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It hardly seems possible, but Abby Carmody suddenly finds herself the “elder statesman” of Western Wayne’s girls basketball team.
A senior guard who’s been a fixture in the varsity line-up since her freshman year, Carmody is leading a late season Lady ‘Cat surge.
“I can’t believe how fast these four years went,” Abby said just moments after her team rolled to a 51-36 play-off win over West Scranton Wednesday night. “It seems like yesterday that I was the youngest one on the team. Now, I’m one of the oldest. Wow.”
With this impressive victory, Western Wayne earned a re-match with Honesdale in the Class AAA semifinals.
The winner of that game, which is slated for tonight at 7:00 p.m. in the Maple City, advances to the District Two tourney.
Complete Control
Carmody has learned a great deal over the course of four years...and one of those lessons is the importance of taknig an early lead.
On Wednesday night in the Scranton High School gym, Abby put that knowledge to good use. She drilled a long trey to give Western Wayne a quick 3-0 lead... and, from there, the Lady ‘Cats never looked back.
Coach Colleen Kloss is effusive when talking about Carmody’s veteran presence on such a young team.
“We rely on Abby for so many things,” she said. “She’s really become our leader out there. There are times that Abby just picks us up and carries us...”
One of those times was Wednesday against the Invaders. Whenever the Lady ‘Cats needed a big play, Carmody was there to supply it.
Leading just 24-21 at intermission, Abby started the third quarter in exactly the same manner as the first: she dialed up another long distance trey.
“I felt really good shooting,” she said. “I just tried to take my time, square up and take a good shot.”
It was a simple strategy that worked incredibly well.
Carmody finished up her night with a game-high 16 points. Abby hit three treys, went 3-for-4 at the stripe and added two acrobatic buckets in transition.
On Their Way
While Abby was turning in an unforgettable playoff performance, she received plenty of help along the way from her sisters.
Freshman ballhandler Rebecca Carmody slashed her way to 12 points.
Meanwhile, freshman forward Rachel Carmody continued her evolution into one of the area’s best all-round threats.
Rachel rattled the rims for 14 points, scoring from both the low post and the perimeter. She presented nightmarish match-up problems all evening long for the Invaders...muscling her way to field goals in the lane, but then stepping outside to drain three treys of her own.
It hardly seems possible, but Abby Carmody suddenly finds herself the “elder statesman” of Western Wayne’s girls basketball team.
A senior guard who’s been a fixture in the varsity line-up since her freshman year, Carmody is leading a late season Lady ‘Cat surge.
“I can’t believe how fast these four years went,” Abby said just moments after her team rolled to a 51-36 play-off win over West Scranton Wednesday night. “It seems like yesterday that I was the youngest one on the team. Now, I’m one of the oldest. Wow.”
With this impressive victory, Western Wayne earned a re-match with Honesdale in the Class AAA semifinals.
The winner of that game, which is slated for tonight at 7:00 p.m. in the Maple City, advances to the District Two tourney.
Complete Control
Carmody has learned a great deal over the course of four years...and one of those lessons is the importance of taknig an early lead.
On Wednesday night in the Scranton High School gym, Abby put that knowledge to good use. She drilled a long trey to give Western Wayne a quick 3-0 lead... and, from there, the Lady ‘Cats never looked back.
Coach Colleen Kloss is effusive when talking about Carmody’s veteran presence on such a young team.
“We rely on Abby for so many things,” she said. “She’s really become our leader out there. There are times that Abby just picks us up and carries us...”
One of those times was Wednesday against the Invaders. Whenever the Lady ‘Cats needed a big play, Carmody was there to supply it.
Leading just 24-21 at intermission, Abby started the third quarter in exactly the same manner as the first: she dialed up another long distance trey.
“I felt really good shooting,” she said. “I just tried to take my time, square up and take a good shot.”
It was a simple strategy that worked incredibly well.
Carmody finished up her night with a game-high 16 points. Abby hit three treys, went 3-for-4 at the stripe and added two acrobatic buckets in transition.
On Their Way
While Abby was turning in an unforgettable playoff performance, she received plenty of help along the way from her sisters.
Freshman ballhandler Rebecca Carmody slashed her way to 12 points.
Meanwhile, freshman forward Rachel Carmody continued her evolution into one of the area’s best all-round threats.
Rachel rattled the rims for 14 points, scoring from both the low post and the perimeter. She presented nightmarish match-up problems all evening long for the Invaders...muscling her way to field goals in the lane, but then stepping outside to drain three treys of her own.
It was a performance that drew rave reviews from Rachel’s mentor.
“She’s been playing really well the last few weeks,” said Coach Kloss. “Rachel is very tough to guard because she can do so many things.”
With the Carmody Girls leading the way, Western Wayne pushed its lead as high as 15 points midway through the third.
To their undying credit, the Invaders made several gutsy runs, but each fell short in the end. The Lady ‘Cats ratcheted up the defensive intensity in the fourth period, holding West to just five points in the final eight minutes.
Caleigh Wildenstein and Bridget Quinn led the way down low.
Wildenstein tallied three points, blocked a shot and hauled down six rebounds. Quinn collected a pair of blocks, scored two points and grabbed five boards.
Ellen Clauss and Jordyn Jacques also contributed key plays along the way.
Re-Match!
The last time Honesdale and Western Wayne squared off, the Lady ‘Cats absorbed a 49-22 thrashing.
“We definitely have something to prove,” said Coach Kloss. “The girls are excited to have a chance at some redemption.”
Abby Carmody was quick to agree.
“They pretty much kicked our butts last time, so we really want another shot,” she said, a twinkle in her eye. “I can’t wait...”
Score by Quarters...
WW (8-14) 11 13 17 10 - 51
WS (8-15) 10 11 10 5 - 36
