ALLENTOWN: AHS girls hoops team falls in state playoffs opener

By Kyle Moylan, Sports Editor
   ALLENTOWN — While a lot of businesses are struggling in this economy, Tuesday was a great day for Kleenex in Allentown.
   After a 47-25 loss to Weequahic in the first round of the Central Jersey Group II playoffs — a defeat that marked the end of the careers of seniors Amanda Turowski, Angela Scibilia, Bea Pesciotta, Haley Wilhelm and Kelsey Glover — there wasn’t a dry eye on the Allentown High School girls basketball team.
   "Oh, my God, everyone is crying," noted Wilhelm as she emerged from the locker room after an extended post-game meeting. "So much crying. So much."
   For good reason. This was a team that was worth crying about.
   "When we were all freshmen, our team was looked at as absolutely nothing," Scibilia said. "We fought so hard over the years to progress as a program. I hope the younger players step forward and carry this on over the next few years."
   Turowski and Pesciotta were on the varsity since their freshman year. Wilhelm and Scibilia started getting playing time as sophomores. Once those four players got together as a unit, Allentown made the playoffs three straight seasons. Playoff losses the past two seasons were a lot easier to take than this one, however, because there was always next year. Now there is no next year for this group.
   Another thing different about this season is Allentown, which finished 16-8, was good enough to get a home playoff game for the first time in over a decade.
   "You ever see a crowd like that at Allentown for a girls basketball game?" Allentown Coach Linda Weise said about the packed stands, filled with fans that spent about half the game on their feet. "In the years I’ve been coaching here, I’ve never seen it. Those seniors worked hard to develop that atmosphere."
   Unfortunately, the last game for those seniors at Allentown was far from their best one.
   Allentown just could not get its offense going.
   "You have to give credit to their defense," Weise said of Weequahic. "Our turnovers hurt us. Our inability to run our offense hurt us."
   Allentown didn’t get its first field goal until Wilhelm stole the ball and went in for a layup on a breakaway in the final seconds of the first quarter.
   Wilhelm had a steal and another breakway basket early in the second quarter. While running its set offense, however, Allentown had only one field goal over the first 18 minutes of the game.
   Allentown created open looks. It had shots that appeared to be going in and then just time after time rolled out.
   "It was just amazing to watch," Wilhelm said. "The ball just wouldn’t go in. It was unbelievable. That never happened to us before. Usually if the inside game isn’t working, the girls are hitting their outside shots."
   Allentown stayed in the game with a great defensive effort. A three-point shot by Lindsay Bacovin even had Allentown as close as 28-21 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. Unfortunately, Allentown would score only four more points the rest of the game.
   Wilhelm fouled out late in the game. Shortly after that, Weise took out her seniors, allowing the crowd to give them a big ovation.
   "It’s not even the loss that hurts," Scibilia said. "It’s the fact this is the last time we’ll play together."
   That was something that was apparent to everyone. Thus the long post-game speech in the locker room and all of the crying.
   "After you have a group of seniors help bring the program to this point, you can’t prepare yourself for how you’re going to react when it all ends," Weise said. "My kids are even in there (the locker room) crying. It’s just so hard."