By JIM RUMBLE

It wasn't suppose to end like this. That's probably what a lot of people were thinking after the Avonworth girls’ basketball team's WPIAL quarterfinal game against Bishop Canevin at West Allegheny High School last Friday.

Having left their “A” game at home, the Lady ‘Lopes committed 34 turnovers and had a horrendous night shooting the ball as they were subdued by the Crusaders 53-31.

"We didn't handle their press -- we didn't get to the spots that we needed to like we had prepared," said Coach Bob Schulz after the game.

The 'Lopes had problems with the press against the same team in last year's quarterfinals, but pulled out a 58-51 win.

Schulz added, "We worked on that press -- thought we had it solved, but not at all."

Things were looking up at the start when Catherine Costa converted two free throws to register the game's first points about a minute into the contest.
Canevin answered with a put-back basket, but Lauren Mayernik's drive to the hoop gave Avonworth back their lead at 4-2.

That's when things began to unravel.

The Crusaders employed their full court press defensively to force 12 turnovers while putting together a 13-0 run that included three baskets from beyond the arc.

Mackenzie Mayernik hit a short jumper that had Avonworth trailing 15-6 to end the first quarter.

Seeming as if this was all a bad dream, the 'Lopes continued to regress in the second quarter.

Taking advantage of eight Avonworth miscues, Canevin started with a 9-0 run to lead 24-6. Costa's 3-pointer stopped the run, but the Crusaders then added an 8-0 run to extend their lead at the half 32-9.

The Lady ‘Lopes shot 1-of-15 from the field in the second quarter.

Schulz attributed his team's lackluster performance offensively to his players' depleted energy.

"They were spending so much time on that press -- you could tell they looked exhausted," Schulz said.

Avonworth started the third quarter with back-to- back baskets by Costa and Zakor, but Canevin put together a 9-0 run to lead 41-13 near the midpoint of the period.

Zakor and L. Mayernik added baskets, while the Crusaders converted another one of Avonworth's nine turnovers in the period for a score that had the Lady ‘Lopes behind 43-17 going into the fourth quarter.

Avonworth outscored Canevin 14-10 in the fourth quarter, getting 9 points from L. Mayernik, a 3-pointer by Costa and a basket by Laura Presutti to put the final score at 53-31.

L. Mayernik finished with 13 points, followed by Costa with 10.

The ‘Lopes' season may continue to the state playoffs if Seton LaSalle defeats defending champ Jeannette in the WPIAL finals that take place today at the A.J. Palumbo Center at 5 p.m.