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READING - Coach Bob Felty's Tri-Valley team lives by its defensive game. He preaches defense constantly in his practices. The girls know it and they believe in it.

Nothing was more evident March 20 at Reading High School's Geigle complex, as the Lady Bulldogs clamped down on the Steel High Lady Rollers to earn a 34-29 victory and a trip to the PIAA Class A Eastern Final - the first-ever in school history.

That game, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 24 at Bellefonte Area High School, will be a rematch for Tri-Valley with District 6-A runner-up Northern Cambria, the team that ousted the Lady 'Dawgs in the second round of the 2009 state playoffs

The District 3-A Champion Rollers are known to score an average of 60 or more points per game, but the 'Dawgs held them to half of that. Freshman Taylor Troutman played a pivotal role for Tri-Valley in the second half - particularly in the fourth and decisive quarter - with scrappy intense play on both the defensive and offensive ends of the court.

"We always play well defensively, so we know we can always count on that and it bails us out, especially when we play as poorly offensively as we did today,'' Felty said. "But Steel High had a lot to do with that.''

"Our girls are very excited,'' he added. "About halfway through the season our girls started to believe we could do something like this. It's been a good experience for our girls.''

In the first quarter, Tri-Valley zipped off to an 8-0 lead as the 'Dawgs defense held Steel-High scoreless until the final remaining seconds, when Roller sniper Malia Tate-Defreitas stole a ball and went in for an uncontested layup. 

Juli Weber found teammate Amber Wehry on a beautiful pass inside to start Tri-Valley's scoring assault. Wehry tossed a pass to freshman Tara Nahodil. A baseline drive by Chelsea Stutzman and a Taylor Troutman offensive putback found the Dawgs leading 8-2 after one period. 

Both teams struggled with turnovers as opening jitters were evident in this battle.

The 'Dawgs committed two back-to-back turnovers to start the second quarter.  Tri-Valley also struggled with "one and done'' shot deals as the Rollers, led by Cinnamon Brown's nine first half rebounds, controlled the glass. 

The Rollers went on a 7-0 scoring run, and took a 9-8 lead with 4:25 remaining on a Defreitas drive down the left side. With the shot, Defreitas went down with a knee injury, forcing Steel-High's leading scorer to sit out the remainder of this game. 

Weber's subsequent steal drew a foul as Weber drained both shots to knot this score at 10-10 with 3:19 remaining.  By the end of the first half, Steel High led 16-13. 

The 'Dawgs looked inside to 6'4'' Tara Nahodil in the third quarter. 

"Tara was relatively quiet prior to the 3rd quarter.  Tara was quiet because we made her quiet,'' Felty said.  "It was our fault we weren't getting the ball into her the way we should have. And I just couldn't get the girls settled to get the ball inside to her. The second half, we finally did.''

Hannah Masser found Nahodil inside with 5:40 remaining. Rayne News-wanger sank two free throws after that.  With 2:41 remaining, Nahodil earned an offensive putback to tie this contest 20-20. 

With the 'Dawgs spreading the floor, an entry pass from Wehry to Nahodil was perfect as Tri-Valley re-gained the lead. Taylor Troutman's baseline pass to Nahodil finished the third quarter with the 'Dawgs taking a 25-24 lead.

The fourth and decisive quarter was led by Troutman, who could be found involved in almost every play that happened. Troutman forced a tie up using quick hands on Steel-High's Shavonna Donald, giving Tri-Valley possession,

"Even though Tara is our leading rebounder, possibly Taylor is our best rebounder because she anticipates very well,'' Felty said. "She is quick to the ball and we needed to do that today.

"I knew going in that she would play a big role in today's game. The thing with Taylor is she can play a lot of different players.  She can match up with them,'' Felty added.

The 'Dawgs started the quarter when Nahodil, who was double teamed, sent a beautiful pass on the weak side to Masser. The Rollers then committed three consecutive turnovers thanks to two steals by Troutman and another by Nahodil. 

But the 'Dawgs could not take advantage, as they struggled all night long with foul shots.  Tri-Valley could have iced the game in the final quarter on foul shooting alone, but found the going tough, hitting just five-for-15 down the stretch. 

The Rollers were struggling just as much with shots failing to fall. Shavonna Donald earned a three-point bonus with 2:39 remaining to cut Tri-Valley's lead to 30-29. 

But Tri-Valley spread the floor, patiently working their offense.  Weber bulleted a beautiful pass inside as Chelsea Stutzman snuck into the low post for a perfectly executed play at the 2:15 mark, putting the 'Dawgs up 32-29. 

"Coach (Felty) told us to look for Tara.  I was over on the right and there were two girls on me. So I knew someone had to be open,'' Weber said.

After a Felty timeout, the Dawgs slowed the game using a stall tactic. Weber was fouled and made the first shot as Tri-Valley led 33-29. Troutman hit one more free throw soon afterward to seal the victory.

For Weber, it's a dream come true to reach the state semifinals.

"This feels great. It's incredible to be in the final four,'' she said.

Teammate Taylor Troutman agreed, saying, "This feels awesome. Every one of us contributed offensively and defensively. I wasn't playing well the first half, so I picked my game up in the second half. 

"We have all heart on this team, and it doesn't matter how small the score, we work very hard,'' Troutman added.

According to Felty, Tri-Valley prepared intensely for the District 3 champs.

"For 3 days we practiced, pretending Juli was (Malia Tate-Defreitas). So she got beat up again. Today she got beat up too. She never stops,'' he said.

"Obviously it was a tremendous defensive effort,'' he added.  "I don't know how much that had to do with (Tate-Defreitas) getting hurt. I thought we did a really good job on her when she was in the game.  But a player like that you are not going to shut down the whole game. But I thought we did a great job when she was in, and obviously it got a little easier when she wasn't in.''

Nahodil led all scorers with 12 points.  Weber, who was held without a field goal, hit five-of-12 from the charity stripe. Steel-High's Cinnamon Brown led her team with 14 rebounds and seven points.  Jessika Williams added nine points for the Rollers before fouling out with 3:43 left in the contest.

Both teams struggled throughout the game with their free throw shooting.  The 'Dawgs connected on just 12-of-28 shots while the Rollers sank 7-for-23.  The 'Dawgs committed 22 turnovers while the Rollers committed 29. The 'Dawgs were outrebounded 39-29 in the game.