Follow the leader
SHICKSHINNY — Northwest coach Jaxson Yaple knew his team could play through any adversity Cowanesque Valley would put them through, but it turned out to be some self-made hardship when the Rangers came over in the District 4 Class 2A girls basketball quarterfinal Tuesday evening.
The two teams couldn't get enough separation, trading scoring runs in the first half. As soon as Northwest's leader, Ashlyn Hermanofski, returned from a scary fall on the court, the Rangers went on a 17-0 run well into the fourth quarter to pull away with a 51-35 victory.
Hermanofski, just coming off an And-1 series, fell to the floor and was in evident pain. Needing assistance from Yaple to get off the court, she covered her tears and face with her jersey.
In the few minutes that ensued without her presence on the court, the Indians went on a 5-0 run to close within 32-30.
That would be all the closer they'd get in the second half as Hermanofksi not only returned but played some of her most determined basketball of the evening.
"She's the engine that makes the offense go. She starts the defense and gets a ton of tips and a ton of steals, and it just goes from there," Yaple said of Hermanofksi. "She's also the leader of this team. Everybody follows what she does."
Evidently so, as the Rangers had four different players — Jordin Bowman, Arheya Williams, Hermanofski, and Ava Rucklec— involved in scoring from all angles of the court. After the injury, Hermanofksi made four of her seven steals and forced two more jump balls. The junior also scored a game-high 19 points, 10 of which came after halftime.
"She's done it all year for us. I don't expect anything different," Yaple said. "She's been incredible. Hopefully, the girls are learning from under her 'that's how you play basketball.'"
It sure seemed like it. Ruckle got involved in the defensive game, running down several Indians from behind and making four steals. Ninotti and Bowman also had multiple takeaways for the Rangers.
Northwest seemingly needed every one of those forced turnovers, especially since they couldn't defeat Cowaneque Valley for the first 31/2 quarters.
The Indians only had the lead once in the contest, when they traded the Rangers' opening 5-0 run for a 6-0 run. The Rangers gained control of the lead for good on an ensuing 9-0 run. They proved early that spreading the ball wouldn't be an issue with Ali Miner chipping in four points as part of a six-player scoring effort.
Still, the senior dominant Indians weren't letting the Rangers pull away.
The intermission seemingly did the Indians the most good, opening the second quarter on a 6-0 run with Ella Churchill accounting for four of those points. They closed to within one point (23-22) thanks to a 10-3 run, forcing Yaple to call a timeout — something he wasn't pressing to do despite the early results.
"Today I chose to let our girls play through it a little bit. I think it's good to let them face adversity a little bit and see if they can figure it out," he said. "I called it because they snuck back in and tied it up. I think it's good for them to tough it out sometimes."
Shortly after the timeout, Cowanesque Valley tied it at 25 on Lily Vargeson's second 3-pointer of the contest.
Vargeson was one of two Indians to post a double-digit performance, finishing with 10 points. Ashley Woodring scored 12 — all in the first three quarters.
Now that the Indians had the Rangers' attention, Yaple wanted it at halftime, too. He challenged them to go directly after their full-court press.
"Their coach told me before the game that they have a lot of seniors on their team. No senior is going to go down without a fight and I told our girls that," Yaple said. "I said 'we have to put our pedal to the metal because they're not going to give up, so you guys have to find the energy and find something within yourselves to match their energy and pull something out.'"
The Rangers did just that, but Yaple is also the first to say the work is far from over. Next up: A semifinal match against No. 2 Muncy — a 54-18 winner over Williamson — in the semifinals at a date, time and location to be announced.
"I hope this win proves to themselves that we can make a run at a district championship," Yaple said. "We're one game further than where we were last year and they've earned every little bit of recognition that they've gotten so far, but the job is not done. They still have to work for it.
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