Second-half surge pushes AMD to 7-0

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

For Monessen Florist to pull the upset in Mon Valley Independent Summer Basketball League play against first place AMD Industries, they were going to have to play a scrappy game.

They did in the first half. 

Then they didn’t hit a field goal until half of the second half ticked away.

AMD Industries rolled out to an 11-0 run to open the second half and outscored Monessen Florist, 20-3, over the first eight minutes to roll to a 56-37 win.

With the win, AMD moves to 7-0 and continues to lead the girls division.

“The first half was terrible because we didn’t play defense,” AMD Industries coach Bria Rathway said. “I have no idea what was going on. We were lazy, we were fouling and it slowed the game down for us. That’s not our game.”

Neither team found much rhythm in the first half as AMD opened up with a 10-5 lead. Monessen Florist found some momentum, though, and ended up tying the game at 14 as Penn Hills freshman Hannah Pugliese scored for the first time at the 7:20 mark.

With Pugliese coming off a 27-point, 10-rebound game in a win Wednesday, she was someone Rathway wanted her team to focus on.

“I told the girls she was coming off a couple of 20-point games last week, so we knew we had to focus on her,” Rathway said. “She’s really good and really strong when she gets the ball, so we had to body her and be physical right back.”