SV splits pair with North Hills while dealing with tragic loss

By DEREK PYDA Eagle Staff Writer

January 23, 2009 Last Updated: January 23, 2009 01:06 PM High School

Seneca Valley’s Brianna Sieminski beats North Hills’ Emma Wingerd to the basketball during the Lady Raiders’ victory Thursday night.

JACKSON TWP — Both the Seneca Valley boys and girls basketball teams took the court Thursday night.

But the players did so with heavy hearts.

Shannon Quail, a senior girls lacrosse star at the school, died Sunday from injuries sustained in a car accident on Interstate 79.

A moment of silence was observed before both varsity games.

Dana Hughes, a senior softball player at SV, was injured in the accident and remains in the hospital.

"It was a very emotional week," said SV girls coach Kelly Mathews, who watched her team defeat North Hills 42-29. "I told all the girls that they didn't have to play tonight if they didn't want to, but they did play and showed a lot of heart.

"I'm very proud of the girls' effort," she added. "They wanted to play well for both Shannon and Dana."

SV boys senior C.J. Brown was a pall bearer at Quail's funeral, held earlier on Thursday.

"I'd known Shannon since the seventh grade," said Brown, whose team dropped a 58-48 decision to North Hills. "I loved her because she was a great athlete and a great competitor.

"It was tough to play tonight, but it got my mind off of everything that was going on. I think Shannon would've wanted me to play."

Brown and his teammates played from behind most of the night.

North Hills led 25-21 at halftime and 46-36 entering the final period, which saw the team tally all 12 of its points from the free throw line.

"I thought a key for us tonight was our ability to rebound," said North Hills coach Buzz Gabos of his team's 29-22 edge on the boards. "Seneca Valley is so athletic and they have height. A lot of times, you're going to have a kid who's 5-foot-10 going up for a rebound against one of their kids that is 6-2. You have to box out well and we did tonight."

The Indians (5-4, 11-7) were led by Cody Patton's 16 points, 11 of them coming from the free throw line.

"Patton is such a good guard," said SV coach Vic Giannotta. "He can penetrate and score or kick it back out. It was an emotional game for us, but give all the credit to North Hills. They got to every loose ball before we did."

North Hills also received a spark from junior guard D.J. Scott, who came off the bench to score 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

"He played a little bit as a sophomore last year," said Gabos. "There's times we start him and other times when we'll bring him off the bench."

The Raiders (5-3, 9-6) were led by Evan Mitro's 15 points.Matt Vogt (12) and Christian Durbin (11) also reached double figures for SV.Seneca Valley (girls) 42, North Hills 29 — Aly Eagle's 14 first-half points lifted the Raiders to a 22-15 lead at the break.She ended with a game-high 18."Aly had a great game tonight," said Mathews. "She just kept knocking down shot after shot."Eagle drained six field goals in the first half to be exact and she hit all four of her free throw attempts in the final quarter.The Raiders held North Hills (3-6, 6-10) to single digits in three of the four quarters, as the Indians shot just 11-of-38 from the field.SV also cut down on its turnovers, making just six miscues in the second half and 15 for the game.Catherine Messmer added eight points for the Raiders (3-5, 3-12).North Hills was led by Ali Patton and Gabby Marshall, who both scored 13 points.SV's win avenged a 46-39 defeat to the Indians Dec. 18.BoysNORTH HILLS 58Cody Patton 2 11-12 16, Sean White 2 0-0 6, D.J. Scott 4 1-1 11, Scott Zubik 3 1-4 7, Jeff Witt 4 2-4 10, R.J. Miller 4 0-0 8, Timo Steffens 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 15-21 58.SENECA VALLEY 48C.J. Brown 2 2-2 6, Matt Vogt 5 2-5 12, Nate Herrmann 2 0-0 4, Evan Mitro 6 2-2 15, Christian Durbin 3 4-6 11, Dan Rohm 0 0-0 0, Dustin Anewalt 0 0-0 0, Joe Belechak 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 10-15 48.North Hills 14 11 21 12—58Seneca Valley 11 10 15 12—483-point goals: North Hills 5 (White 2, Scott 2, Patton); Seneca Valley 2 (Mitro, Durbin).Tuesday: Seneca Valley at ShalerGirlsNORTH HILLS 29Julie Havrilla 0 1-2 1, Ali Patton 4 2-5 13, Emma Wingerd 1 0-0 2, Gabby Marshall 6 1-5 13, Jessica Rectenwald 0 0-2 0, Katy Turzak 0 0-2 0, Julia Klein 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 4-16 29.SENECA VALLEY 42Aly Eagle 6 4-4 18, Gabby Allen 2 0-0 4, Brianna Sieminski 2 1-1 5, Alex Karika 2 1-4 5, Catherine Messmer 2 4-7 8, Angie Lalonde 0 2-2 2. Totals: 14 12-18 42.North Hills 4 11 8 6—29Seneca Valley 9 13 8 12—423-point goals: North Hills 3 (Patton 3); Seneca Valley 2 (Eagle 2).JV: Seneca Valley 50-44Monday: Seneca Valley at Shaler