PUNXSUTAWNEY — Punxsutawney got big games from the duo of Chloe Presloid and Danielle Griebel Thursday night as the Lady Chucks handed visiting DuBois a 55-33 loss in District 9 League action.

Presloid scored a game-high 18 points, including nine in the first quarter on three 3-pointers, to go along with three assists and three steals, while Griebel had 15 points, seven assists and four steals as Punxsy improved to 15-0 overall and 5-0 in league play.

The pair helped offset a nice game by DuBois’ Madison Rusnica, who led the Lady Beavers with 17 points. Punxsy’s Avary Powell and DuBois’ Kamryn Fontaine each added eight points for their respective teams, with Powell pulling down eight rebounds.

Punxsy, which led by six points (13-7) after one quarter, methodically pulled away from the Lady Beavers after that. The Lady Chucks held DuBois to just one point in the second quarter as they took a 21-8 lead to the break.

The Lady Chucks pushed that advantage to 16 (38-22) after three quarters before eventually winning by 22 points.

“It almost went how I hoped it would go,” said Punxsy coach Michael Carlson. “I knew they (DuBois) were going to play hard and stick around. They’re pretty solid with the basketball and didn’t let us turn them over. I was hoping we could just keep building and keep building, and we’d be fine.

“Eventually we were able to get good looks, and we’ve been doing a really good job of taking care of the ball. We only had seven turnovers, so offensively we’re getting the shots. We shot 50 percent for the game, so we were patient, got good looks and made them count.”

DuBois’ Fontaine opened the scoring with a hoop just over a minute in before the game turned into a 3-point contest the ensuing three-plus minutes. Presloid drained three treys during that stretch and Rusnica one as Punxsy grabbed a 9-5 lead just past the midway point of the quarter.

Another basket buy Rusnica made it a two-point game, but Powell netted the final four points of the period to put the Lady Chucks up 13-7 after eight minutes.

Defense then ruled the second quarter as both teams struggled to find the basket. DuBois’ lone point came on a Lynx Lander free throw at the 5:03 mark, making it a 15-8 game at the time after Powell had scored for Punxsy.

The Lady Chucks managed just six more points in the quarter themselves, getting three each from Griebel and Presloid, who knocked down a long 3-pointer with nine seconds on the clock to make it 21-8 at the break. Presloid had all four of her threes in the first half for 12 points.

Samantha Griebel and Rusnica then traded 3-pointers in the opening minute of the third quarter before an old-fashion three-point play by Danielle Griebel put Punxsy up 16 at 27-11 less than two minutes into the half.

DuBois (9-6) countered with a 7-2 spurt to get back with 11 (29-18) thanks to a Rusnica trey and hoops by Fontaine and Gabby Orzechowski.

The Lady Beavers could get no closer than 11 though, as Punxsy closed the third on a 7-2 run of its own to go back up 16 at 38-22. Danielle Griebel sparked that quarter-closing spurt with five points, including her lone 3-pointer of the game. She also made two free throws after being fouled at the buzzer on an inbounds play.

Punxsy promptly pushed the lead out to 21 points (46-25) with an 8-3 spurt to start the fourth. The Griebel sisters had hoops in that run, as did Olivia Burkett and Emily Dobbins, while Rylee Werner hit a trey for DuBois.

Five quick points by Rusnica, including an old-fashion 3-point play, quickly cut the DuBois deficit to 16 with 4:01 to play, but it was all Punxsy from there as the Lady Chucks closed game with a 9-3 run.

Emily McMahan scored her lone points in a 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play to give Punxsy its largest lead of the night at 55-32 before Rusnica went 1 of 2 at the foul line to set the final.

“They (Punxsy) have a such a good understanding of the game of basketball,” said DuBois coach Cory Hand. “And, even though we play very tough, very scrappy and aggressive — we eventually lost too many girls (on defense), especially the first half. And, we couldn’t get anything going offensively.

“I thought we played much better, aggressive offensive game in the second half. I thought on the perimeter defensively, in the second half, we matched up their guards pretty well, but they hurt us more in transition and on some out of bounds stuff. But, I was proud of they came back and responded in the second half.”

Punxsy returns to action Monday with a big D-9 League matchup at Elk County Catholic, while DuBois plays at Brockway Saturday afternoon in the teams’ annual Pink Game.

PUNXSUTAWNEY 55,

DUBOIS 33

Score by Quarters

DuBois 7 1 14 11 — 33

Punxsy 13 8 17 17 — 55

DuBois—33

Kamryn Fontaine 3 2-2 8, Madison Rusnica 6 2-3 17, Alexas Pfeufer 1 0-0 2, Gabby Orzechowski 1 0-1 2, Abbie McCoy 0 0-0 0, Maddy Orzechowski 0 0-0 0, Bree Weible 0 0-2 0, Rylee Werner 1 0-0 3, Teegan Runyon 0 0-0 0, Shelly Anderson 0 0-0 0, Lynx Lander 0 1-2 1. Totals: 12 5-10 33.

Punxsy—55

Chloe Presloid 6 2-2 18, Danielle Griebel 4 6-7 15, Riley Doverspike 1 0-0 2, Avary Powell 4 0-0 8, Samantha Griebel 2 0-0 5, Olivia Burkett 1 0-0 2, Emily McMahan 1 0-0 3, Jolena Wintermeyer 0 0-0 0, Emily Wisnesky 0 0-0 0, Maddi Kriebel 0 0-0 0, Camryn Hall 0 0-0 0. Totals:20 8-9 55.

Three-pointers: DuBois 4 (Rusnica 3, Werner), Punxsy 7 (Presloid 4, D. Griebel, S. Griebel, McMahan).