Basketball Game Preview: Conemaugh Valley Blue Jays vs. Penns Manor Comets

The Conemaugh Valley Blue Jays will head out on the road to face off against the Penns Manor Comets at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

Conemaugh Valley will head into Thursday's contest out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Thursday. They were outmatched by Marion Center and fell 62-32. While losing is never fun, the Blue Jays can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 555th, while the Stingers are ranked 84th).

Penelope Reininger

Steals

01/09/25 vs Marion Center	4
01/07/25 @ Northern Cambria	4
12/28/24 vs Ferndale	2
12/27/24 @ Shade	5

Conemaugh Valley's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Penelope Reininger, who posted 17 points along with eight rebounds and four steals, and Illy Darcangelo, who put up nine points and four steals. Reininger has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played.

Even though they lost, Conemaugh Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in five consecutive games.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Penns Manor). They blew past Portage 68-26 on Thursday. The Comets have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 25 points or more this season.

The victory (which was Penns Manor's fifth in a row) raised their record to 11-2. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.2 points per game. As for Conemaugh Valley, their defeat was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 2-10.

Conemaugh Valley was dealt a bruising 63-23 loss at the hands of Penns Manor in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Penns Manor's Alyssa Altemus, who went 11 of 15 on her way to 25 points in addition to eight assists and seven boards. Now that Conemaugh Valley knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.