Miller’s 17 points lead Raiders over Charleroi

Charleroi’s McKenna DeUnger throws a pass over Waynesburg’s Nina Sarra. Jenn Codeluppi / MVI Sports

By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com

Trailing by nine at halftime against Waynesburg Central Thursday, the Charleroi girls basketball team was in need of a massive momentum shift.
The Cougars grabbed hold of it in the form of an early 6-2 run in the third quarter, which trimmed their deficit to 37-32 midway through the frame.
While Charleroi found renewed hope in the form of its short spurt, Waynesburg Central’s CP Miller soon turned that hope into the Cougars’ demise.
Miller scored eight straight points during a 13-0 run in the final three-plus minutes of the third quarter as Waynesburg Central pulled away for a 56-38 victory over Charleroi in Section 2-3A play.
“We put ourselves in good positions to score and we just weren’t putting the ball in the basket,” Charleroi head coach Bill Wagner said. “To their credit, they were able to put the ball in the basket and while I thought we did some good things defensively, they were able to make tough shots.”
Miller scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the second half and was complemented by a pair of teammates in double figures. Nina Sarra scored all 13 of her points in the first half, while Kaley Rohanna netted 10 for the Raiders (6-2, 4-1).
“CP put them on her back and they got a couple of easy buckets when we were out of position, trying to be aggressive on defense,” Wagner said. “Sometimes those things happen.”
The Cougars (2-6, 1-4), who have now suffered four straight losses, were led offensively by “Boots” DeUnger, who scored 12 points and tried to spark her team early in the fourth quarter.
Down by 18 after three, DeUnger scored four straight points before Morgan Snyder added a bucket to cut Charleroi’s deficit down to 50-38 with 6:03 to go.
Charleroi’s offense went cold in the final six minutes, however, as the Cougars were outscored 6-0 the rest of the way.
“We had some real good looks there in the second half,” Wagner said. “We just couldn’t put them in.”
Charleroi held its lone lead of the game at 4-1 within the first four minutes of the first quarter before Waynesburg took over.
Sarra, who had eight of her points in the opening eight minutes, converted on a layup and hit a 3-pointer to kickstart a 15-2 run over the span of less than three minutes.
Trailing 16-6, the Cougars responded with a trey from Bella Carroto and a bucket inside by DeUnger before a late basket from Rohanna pushed the Raiders’ lead to 18-11 after one.
Neither team was able to grab hold of the momentum in the second quarter, but Waynesburg did enough to capture a 17-15 advantage in the frame and take a 35-26 edge into halftime.
Riley Jones joined DeUnger in double figures as she scored 10 points for the Cougars, who resume play at Washington Monday.
“We’re trying very hard to highlight the positives and the things that are working for us,” Wagner said. “When we’re doing our best, we’re slowing down, especially in a half-court offense. We’re young, so we get antsy and we try to push it. In a half-court set, we want to slow things down and once they buy in to that, I think we’ll be OK.”

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