Serra girls stay perfect with rout of Fort Cherry

By ASHLEY CHASE

MVI Sports

Serra Catholic never trailed Saturday on its way to a 61-41 victory at Fort Cherry. 

The Eagles, who are undefeated through the first four games of the season, were led by a 15-point outing from Nicole Pawlowski and a staunch all-around defensive performance.

Chloe Pordash and Chloe Honick also reached double figures with 11 points apiece.

Pordash scored the first basket of the game just six seconds in. The teams were knotted at 7-7 when Serra ran off eight straight points on a bucket by Sammi Currie and back-to-back 3-pointers by Pawlowski.

The Rangers pulled within four before a Rylee Allebach basket and another three by Pawlowski put the Eagles ahead 20-13 at the end of the first.

Fort Cherry senior Annika Rinehart knocked down a three to open the second quarter, but the Rangers didn’t score again in the first half.

Serra Catholic went on a 12-0 run the rest of the quarter on six free throws, a layup by Lida Wos, a floater in the lane by Pawlowski and a rebound putback by Cate Clark. Pawlowski scored 11 of her 15 points in the first half, anchoring the Eagles on both sides of the ball.

Several Eagles, including Pordash and Rylee Campbell, were out for much of the first half in foul trouble, so coach Bill Cleary went deep into the bench, eventually getting all the players who suited up into the game.

“The people we brought in off the bench really did a yeoman’s job of playing defense, creating the turnovers and we turned them into easy baskets to give us a pretty comfortable halftime lead,” Cleary said. “I was real proud of the bench and the way they played.”

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