll meet up with them in districts,” Rhoades said. “We’ll go into districts with two wins over them, and they have none, so that’s going to help us a lot there.”

The Panthers will travel to Huntingdon at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

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Senior showtime: Lewistown veterans lead Panthers past P-O

By JOEY GULINO, Sentinel assistant sports editor

LEWISTOWN — Lewistown honored five seniors Friday evening, and the stars of the show didn’t disappoint in the game that followed.

The senior class combined to score 55 of Lewistown’s 68 points — including seven treys and 25 points from Heather Wilson — to trounce Philipsburg-Osceola 68-26 at Lewistown Area High School.

Along with Wilson, Spring Krepps, Tasha Pecht, Dani Rhoades and Brittney Zimmerman started and played a bulk of the minutes. The group has won 79 of its 98 games with the Panthers over the past four seasons, and Kodish is happy with how they’ve continued the winning tradition.

“The seniors have worked hard over the years, and it’s nice to see them have success,” he said. “It was nice to put them all out on the floor like that, and also to finish the game and pull them off one at a time for their curtain call. They’ve meant a lot to the program, and they’ve kept it going, the winning tradition, and passed it on to the other ones. I’m really proud of all of them.”

The Panthers (12-2) blitzed young Philipsburg-Osceola right from the opening whistle, moving the ball crisply and finding open shooters. Wilson began her night with four 3s in the first quarter, during which four of the five seniors scored.

The Mounties, meanwhile, couldn’t break the Panthers’ full-court press, although they shot a modest percentage in the few times they did make it down the floor.

From the second quarter on, Lewistown continued to feed its shooters and break down Philipsburg-Osceola’s zone, and Kodish credits his veteran crew.

“I thought offensively, the seniors worked the ball well,” he said. “Everybody that went in the game did their best. We did a good job.”

Philipsburg-Osceola center Megan Yonushonis had success in the post in the second half, putting up seven of her team-high 12 points in the third and fourth quarters. Even though the Mounties are made up almost exclusively of freshmen and sophomores, Kodish says coach Kelly Kephart has them heading in the right direction.

“Kelly’s doing a good job with them,” he said. “They have one senior and no juniors on the team, so they’re going to be around the next several years. They’re taking their lumps now, but I know that Kelly will work them hard. They’re going to have a nice basketball team here in a couple years.”

Even the best of teams may have had trouble stopping Wilson on this night, however. Wilson hit a couple close looks in the second quarter, and drilled three more 3-pointers in the second half.

“Heather Wilson kept her hot hand from the other night,” Kodish said. “Seven 3s in one game is hard to get. When she has her confidence going, she can do just about anything from the perimeter with that shot.

“She’s one of those classic momentum players. She can go hurricane force in a positive direction. Sometimes she gets down on herself, but she’s on a positive spin right now, and I hope she keeps that rolling for the rest of the season.”

Rhoades finished with 13 points for Lewistown, and Brittney Zimmerman had 10. Taylor Harpster scored four in support of Yonushonis for Philipsburg-Osceola.

The Panthers will now have plenty of time to rest and prepare for a big showdown with league and district rival Bellefonte, which comes to Lewistown at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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Defense, outside shooting lift Lewistown girls past Indian Valley

By JOEY GULINO

LEWISTOWN - Last season, Indian Valley left Lewistown’s floor with a 23-point victory.

Wednesday night, the Panthers weren’t about to let it happen again.

Lewistown shot a blistering 50 percent from beyond the arc, flustered Indian Valley with its press and got 24 points from Heather Wilson in a 69-49 victory at Lewistown Area High School.

Trailing 9-7 following a rigid first quarter, the Panthers (11-2) began to trap Indian Valley full-court, a press that opened up their game and never allowed the Warriors to get comfortable.

“Indian Valley plays very good defense,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “I think the tempo favored them, so we went to the press, which caused them a lot of problems and we also started running the ball and we got good spacing and attacked a little bit. When they were showing that zone look, we were flat on our heels. Once we got into the flow of how we like to play, things picked up for us.”

With Indian Valley’s zone either scrambling to recover or stretching to contain Lewistown’s athleticism, the Panthers began to get open looks from the outside. Wilson made the most of her opportunities by nailing five 3-pointers, and she and several other Panthers capitalized on high percentage shots thanks to Hannah Geedey’s dribble penetration.

“I was just going and playing my game,” she said. “We’ve been playing this new trap defense, and it really worked for us.”

The Warriors (9-5), meanwhile, tried to slow things down and take advantage of center Steph Zewe and forwards Taylor Bargo and Linzee Ruby.

“I really thought the key to the game was that we didn’t really play well in the second quarter,” Indian Valley coach Roger Herto said. “To me, the way we dictated tempo and did things in the first half, I thought we should have had an eight- to 10-point lead, but we didn’t.”

One of the reasons may have been Zewe’s foul trouble, which sent her to the bench for much of the second quarter. Several Warriors spread out the scoring on offense, but with Lewistown’s outside shooting heating up, it was tough to answer every basket.

The Panthers shot out of the gates in the second half and turned a four-point lead into a 35-23 advantage almost instantly, and a 24-7 third quarter for Lewistown provided a healthy lead the rest of the way.

Kodish, however, says it all started with his team’s play before the half.

“I really didn’t want that halftime buzzer to go off, because that’s when we were just starting to take fire,” he said. “We were able to continue in the third quarter. We were able to get the spacing that we needed on the floor and attack. When you hit your 3s, everything looks good.”

The press problems continued for Indian Valley as well, and with the Panthers shooting 56 percent in the third quarter anyway, the turnovers proved to be the difference.

“I give them all the credit in the world for the pressure they put on us, but fundamentally, we were bad breaking the press,” Herto said. “We were not good tonight against that pressure, which caused us defensively to get out of our element and do some things and let them have more 3s.

“If you catch the ball and you don’t dribble, and you pick your head up and look up the floor, you’re going to get layups. If you catch the ball and you put your head down and dribble, you’re going to have what happened tonight.”

Zewe did a good job of getting position and getting to the line in the second half, and her 20 points led the Warriors. But as she acknowledges, even the best defense might have been overmatched by Lewistown on this night.

“We’re always very good on defense,” she said. “Defense is our thing. We were in it until the third quarter. What really killed us were the couple 3s they had.”

In all, five different Panthers hit from downtown, and although no one finished in double figures other than Wilson, Lewistown equally distributed the support to keep Indian Valley guessing.

Geedey scored nine points, while Dani Rhoades and Tasha Pecht each had eight, and Kayla Espigh, Brittney Zimmerman and Lauren Coleman all finished with six.

“The key for Lewistown tonight was the Wilson girl,” Herto said. “She was on fire. She really shot the ball well. If I was Kevin, I would bottle up her performance and try to have it ready every night, because she shot the ball very well this evening.

Kodish agreed, and credited another aspect of Wilson’s game.

“Heather Wilson was instant offense off the bench, and also she was a pest on defense,” he said. “We call her the ‘flea’ because she’s a pest on defense, and she did it to the hilt tonight.”

Linzee Ruby had nine points for the Warriors, and Marta Litwiller wound up with seven.

Indian Valley will travel to Penns Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday, which wraps up a difficult stretch of the schedule.

“The key thing for our kids right now is we had a tough stretch here,” Herto said. “We had five games in eight days. I knew coming in the last two would be the toughest, and I’ve told them good teams respond to things.”

Lewistown, meanwhile, will host Philipsburg-Osceola at 7:30 p.m. Friday for Senior Night, during which the Panthers’ five seniors will be honored.

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Espigh scores 22 as Panthers stomp Golden Eagles, 87-33

By JOEY GULINO, Sentinel assistant sports editor

LEWISTOWN — Kayla Espigh scored more points in the first four minutes than Tyrone did in the first quarter.

Five Panthers finished in double-figures.

As a whole, they put up 87 points — only two of which came from leading scorer Hannah Geedey.

Yeah, you could say things went well for Lewistown Thursday.

Espigh finished with a game-high 22 points and the Panthers hit 11 3-pointers in an 87-33 thrashing of the Golden Eagles at Lewistown High School.

Tyrone shot only 24 percent from beyond the arc itself, and to find a problem in Lewistown’s game, you’d really have to be focusing hard.

Then again, that’s a coach’s job.

“The last three and a half minutes of the first half, I felt we let them get too many offensive rebounds,” Lewistown’s coach Kevin Kodish said. “That’s the only thing I can point to.”

The tempo of the first quarter pointed to a long night for Tyrone, who couldn’t keep up with the Panthers in transition or half-court sets. The beneficiary of Lewistown’s crisp ball movement was Espigh, who nailed five shots in the opening stanza, including four 3-pointers.

The Golden Eagles couldn’t crack the Panthers’ press, either, which led to extra possessions on which Lewistown capitalized.

“We wanted to push the ball,” Kodish said. “We wanted to keep the game fast paced. Even if they made a basket, we wanted to get it and run the floor all the time. We wanted our subs to be in that same habit, looking for quick opportunities for our spot-up shooters.”

Tyrone’s Kayla Corle, the team’s primary offensive threat, only scored five points, all in the first half, and Kodish says the Panthers (10-1) made a concentrated effort to stop her.

“We wanted to watch (Corle),” he said. “She’s been a big scorer for them lately. She had 20 against Bishop Guilfoyle. We wanted to limit her opportunities.”

Corle shot only 20 percent for the game, and Lewistown also did a good job of denying Tyrone center Marah Hawes the ball early. Hawes was able to get to the line several times, but she didn’t register a field goal.

Lewistown, meanwhile, registered a ton of them. Spring Krepps scored 12 of her 16 points to key a 27-3 third quarter, and Lauren Coleman hit three of her four treys in the final period.

The Panthers ended up playing 13 girls, 10 of whom scored. And while Geedey only hit one shot, Kodish says her impact, as always, was felt in several different areas.

“Hannah gets as much, if not more, of a thrill out of a great pass,” he said. “She loves distributing the ball. She’ll do that anytime. She doesn’t care about the points on the scoreboard. She wants our team points to go up.

“They call her the ‘mother hen’ out there because she makes sure everyone’s in the right defense and everything. She’s kind of sitting on the nest, so to speak, out on the floor for us, making sure everyone’s where they should be.”

Dani Rhoades scored 13 points and Heather Wilson ended up with 12 for Lewistown. Carla Ray and Kassie Faretta each finished with nine to lead the Golden Eagles.

“We got a couple more JV girls in there tonight to suit up and see some action,” Kodish said. “We had a couple really good practices the last couple days. I thought we were going to shoot well and play a decent game.”

The Panthers will travel to face Penns Valley at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

 

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Lewistown blows past Spartans

By Dan Graybill, Sentinel sports editor

LEWISTOWN — Lewistown got on a roll early and point guard Hannah Geedey did too.

Geedey scored Lewistown’s first 11 points of the game as the Panthers rolled to an easy 66-38 win over North Schuylkill at the Panther Club Holiday Tournament Saturday.

The win gave the Panthers first place in the tournament, as they beat Freire Charter Friday.

All told Geedey, scored a game-high 18 points, 13 of them coming in the first half.

Lewistown (9-1) held a decisive 41-18 lead at the break.

“I was pleased with our intensity,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “It was great to jump out to a commanding lead.”

Lewistown slowed down in the third quarter, but the Spartans could only cut the lead by one point.

The Panthers picked the pace back up in the fourth quarter to close out the victory.

North Schuylkill’s Jenni Butts — the Spartans’ go-to player — was stifled in the second half. She was limited to two points and one trip to the foul line where she missed both shots.

Butts finished the game with 12 points.

“(Butts) was their star inside and we denied her,” Kodish said. “When she did get the ball she had a lot of company.”

Geedey began the game with a bang.

She hit two consecutive 3s to begin the game and give Lewistown a 6-0 lead. The first 3-pointer came with about six minutes to go in the first quarter as neither team was able to put points on the board in the first two minutes of the quarter.

Geedey was fouled on the third possession and she made both her shots, putting the Panthers up 8-2.

Free throws were a big part of the Panthers’ game. They sunk 18 of their 27 free throws.

Geedey hit her third 3 of the game for an 11-6 lead. That bucket began a 9-0 run for Lewistown.

Butts scored the final three points of the quarter and Lewistown led 17-9.

Brittany Zimmerman picked up where Geedey left off in the second quarter. Zimmerman had six points in the second quarter, four coming from the foul line.

She finished the game with 10 points and she forced numerous turnovers on the defensive end.

In the third quarter, Lewistown wasn’t able to get its shots to go down and the Panthers only scored eight points in the quarter.

Kayla Espigh also finished in double digits with 11 points. She hit two 3s in the contest.

“We controlled the game early,” Kodish said. “We beat them up the floor.”

Geedey was named MVP of the tournament. Dani Rhoades and Heather Wilson were named on the All-Tournament team. Espigh was awarded Outstanding Offensive Player and Zimmerman was Outstanding Defensive Player.

Lewistown will host Tyrone at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

* * * * * * * * *

LAHS falls to ’Cats

From staff reports

LOCK HAVEN — In a battle of unbeatens in the Mountain League, Lewistown fell on the short end to Central Mountain 56-48.

Kayla Espigh scored a team-high 16 points for the Panthers. Mallory Moore had a game-high 23 points for Central Mountain.

The difference was the second and third quarters. Lewistown scored a combined 13 points in the two quarters.

“We had two long scoring droughts and you can’t do that against a good team,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said.

Lewistown was down as many as 17 points in the second half and battled back. At one point it was down six and had a three-pointer that didn’t go that could have cut the lead to three points.

“Our shooting was very arctic,” Kodish said.

Lewistown (7-1) will play in the Panther Club Holiday Classic beginning Dec. 28.

* * * * * * * * *

Panther girls rout Scarlet Dragons

From staff reports

LEWISTOWN — Heading into a big showdown with Central Mountain Thursday, the Lewistown girls basketball team couldn’t be playing much better.

Spring Krepps scored a career-high 13 points, Lewistown built a 19-point halftime lead and roared past Central 63-35 Tuesday evening.

The Panthers (7-0) also double-digit efforts from Kayla Espigh, Dani Rhoades and Heather Wilson, who drilled three 3-pointers.

“I’m extremely pleased with the effort the girls put forth tonight,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said. “We challenged them to play basketball the right way at both ends of the floor, and they did. I don’t have any complaints tonight.”

Lauren Coleman scored a career-high eight points as well for the Panthers, who stayed hot from the field in the second half.

Lewistown had a lot of success on the scoreboard thanks to Hannah Geedey, who constantly found open teammates all over the floor.

“We hit the open person tonight, and that person hit a shot,” Kodish said.

In all, the Panthers hit 25 field goals, including eight treys.

Lewistown will travel to face undefeated Central Mountain in Lock Haven at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
 

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Panther coach Kodish scales 500-win plateau

By JOEY GULINO, Sentinel assistant sports editor

LEWISTOWN — There isn’t much Lewistown girls basketball coach Kevin Kodish hasn’t done.

He’s won state championships. He’s lost a state championship. He’s won league and district titles. He’s lost players to graduation and college.

On Dec. 6, 2007, Kodish won the 500th game of his 24-year career, and two games later, he was presented with a plaque commemorating the achievement.

Those accomplishments have allowed Kodish to realize that while he’s given his all to the game, the game has given him just as much.

“The love of basketball and the love of working with kids have kept me in the game this long,” he said. “Seeing kids grow up throughout high school and later become productive citizens is a big thrill, a thrill that dwarfs wins and losses.”

Kodish himself grew up with the current Lewistown Area High School, entering the building that stands today as a junior in the mid-’70s. Kodish graduated in 1978, and after attending Bloomsburg University, he returned to his alma mater and began coaching in the 1984-85 season.

503 wins later, it’s worked out for everyone — literally.

“Family support is critical, and obviously the parents of the kids and all the assistant coaches I’ve had, up and down the ladder,” Kodish said.

”The people working with younger kids, they know what kind of style we play. We can’t be in all the places at once. To have a program, you have to have other people help you, and build them and send them up the ladder like that.”

The ladder reached its highest point in 1996-97 and 1997-98, when Lewistown won back-to-back Class AAA state championships. In 2003-04, Kodish guided a the Panthers to a state runner-up finish.

All told, Kodish has steered the program to five state final fours, eight elite eights, eight District 6 championships, 10 Mountain League championships, and 22 straight winning seasons, with this year’s team well on its way to No. 23.

To have that kind of success, you need adaptation without wholesale transformation, a process Kodish attacks every season.

“You always have to do an inventory and see the skill levels you have at each position, and tailor your team and your offense to what you have,” he said. “The goals for Lady Panther basketball are always to work hard, give our best effort represent our school and community in a positive way, and enjoy playing the game. If we accomplish those things, that’s really all that matters.”

Those principles have helped countless players graduate from Lewistown and move on to the college ranks and become everything from doctors to teachers to coaches themselves.

“It makes me feel great,” he said. “I love seeing players move on to the next level. Basically, I love to see them going to college, period. “It’s just great to see, because they commit themselves to excellence on the basketball court and in the classroom as well.

“Twenty-two straight winning seasons says a lot for the work ethic of the girls and the program because they’ve bought into what we’re trying to do, and it’s kept on rolling.”

In fact, Kodish says that family support is as important as anything for a coach, and when you mix in the success he’s had at Lewistown, it’s extra special.

“My family has been critical,” he said. “My two daughters and my wife have always been supportive of me, and if they weren’t supportive of me, we wouldn’t be able to do this. Nobody knows how much a coach’s wife has to endure, and 24 years of support is a tremendous sacrifice.”

Kodish has made plenty of sacrifices over the years as well. At 47 years old, he’s been commuting to and from Harrisburg for work for 25 years, and many nights he gets home just in time to change into his basketball shirt and sneakers and leave for practice.

But does he ever think about stepping down?

“Once in a while, I do,” he said. “I’m getting old. When I was young, it didn’t bother me at all as far as physically, but now, I’m feeling the ride to and fro. After all these years, the miles are starting to add up on me. I love the game so much, and I love the kids, and that’s what keeps me going, as long as I love doing that.”

The 500th victory could turn out to be one of the signature wins of this season. Down by six heading into the fourth quarter, Lewistown outscored perennial district contender Bellefonte 21-9 during the final eight minutes to seal it.

At that point, perhaps the milestone hadn’t yet dawned on Kodish.

“I was feeling very, very good because we beat a great Bellefonte team on the road,” he said.

There he goes again, keeping things in perspective.

* * * * * * * * * 

Lewistown girls whip Wildcats

By KENNY VARNER, Sentinel sports reporter

LEWISTOWN — After posting a 13-point lead at halftime, the Lewistown girls basketball team played a total game as it held off feisty Mifflinburg 58-46 Saturday night in a non-league matchup.

The Panthers finished with a total of eight players in the scoring column. Leading the way for the blue and white was Kayla Espigh with 15 points. Defensively, the Panthers also had six players pull down at least one rebound en route to the victory.

“It was a very competitive game. Mifflinburg is very feisty,” Lewistown coach Kevin Kodish said after the game. “I think they came out and played hard and we answered the challenge as well. Both teams played spirited. We were able to get that spread the first half up to about 13. We pretty much rode those reins the rest of the way.”

Hannah Geedey had her shots hitting from the outside, posting four triples in a 14-point performance.

Lewistown’s defense also proved to be pretty stingy in its own right, allowing only four players to score and forcing the Wildcats to shoot from the outside for much of the contest. It was extremely strong in the first half, allowing Mifflinburg only 18 points, good for a double-digit lead at intermission.

However, the Panthers found it hard to stop Mifflinburg’s Hannah Allison, who finished as the game’s high scorer with 21. In that effort, Allison put down four triples and went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. Teammate Amy Cline also had a strong night on the floor, finishing with 14 points, three of which were from beyond the arc.

The rest of the Mifflinburg team finished with only 11 points combined.

Lewistown’s offense got off to a fast start by scoring 16 points while holding Mifflinburg to only eight. Geedey opened the game with consecutive threes, sparking an 8-2 run. Espigh continued the Panthers by scoring five consecutive points of her own.

Geedey hit for nine points, all threes, to lead all scorers in the first quarter.

In the second, the offensive onslaught continued as Lewistown opened 15-point lead midway through the period. That was due in part by a another big Lewistown run.

Led by Geedey again, the Panthers rolled off a 10-6 run with a minute left to take a 31-16 lead over the Wildcats.

In the third and fourth, the Panthers had enough firepower to fend off the scrappy Wildcat team as they were outscored by just one point, but it was still enough for them to earn the 12-point victory.

“In the second half we basically traded points,” Kodish said. “It was a pretty even game in the second half. There was a lot of contact and a lot physical play going on by both teams. They were playing hard and really going after it.”

Lewistown (6-0) will try to keep its undefeated streak alive as it hosts Central 7:30 on Tuesday.

Notes: Kodish was presented with a trophy celebrating his 500th victory before the game. 

Panthers battle past Bald Eagle

By JOEY GULINO, Sentinel assistant sports editor, jgulino@lewistownsentinel.com

LEWISTOWN — The Lewistown Panthers weren’t pleased with their performance Wednesday night, but if it were another group of players, it might have been different.

How different?

For starters, they wouldn’t have won by 17.

The Panthers went on a 10-0 run to close the first half and spread their point production out in the second to earn a 56-39 win over Bald Eagle Area in Mountain League action.

But Lewistown stayed afloat for much of the first half despite its shooting, not because of it. The Panthers moved the ball well and got open looks, but they shot an arctic 30 percent for the game and stayed ahead thanks to their hustle, which produced plenty of turnovers and second shots.

Still, coach Kevin Kodish would just as soon get back to practice and move on.

“We want to just take the win, and forget everything else about it,” he said. “Bald Eagle Area played a determined game, and I credit them a lot. We’ve got a lot of ear aches and stuffiness going through the team, and today I’ve got a sore throat, and I think this game finished me off with a root canal”

Fortunately for the Panthers, Bald Eagle Area couldn’t capitalize on the other end of the floor. The Eagles tried to run the offense through center Danielle Reese, but with Lewistown doing such a good job of denying her the ball, they became stagnant and occasionally resorted to NBA-esque individual games.

Bald Eagle Area did have a fair amount of success when it went small in the second quarter, a run Carly Kristofik capped with a pair of 3-pointers to cut the lead to 18-15.

Hannah Geedey responded with a couple treys of her own, however, and gave Lewistown a comfortable advantage it would never relinquish.

“It was one of those things where you don’t feel like you’re in danger of losing the game,” Kodish said. “You’re just not playing smoothly at either end. The game was just disjointed.”

Brittney Zimmerman and Dani Rhoades scored all nine of Lewistown’s points in the third quarter, and 3-balls by Spring Krepps and Heather Wilson helped the Panthers put the game away in the fourth.

The Eagles used their size to block and challenge shots all night, which may have affected Lewistown efforts. Reese scored five of her team-high 10 points in the fourth, but Bald Eagle Area shot a dismal 34 percent for the game.

The Panthers took advantage of their extra chances by hiking up 26 more shots than Bald Eagle Area, which somewhat made up for their struggles from the floor.

In response to the first period, Lewistown started driving to the tin, using its quickness to cut through Bald Eagle Area’s zone and whip the ball to open shooters.

And if his team had done a better job of stopping penetration, Kodish says, it might have been more successful.

“It seemed like very time we made a little mistake on defense, they would have a drive and hit a runner or something,” he said. “These things snowball, but when we made a fundamental mistake on defense, they made it every time, to their credit.”

Geedey’s 13 points led all scorers, and Rhoades finished with 12. Zimmerman added 11, and Kristofik and Brittany Butterworth each scored eight for Bald Eagle Area.

“If you get the ‘W’, you get the ‘W’,” Kodish said. “There are nights like this sometimes when you’re hoping you have enough to get by and win, which we did, so we’ll concentrate on the positive and get better tomorrow.”

Lewistown, which has beaten Mountain League teams in all four games, will host its first non-conference game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against Mifflinburg.

* * * * * * * * * * 

LADY PANTHERS DOWN BELLEFONTE TO MOVE TO 4-0 

Centre Daily Times Article on Lewistown/Bellefonte game from 12/6/07 

Bellefonte’s Angie Proper surpassed 1,000 career points with a 15-point effort in a 58-50 loss to Lewistown on Thursday.

Unfortunately for the Lady Raiders one historic memory offset another as Bellefonte fell 58-52 to perennial power Lewistown.

On the bright side, Bellefonte senior Angie Proper dropped in 15 points to surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career. She also added 11 rebounds for a double-double.

“It was exciting to score my 1,000th point,” said Proper. “There have only been a couple of players score 1,000 points at Bellefonte and it was nice to get it so early in the season. I guess I keep them (fans) guessing but someone was on me the whole time and made me work for the points.”

Proper entered the final period needing four points for the magic numbe