The State College Girls Basketball Team opened its season by taking second place in the Skip Coleman Tip-Off Tournament on Dec. 6 and 7. The team throttled Williamsport in the opening game of the tournament 51-27 then lost a tightly contested championship game to Norwin, 48-42.
In the preseason, the Little Lions were picked third in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth by Mid-Penn coaches, behind only Altoona and Central Dauphin. They showed every reason for that optimism in their season-opening demolition of Williamsport on Friday night.
Led by the Wilson twins, Sienna and Sheree, the State College press forced turnover after turnover to jump out to a 12-0 lead. Sienna Wilson averaged 10.1 points per game last season as a freshman and is well on her way to stardom in 2024-25. She scored 16 points against Williamsport and eight against Norwin, including a huge corner three-pointer to cut the Knights’ lead to three with just over a minute left in the game.
“[Sienna Wilson] is a huge part of what we do. She and the athletic ability that they have, which is really hard to teach, really helps bring a new level to our team,” Head Coach Alli Mock said.
The Wilsons’ athleticism were on full display against the Millionaires. The full-court press from the Little Lions continued to overwhelm Williamsport en route to a 28-4 lead with 3:17 left in the first half when the Millionaires took their third timeout of the game.
Williamsport then played its best three minutes of the contest and went into halftime down 30-6.
State High eased off the gas pedal in the second half and allowed Williamsport to score 21 points, but added 21 of its own to win 51-27.
While State College was taking down Williamsport, Norwin was defeating Abington Heights in the South Gym, 49-40, to set up Saturday’s championship game.
The Little Lion press was again a factor in the championship game. Junior center Lydia Tate praised her team’s defensive intensity.
“We’re really good on the fast break, we’re really good in the quick tempo gameplay, so I think all the turnovers translated what we know how to do into a game,” Tate said.
State College jumped out to a 15-10 lead after the first quarter, but it was all downhill from there. Norwin went on a quick 8-0 run to begin the second quarter before Mock called a timeout with 5:38 on the clock.
The first points of the quarter didn’t come for State College until Tate scored a layup with 4:11 left in the half. Both teams cooled off in the second quarter, but State College floundered offensively and trailed 27-22 at the half.
The Little Lions again couldn’t get anything going offensively in the third quarter, scoring just two points. State High did, however, keep the game under control with its defense and trailed 35-24 going into the fourth quarter.
The Little Lions, led by strong defense from senior Jess Hawbaker and key three-pointers by junior Kenna Whitehurst and Sienna Wilson, mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter and got the Norwin lead down 45-42 with just over a minute remaining in the game.
Unfortunately for State High, Norwin made three out of four free throws in the final minute and the Little Lions never regained the lead. On the final possession of the game, State College shot itself in the foot by taking fifteen seconds to get a shot off while down six points. Hawbaker’s left-handed three came up short as time expired and Norwin prevailed, 48-42.
After the game, Hawbaker and Sienna Wilson were named to the all-tournament team and the team shifted its attention to its upcoming Mid-Penn Commonwealth schedule. Mock said that her team is going to “start going for that district championship that we feel like they deserve.”
Tate then agreed. “Our first goal is to be district champions, then Mid-Penn Champions, then we’ll go as far as we can go from there,” she said.
State College righted the ship with a 51-41 win over Johnstown on Dec. 9 and will begin its conference slate on Dec. 11 when it travels to Altoona.
