D.T. State Farm pushes Edward Jones’ skid to 6

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

Dax Thomas State Farm continued its knack for winning close games Monday in Mon Valley Independent Summer Basketball League action.

With her team trailing late in the second half, again it was Serra Catholic senior Chloe Pordash putting her squad on her back and willing them to victory.

Pordash scored a team-high 24 points to lead Dax Thomas State Farm (7-2) past Edward Jones, 53-50, in the opening game of tripleheader action at Marx’s Court Time Sports Center.

Edward Jones led 40-38 with six minutes to play before Pordash scored eight straight points for her team to give State Farm a 46-42 lead.

“This is probably the best team I’ve ever had at winning close games,” D.T. State Farm head coach Tommy Rodriguez said. “We were down in probably five or six of those games, but these girls always have confidence that they’re going to pull it out.

“On top of that, I don’t know how we keep winning these games with slow starts and such poor rebounding.”

Dax Thomas State Farm led 28-24 at the break but only managed three field goals over the first eight minutes of the half.

“Usually its a slow start in the game, but today it was the second half,” Rodriguez said. 

Edward Jones, mostly Peters Township senior Avana Sayles, took full advantage of State Farm’s offensive lull.

Sayles scored 11 of her game-high 25 points over a period of two minutes to help Edward Jones (2-7) take the lead back 38-36.

Yough forward Laney Gerdich, who scored 10 points and ripped down 21 rebounds, hit a pair of free throws to make it a four-point game.

Just over a minute later, Dax Thomas State Farm made its run.

Lydia Zoglmann (Thomas Jefferson) scored on a great drive to the basket before Pordash started her run. Zoglmann scored all seven of her points in the second half for the winners.

The big shift in momentum was brought about by Rodriguez’s decision to begin pressuring the ball more defensively and keeping it out of Belle Vernon’s Viva Kreis’ hands.

“We did a great job of denying her the ball. We wanted someone else to handle it,” Rodriguez said. “We wanted to get the jump on them and try to force them into making some turnovers.”

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Tuesday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.