(Butler, PA) Aslyn Pry scored 29 points in the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship Saturday night to lead the Butler County Community College women’s basketball team to a 60-42 victory against Westmoreland County Community College and the Pioneers’ fifth title.
Pry also led BC3 with 11 rebounds, seven assists and seven blocked shots. Emma Monteleone added 13 points and Hailey Metzger 10 for the Pioneers.
BC3 is 9-7 after an 0-4 start and this weekend will seek its fourth National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Region 20 crown since 2007.
“This is so cool. We had a rough beginning to the year. I’m proud of this team and how far we have come.”
Second-seeded BC3 will face third-seeded Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, Md., at noon Saturday in the Region 20 semifinals in Arnold. The winner will play top-seeded Prince George’s Community College, Largo, Md., at noon Sunday in the championship in Arnold.
The Pioneers never trailed Saturday night against Westmoreland County in winning their fifth consecutive game in BC3’s Field House.
“This is so cool,” Pry said. “We had a rough beginning to the year. I’m proud of this team and how far we have come.”
Added Monteleone: “We have evolved as a team. We have gotten so much better. So this is like a big reward for everybody.”
“We grew together,” Metzger said, “and it’s just a huge reward.”
Pry, Monteleone and Metzger on Saturday night were named to the WPCC all-conference team.
“She wants the ball”
Pry on Saturday night scored more points than did any other BC3 women’s basketball player in a WPCC championship victory. The Pioneers also won WPCC championships in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
She scored BC3’s first five points – on a layup, then a 3-pointer from the right wing – and the Pioneers’ final six – on a rebound, a left-handed baseline hook and two free throws.
“It takes all six players,” BC3 coach Dick Hartung said, “but she’s the MVP. She’s your leading scorer. She’s your leading rebounder. She wants the ball. I think maybe that is her strength. She wants the ball.”
Pry, BC3’s tallest player at 5-foot-10, entered Saturday night’s WPCC championship first among players on all 82 programs in the NJCAA Division III with 290 rebounds and third with a 23.8 scoring average.
“We don’t have the height that they have,” Westmoreland County coach James Brymn said. “And we have no answer defensively against their No. 10 (Pry). … When she gets around the basket, she’s not stationary with one shot, one right-handed shot. She can go left. She can go right. She can handle the ball. She can shoot it from the outside. If you have a big person, you can run an inside-outside game, and that’s basically what BC3 does.”
Metzger scored eight points in the first half, including 3-pointers from the left and right wings; and Monteleone eight points in the second half, all on layups or baseline jump shots.
“This is one of the better teams,” Hartung said. “We don’t have a lot of depth, but we have six women who play together and you have a marquee player in the middle in Pry who’s hard to guard. And the other players, one of their talents is that they can shoot the ball. It’s a great combination. You’ve got a big player inside who can roam and score and pass, and you have the shooters outside who can drop down shots.”
Makayla Boda scored 16 points and Hannah Wedow 13 for Westmoreland County, which advanced to the WPCC championship with an 84-27 victory Friday night against the Community College of Allegheny County.
Christina Davis and Kalynn Callihan led BC3 with 17 points each in a WPCC championship victory in 2016; Davis, with 22 in 2017; Carly Burdett, with 16 in 2019; and Michaella Roth and Casey Kretzer, with 17 each in 2020.
The WPCC did not hold a championship in 2021 following an NJCAA decision to postpone athletics in 2020-2021 with regard to COVID-19.
BC3 won Region 20 titles in 2007, 2011 and 2016.
"It’s a great combination. You’ve got a big player inside who can roam and score and pass, and you have the shooters outside who can drop down shots.”
Pry has led BC3 in scoring 14 times this season and in rebounding 16. Metzger has averaged 15.5 points for BC3 and Monteleone, 10. Westmoreland County’s Boda and Angel Kelly were also named Saturday night to the WPCC all-conference team.
Pry is a graduate of Moniteau High School, and Monteleone and Metzger, of Butler. Other players on BC3’s WPCC championship team are Zoey Hillwig, Moniteau; Leah Barclay, Harvest Academy; and Taylor Yost, Seneca Valley.
BC3 men fall in semifinals
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, Johnstown, beat BC3’s men’s basketball team 104-84 on Friday night in the WPCC semifinals, then Westmoreland County 84-80 in the championship Saturday. Mattix Clement scored 30 points for BC3 against Pennsylvania Highlands and Julian Sanks 24.
Sanks was also named to the WPCC all-conference team.
The BC3 men’s basketball team will face Pennsylvania Highlands again at 5 p.m. Friday in Arnold in a Region 20 play-in game. The Region 20 men’s championship is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday. BC3 is seeded No. 5 and Pennsylvania Highlands No. 4. Prince George’s is seeded first, Anne Arundel second and Westmoreland, third.
