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Old Forge holds Forest City to just seven FG in victory

Jess Armillay defends for OF during its D2 title win on Saturday against Forest City.

Pictured above Aleca Semenza (5) splits two Forest City defenders on her way to two of her nine points for the Blue Devils. Below left, Sarah Fife (33) drives to the hoop for a basket; and below right, Kim Kaville (24) powers her way to the basket for a bucket.

photos by bill tarutis

Old Forge survived an offensive blackout during the first 16 minutes of play to capture its second consecutive District 2 Class 1A title with a 38-19 victory over Forest City at Scranton High School on Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Devils shot just 6-for-28 from the field in the first half, but used a suffocating defense to fight through its struggles on the offensive end, allowing the Lady Foresters just seven points during the first two quarters of play.
Aleca Semenza drained Old Forge’s first shot of the game – a triple from the right wing – to give the defending champs a 3-0 lead just 20 seconds into play, but the Blue Devils would make just two more baskets the rest of the first quarter while shooting 3-for-15 during the first eight minutes of play.
But the tight rims at Scranton High School did not only affect Old Forge. Top-seeded Forest City struggled to find the bottom of the nets, canning just 2-of-10 shots to open the game. The Lady Foresters also turned the ball over eight times in the first eight minutes as the Blue Devils played a full-court trapping defense.
Jess Armillay’s basket to start the second quarter gave Old Forge (19-5) a 10-6 lead. But 20 seconds later leading scorer Kim Kaville was sent to the bench with two personal fouls.
Kaville, who spent the last 6:47 of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, joined point guard Chrissy Belko watching the action. Belko had picked up her second personal foul with 5:10 left in the first quarter. She spent 13:10 of the first half seated next to assistant coach Jim Monteforte.
With two integral parts of the Old Forge offense on the pine, the Blue Devils locked down the Lady Foresters and did not allow a Forest City field goal for the entire eight minutes of the second stanza. The Lackawanna League Division III champions did not score a field goal for a 10:43 stretch between the first and third quarters.
Forest City began the second half with an inside score to cut the deficit to 14-9, but the Blue Devils responded with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 21-9 lead with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
Semenza, Sarah Fife and Belko each scored inside for Old Forge during the spurt.
The Lady Foresters clawed back to within 24-14 at the end of the third as the Old Forge offense went could for the final 4:28 of the quarter.
The Blue Devils pressure defense wore on Forest City who was visibly tired after 24 minutes of play, and led to an offensive spurt in the final period.
Belko, Kaville and Andi Alsalahat each scored a bucket in a 6-0 run to begin the fourth quarter that put Old Forge in command at 30-14.
Forest City stopped the run with a basket at the 4:12 mark, but Semenza got things rolling again for the Blue Devils off a feed from Belko to extend the lead back to 16 points.
Old Forge finished the game on 8-2 run.
Kaville finished with 10 points and six rebounds for the Blue Devils, and Semenza added nine points and four assists.
Belko recorded six rebounds, four assists, four points and two steals despite playing less that two quarters for Old Forge, and Fife chipped in with six points and six rebounds.
The Blue Devils will take on Benton High School, the No. 3 seed out of District 4 on Saturday afternoon at a District 2 site and time to be determined. Benton defeated Bucktail in the D4 consolation game.
The Tigers are 21-3 and were the top seed entering the D4 tournament before being upset in the semifinals by Lourdes Regional.
OF 54, Susquehanna 24
After finishing the regular-season with its only two-game losing streak of the year, the Old Forge girls’ basketball team turned up the defensive pressure and its intensity as it began its defense of its District 2 Class 1A crown with a 54-24 throttling of Susquehanna at the Peter Turonis Gymnasium at Carbondale Area High School on Tuesday night.
Aleca Semenza gave the Blue Devils the lead for good just 49 seconds into the game when she scored off of a rebound to put the No. 2 seed ahead, 2-0. Jess Armillay followed with 1-of-2 free throws, and Kim Kaville scored four straight points over the next 1:30 and the rout was on.
Sarah Fife added four points during the first quarter, and Semenza finished the first eight minutes of play with a three-ball to give the Blue Devils a 16-7 lead headed to the second quarter.
Kaville went back to work to begin the second, scoring Old Forge’s first seven points before Semenza buried another three-pointer that capped a 10-0 run that put the Blue Devils ahead, 26-7, with 4:55 remaining before intermission.
Susquehanna reeled off seven straight points to answer the Old Forge run, and cut the deficit to 26-14. But the Blue Devils finished the quarter with five consecutive points from Nicole Marianelli who drilled a triple before draining two free throws for a 31-14 halftime lead.
The Lady Sabers came out in the third quarter and cut the Old Forge lead to 33-19 with under three minutes left in the period. But the Blue Devils scored nine straight in the final 2:34, including a three-pointer at the buzzer from Fife, to take a 42-19 lead into the final eight minutes.
Old Forge’s only fourth-quarter field goals were three triples to give the reigning small-school champ a season-high seven for the game. Marianelli sandwiched two treys around a Semenza three-pointer as Old Forge began the final stanza on a 9-0 run to put them in cruise control with a 51-19 lead.
Kaville finished with 19 points, including a 9-for-11 performance from the charity stripe. Semenza added 13 points and three steals, and Marianelli chipped in with 11 points. The duo also split six three-point goals.