Zumwalt East Unable to Stop Parkway Central's Bergesh

A strong performance from sophomore Christie Bergesh paced the Parkway Central Lady Colts in their lopsided 55-24 non-conference win over the Lady Lions on Jan. 3 at Zumwalt East. 

Bergesh finished the contest with 20 points. 

“I started out rough with the fouling,” Bergesh said. “We were all a little rough on the fouling, but then we picked it up. Rebounding helped my points a lot. It gave me a lot of second chances and it also helped that I hit my free throws.” 

The Lady Colts established a 6-0 lead in the early minutes behind baskets from Alyssa Waitz, Bergesh, and Chelsy Gibson, but Zumwalt East fought back. Nicole Taylor’s two free throws at the 3:22 mark tied the game up at six points. Parkway held a slim 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

Bergesh’s free throws at the 7:35 mark in the second quarter ignited a 12-2 run and the Lady Colts held a 22-10 lead at the 3:46 mark. Parkway Central held a 29-12 lead at halftime. Parkway Central coach Brain Guilfoyle comments on his team’s offensive and defensive performance. 

“Taking care of the ball and working against the press has been an issue for us here lately,” Guilfoyle said. “And we did well in that regard tonight, but we also caused turnovers and that created opportunities.” 

The Lady Colts' dominance continued in the third and fourth quarters, as Parkway Central outscored Zumwalt East 26-12 in the second half. Ashley Holmes and Gibson each had eight points for Parkway Central. 

“The scoring on our team is pretty equal,” Guilfoyle said. “And that means we can spread the ball out but each of our starting five can shoot and score.” 

Taylor led East’s offense with seven points. East Coach David Biesenthal was unavailable for comment. Parkway Central improves to 5-6 with the win while Zumwalt East drops to 1-8.