SOUTH DAYTON - The Pine Valley Lady Panthers' defense forced 35 turnovers in defeating Fredonia (0-1), 43-31, Friday in the opening round of the Pine Valley Invitational.
With the win, Pine Valley (2-1) will play Frewsburg in the championship game which will be preceded by the consolation game pitting Fredonia against Ellicottville today at 2:30 p.m.
Pine Valley's Alex Bentham and Amber Riggs combined for 16 steals.
The Lady Panthers jumped out to a 14-6 first-quarter lead and pushed the cushion to 27-14 by halftime.
"I thought our half-court defense did a nice job," Pine Valley coach Tim Nobles said. "Fredonia shot 13-for-37 from the floor. Our full-court and half-court defense did real well. We have to rely on our speed."
The home team added to the lead in the third quarter as the Lady Panthers went up 41-20.
Fredonia outscored Pine Valley, 11-2, in the final eight minutes, but it was too little, too late.
Fredonia won the rebounding battle, 30-27, as Frankie Sysol pulled down seven boards and Bre Dahn had six. Kirsta Wheelock led the visiting team in scoring with seven points while Baylee Tarnowski and Dahn each had six.
The Lady Panthers had three players score in double figures as Laurel Killock had 12 points, Alex Bentham added 11 and Kayla Mansfield finished with 10.
Killock also pulled down eight rebounds while Kaitlyn Hoth had six boards in the win.
