Plum girls basketball hands 1st loss to Kiski Area

By: Michael Love
Monday, December 8, 2025 | 9:41 PM

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The Plum girls basketball team, fresh off victories over Latrobe and North Hills on Friday and Saturday to win its tip-off tournament, hoped to keep things rolling Monday as it visited rival Kiski Area in the final tune-up before the start of section play.

The Cavaliers hoped to quell the Mustangs’ momentum and stay undefeated in the early season. They sought to upend a fourth Alle-Kiski Valley team in as many games, having already dispatched Apollo-Ridge, Freeport and Highlands.

But Plum was just too much.

Led by the all-around contributions of senior Riley Stephans and junior Tamia West, the Mustangs built a double-digit lead at halftime and put the game away in the fourth for a 43-24 victory.

“I thought, for the most part, it was a good effort tonight,” said Plum coach Rich Mull, who saw his team improve to 3-1 with Thursday’s Section 1-5A opener at Franklin Regional on the horizon.

“I wasn’t really pleased sometimes with the execution of it and some of our decision making. We had to make uncontested layups and things like that. But the effort was there. We need to be smarter. We’ve been working a lot of being more consistent. That is the key.”

Kiski Area (3-1) visits Connellsville on Thursday in the final nonsection game before the start of Section 2-5A play next Tuesday at home against Indiana.

“After the tip-off tournament game against Highlands, I told the girls that there are no easy games from here on out,” Cavaliers first-year coach Tom Brush said.

“If we don’t do all the little things, we run the risk of losing to anybody. If we play to our potential, we can be competitive with anybody and win games. This game is over, and now we have to get back in the gym and work to improve.”

Plum led by a dozen at the break and then extended its lead to 19 with a 7-0 run to open the third quarter.

Stephans converted a 3-pointer and a layup in that early spurt.

Kiski Area senior veteran Gianna Devito collected five rebounds in the first half — she finished with seven — but picked up her third foul and sat with 5 minutes, 47 seconds left in the third.

She returned for the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers went without a field goal from 2:42 left in the first quarter to 3:48 of the third quarter, a span of 14:54. Sophomore Arianna Bell converted a layup and a free throw to complete a 3-point play, end the drought and cut the deficit to 31-15.

Plum hurt its chance to pull away earlier with some struggles from the free throw line. The Mustangs missed 14 of 22 from the line including eight in a row during a stretch in the second half.

“I was not pleased with that, and I know the girls aren’t,” Mull said. “That is not characteristic of us, at least certain kids. I don’t know what it is, but it is something we have to clean up.”

Kiski Area would not go away. A 3-pointer from senior Allison Pencak and a layup from Bell pulled the Cavaliers to within nine at 31-22 with six minutes remaining.

But the Mustangs righted themselves down the stretch in the fourth and used a 12-0 run before Kiski sophomore Alaysia Bell put in a layup in the final seconds. That included five made free throws out of six attempts.

“We always talk about being resilient,” Mull said. “It’s not always going to go our way. We just have to make it through the valleys and get back to the peaks, and the girls did that tonight.”

West finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Stephans added 11 points and seven boards.

Senior Gia Tavella contributed eight points for the victors.

Arianna Bell and Pencak led the Cavaliers with five points apiece.

“We just weren’t consistent enough for a full game,” Brush said. “It was the little things that we have talked about before the game. We had to box out, crash the boards, rebound really well offensively and get back on defense. It will be interesting to watch the film and see how many offensive rebounds we gave up. That gave Plum so many second-chance opportunities to score. They definitely took advantage of that.”

Plum held a two-point lead at 14-12 with 4:12 left in the second quarter before going on a 10-0 run to close out the half.

West fronted the run with a layup, a 3-pointer and a free throw. Tavella added a pair of buckets, the second coming on a layup at the buzzer off an assist from West. The final play of the half came about after a West steal.

Plum forced 10 Kiski Area turnovers in the first half.

West went into halftime with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, whereas Stephans collected six points and seven rebounds over the first 16 minutes of play.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area, Plum