KINGSLEY - The atmosphere was electric inside J. McGlaughlin Gymnasium Friday night for the opening round PIAA state playoff game between the Lady Warriors of Canton and the District II AA Champion Mountain View Lady Eagles.

The Lady Eagles played more of that stingy defense and had a trio of scorers finished in double digits cruising to the 50-32 victory, advancing to the round of 16.

Addison Kilmer recorded a double-double and Emily Trichilo had a big night off the bench as the duo led all scorers with 12 points apiece.

A. Kilmer controlled the glass, in what was a very physical game in the paint. The junior pulled in big rebounds on both ends of the floor all night.

As for the physicality of the game she had this to say, "the refs were really letting us play so I tried to pick it up on the rebounding and defense. I just tried to do whatever my team needed me to do for us to win."

For Trichilo it was a great feeling to come through in a big game, "I have been struggling the last few games, but my teammates and coaches always have my back, so I'm just glad I was able to step up when they needed me."

Ryleigh Kilmer had a huge second quarter tallying eight of her 10 points, to give her team all the momentum.

The senior Kilmer has played in so many big games in her career and is thrilled to get back to the sweet 16, "it feels great, I'm happy with the way we pushed for this win and hope we can continue to do so as we take things one day at a time."

The Lady Eagles jumped out to an 11-4 lead after the first quarter, despite shooting just two of six from the free throw line.

A. Kilmer got the scoring started with an offensive rebound and put back, Aubrey Sanders drained a three from the corner to put their team up 5-0.

After a pair of points at the line, Sanders handed out assists to Trichilo and Riley Turner to close the first quarter.

R. Kilmer took control in the second quarter, connecting on a pair from behind the arc and nailing another field goal, totaling half of the Lady Eagles points in the period.

Trichilo canned a three pointer as well, Sanders and A. Kilmer each added a bucket and Turner notched one at the line.

Canton hit a pair of three point field goals and a pair of two point field goals. At the halftime intermission the Lady Eagles held a 27-14 advantage.

After the break Mountain View all but put the game out of reach, adding 15 points to the home scoreboard in the third quarter.

Trichilo paced the offense with six points, making a three pointer, a two pointer and a foul shot.

Turner made a pair of baskets for four points, A. Kilmer added a bucket and made both her foul shots for four points of her own. Sanders converted one from the stripe.

The Lady Eagles defense held the Lady Warriors to single digits in the third, after 24 minutes of play they were up 42-23.

A. Kilmer collected a pair of offensive boards and scored the first four points of the fourth quarter for the Lady Eagles.

R. Kilmer would add a bucket with 4:24 remaining in the game as the Lady Eagles began killing the clock.

Coach Corey Gesford lifted his starters from the game late in the fourth quarter as the starters got a standing ovation from the home crowd.

Dazlyn Sobol madę a layup just as the time expired for the final points of the contest, as the Lady Eagles advance to the sweet 16 with the 50-32 victory.

I asked coach Gesford how important it was to come out with intensity and grab the early lead and how that allowed them to control the game.

"That's what we wanted, we wanted to set the tone early, we wanted to dictate what happened. We wanted to play a full 32 minutes of intense basketball and we did that," he responded.

As for the Lady Eagles returning to the sweet 16 Coach Gesford had this to say, "It's great, it's something these guys have been through before, it's my first trip. We said there's 32 teams left at the beginning of the night. We wanted to be one of the 16 left afterwards."

A. Kilmer's double-double performance consisted of 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a pair of steals.

Trichilo notched 12 points, five rebounds and a steal, R. Kilmer tallied 10 points, four steals and three boards.

Turner finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and a block. Sanders added six points, five assists, a pair of rebounds and a steal, Sobol chipped in with two points.

Cailyn VanNoy and Kendall Kitchen paced the Lady Warriors offense scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.