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By Sam Butler, Feb. 10, 2010

Last updated: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 12:27 PM EST

To the casual basketball fan, it might not have looked any different. But if you paid close attention you could see the minute change Boiling Springs head coach Rick Falk made to his full-court press Tuesday night.

That simple change made a world of difference in the Bubblers’ 34-29, come-from-behind win over Susquenita in a Mid-Penn Colonial Division matchup at Boiling Springs High School.

“In the first half we really had to work hard to break their press,” Susquenita head coach Shannon Dyer said. “In the second (half), you could just tell there were times they let us break the press and said, ‘Let’s see if (you) can score.’ They gave us opportunities where we broke the press but didn’t finish underneath the basket.”

“The pace wasn’t the same,” Falk said. “The same shot wasn’t the same.”

The defensive pressure was enough to go along with some timely 3-point shots — despite the Bubblers’ poor outside shooting performance — and a strong attention to rebounding to outscore Susquenita (12-8, 7-6 Colonial) 23-11 in the second half.

“We were perimeter-based but didn’t make any 3s,” Falk said. “We made three and must have shot 15 or 20. We’re a good shooting team, but wow, we struggled (Tuesday). I think the change of pace was the big difference. I knew before the half that we couldn’t keep playing at that pace, not trailing by eight. They would take three minutes before they shot the ball, so we changed presses.”

In the second half, Boiling Springs (16-3, 11-2 Colonial) crashed the boards, while their three guards drew the defense away from forward Amanda Gelber (team-high nine points). Jayne Fulfer and Kati Aunkst dominated the inside, with Fulfer pulling in 17 boards and Gelber and Aunkst each grabbing five.

Even with the pressure and rebounding, Susquenita still remained in control after Emily Martz (game-high 12 points) made a layup for a 26-23 Blackhawks lead about a minute into the fourth quarter.

But an odd possession gave Boiling Springs three points to tie the contest. Nova Whitaker picked up her second foul when she held Fulfer, sending Fulfer to the line for a one-and-one. Fulfer missed the front end, but Aunkst pulled down the board and was fouled on the floor, sending her to the line. Aunkst made the first but missed the second, only for her to snag the rebound and find Fulfer for the 2-point basket.

“I give them a lot of credit,” Dyer said of Boiling Springs. “They didn’t put their heads down and kept coming. They’re a good team.”

Still, the Blackhawks kept things close, making 1-of-2 free throws before the Bubblers received buckets from Katelyn Ernst and Fulfer for a 30-27 lead. Martz hit a jumper to keep Susquenita within striking distance with about two minutes left, but a basket from Ernst and free throws from Jenna Davis and Gelber closed out the contest with a 4-0 run.

“We’ve been in games like this all year,” Dyer said. “We’ve been in three- (or) four-point games against everybody at the top of our league, I feel bad for the kids that we’ve been this close and that we can’t find a way to get that win. We’re a team that has to do everything right. We’ve got to make sure we don’t turn the ball over, make foul shots, make our layups. We’re not the type of team that’s great offensively. We’ve got to do every little thing right.”

East Pennsboro 49, Milton Hershey 39

Taylor Santor scored a team-high 13 points for the Panthers, who led 27-19 at halftime and used a 15-8 third quarter to pull away. Teammate Mikelyn Mackavage added 12.

Harrisburg 59, Trinity 52

The Shamrocks pulled within one point, 41-40, heading into the final quarter but couldn’t pull off the comeback at home. Laura Murray recorded a team-best 27 points on 11 field goals while teammate Ashley Betz-White added 16.