Greensburg Salem girls gift themselves with win over Knoch

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 20, 2018 | 10:18 PM

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With little fanfare because she wanted it that way, Megan Kallock recently committed to play college basketball at Saint Vincent.

The standout guard from Greensburg Salem showed Thursday night why the Bearcats think she can benefit their program.

Kallock, a senior with more than 1,400 career points, scored 22 to help power the Golden Lions to a 48-42 victory over visiting Knoch, which came in tied with Freeport and North Catholic for first place in Section 1-4A.

“With her, you can’t relax,” Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said of Kallock, who had 15 in the second half. “She can score nine or 10 points in 30 seconds.”

Senior Nikki Mellinger added 14 points, and freshman Abby Mankins had 10 for the Golden Lions (3-4, 1-2), who put a halt to Knoch’s four-game winning streak.

The Golden Lions built their lead to 11 (44-33 and 46-35) late in the fourth before repelling the Knights (4-2, 2-1), who played without one of their top players, sophomore Nevaeh Ewing, who appears to be done for the season with a broken hand she suffered Dec. 10 against Kiski Area.

“Early in the game, we were over-helping a little bit in the first half … it was a frustrating early start for us,” Greensburg Salem coach Rick Klimchock said. “We had some great looks that we didn’t convert in the second half. We battled through tough defense that they played.

“The key to our game was a really great defensive effort all night by our girls.”

Kallock scored on several steal-and-score layups. She finished with seven of the team’s 12 steals.

“Our defense won that game,” said Kallock , who made three 3-pointers. “Even though our offense wasn’t spectacular and not a lot of shots weren’t falling, we really pushed it out with defense.”

When Knoch point guard Abbey Shearer fouled out with 7 minutes, 12 seconds remaining, Greensburg Salem went into attack mode and stretched out the lead like Klimchock did with his gum on the sidelines.

A 10-2 run, keyed by steals, gave the Golden Lions command and a cushion to work with, and that was important because Knoch did not go peacefully, cutting the margin to 46-42 inside the final minute before Mellinger hit two free throws for the final points.

Kallock made a steal in the closing seconds for the apropos finish.

Freshman Kylie Smith played a key role for Greensburg Salem on defense. Mankins also provided a spark early with a layup off a steal and a 3.

Klimchock toggled between guarding the lead and adding to it in the final minutes.

“We like to go,” Klimchock said. “So us slowing down isn’t a great thing for us. Sometimes you don’t know whether to pull back or go.”

Knoch was led by forward Lauren Cihonski, who tied Kallock’s game-high with 22 points. She made seven field goals and 8 of 10 free throws.

“We have had different players score for us all season,” Andreassi said. “Tonight it was (Cihonski). Other girls’ time will come too.”

Greensburg Salem took a 22-21 lead into halftime after Kallock buried a 3 from the wing just before the buzzer.

She carried the momentum into the second half, scoring eight straight points for the Golden Lions early in the third to help extend the lead to 30-22.

Knoch came back to get within three entering the fourth after a buzzer-beater by Madilyn Boyer.

A steal and layup, then a short jumper by Kallock was followed by a layup off another Kallock steal with 3:20 remaining to up the advantage to 10. After a putback by Cihonski, Kallock converted a three-point play to make it 43-33 with 3:20 remaining.

Greensburg Salem bounced back from a tough road loss to Burrell, 68-64.

Knoch’s last lead was 21-19 on a 3 by Shearer.

“We needed this win,” Kallock said. “We knew we would have been 0-3 (in section) if we lost and couldn’t get into that deep of a hole. We had to fight through the adversity and come out stronger the next game. It was nice to get a home win right before Christmas.”

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Knoch