Mounts slip by Eagles

It wasn’t a Picasso. But when you’re playing your backyard rival, it doesn’t always have to be a work of art, just a win at the end of the day.

Gabbie Gerola-Hill scored 11 points, including four clutch foul shots in the waning seconds, Jasmine Griffin chipped in with 10 points, including a couple of key layups in the second half, and host Ephrata held off next-door neighbor Cocalico 39-38 on Thursday night in a hotly contested nonleague girls basketball clash.

“It was one of those games where we had to grind it out,” Ephrata coach Brian Cerullo said. “It wasn’t pretty. We missed a lot of shots. But it’s a rivalry game and we knew (Cocalico) was going to be ready to play. And they made us play their game. We made just enough plays to get out of here.”

Ephrata, which owns sole possession of first place in the Section Two race, improved to 8-4. Cocalico, which dropped a one-point game in overtime against Garden Spot in a Section Three thriller on Wednesday, dipped to 3-9.

“We have to keep putting one step forward,” said Cocalico coach Andrew Garrett, who has one senior on his roster. “The thing I love about this group is that they’re extremely coachable. And because of that, we’re going to keep learning from these game situations, and at some point, things are going to click.”

It looked like Ephrata was going to run away and hide in the second quarter, when the Mountaineers took a 17-8 lead on a Gerola-Hill basket. But the Eagles closed the first half on a 9-3 clip — keyed by Kiersten Shipton, who hit two jumpers, including a trey — and whittled Ephrata’s lead down to 20-17 at the break.

Both teams dug in defensively, putting half-court offense and finishing possessions at a premium. Griffin’s layup gave Ephrata a 25-21 cushion late in the third quarter, and her drive and finish through traffic put the Mounts up 32-29 with 5:15 to go.

Shipton brought Cocalico to within 30-29 with a 3-pointer from the wing just before Griffin’s clutch drive. Later, the Eagles’ Hannah Custer (12 points, 10 rebounds) scored in the lane and hit a pair of free throws to keep the Eagles close.

But Reagan McCarty, Carly Holochuck and Griffin had key baskets in the waning minutes, and Gerola-Hill helped ice it, going 4 for 4 at the line down the stretch. Shipton drilled a deep baseline 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin, as Ephrata escaped for its third win in a row.

Shipton scored a game-high 13 points for Cocalico, which outrebounded Ephrata 30-28. But the Eagles couldn’t overcome 15 turnovers, including five in the fourth quarter, when the Mounts held on late.

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