Minersville faced an unfamiliar situation just 6 minutes, 47 seconds into Friday night's PIAA Class AA first-round game against Central Columbia at Martz Hall.
The Battlin' Miners had only recorded four points and trailed the Blue Jays by eight. Minersville was outrebounded 9-1 in the first quarter and 5-foot-11 Central Columbia center Lindsey Carl was causing fits in the paint.
But those who watched the Miners this season couldn't be surprised with how they responded to the adversity.
Led by senior guard Reighly Melochick's 12 second-quarter points, Minersville stormed back and ended up running away with a 55-36 victory.
The victory advances Minersville to Tuesday's second round against District 12 champion Neumann-Goretti (26-0), which defeated Camp Hill 74-36.
"We started pushing the ball a little more in the second quarter," Melochick said. "(Central Columbia) started setting a slower pace and we took it back up to our pace and got ourselves more shots and opportunities.
"I knew we'd fight back," Melochick added. "I knew we had it in us. It was definitely a little scary being down, though. We were really never down before."
Melochick added two steals and an assist in the frame. She finished with a game-high 22 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists.
Freshman guard Abby Schoffstall had four assists in the second, the first two of which were finished by freshman forward Emily Mealey to cut the deficit to 16-13 at 6:43 in the quarter.
Minersville (26-1) got its first lead - 17-16 - just over a minute later when Schoffstall hit a jump shot from the top of the key. The Miners only surrendered that lead to the Blue Jays (15-11) one more time.
After Minersville freshman Adrienne Kroznuskie blocked a shot in the defensive end, senior guard Alyse Ryan tipped a Blue Jay pass right to Melochick, who went end-to-end for a contested layup that put the Miners ahead for good at 21-19 with 3:33 left in the half.
"We talked about the character of those kids all year," Minersville coach Jared Homa said. "There was never any doubt in my mind the kids were going to respond - we were just hoping we weren't down that many."
After being down 12-4 with 2:13 left in the first quarter, the Battlin' Miners outscored the Blue Jays 23-7 in the second quarter to build a 31-21 halftime lead.
"We forced (Central Columbia) to do a couple things differently; we made a couple defensive moves," Homa said. "Our kids adjusted well to the game speed and Emily Mealey started getting bigger in the paint in the second half of that first quarter.
"I think that opened things up a little bit for the guards."
Ryan, Minersville's leading defensive guard, played every minute Friday night despite suffering an ankle injury in the District 11 championship victory over Salisbury last Friday - a testament to the Miners' athletic trainer, Russ Horschak, whom Homa hailed as the game's MVP.
Senior forward Leah Leshko took primary defensive duties on Carl after Mealey acquired her second foul early in the first half. After Carl's five first-quarter points, Leshko held her to just one field goal for the remainder of the game. Carl went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 11 points.
With Leshko dominating the paint defensively, Mealey took over the area on offense.
The 5-10 freshman racked up all of Minersville's 10 points in the third quarter, added five rebounds and a steal in the frame and finished with 17 points.
"Getting two fouls, I never really was in that position before - where I was in foul trouble," Mealey said. "I had to be smart and it worked on the offensive end, too."
By the end of the third quarter, Mealey had single-handedly put the Battlin' Miners ahead 41-30.
"She's unlike anything that we have seen this entire year," Central Columbia coach Jim Murtin said of Mealey. "Once she got to her position, she was unstoppable."
The Blue Jays' defensive plan coming in was to take away Schoffstall's options on the point, primarily to Melochick. It worked for a little while, but collapsed by the second quarter.
"They're a very smart team and they run their stuff very well," Murtin said. "It was only a matter of time before they figured out a way with screens and baseline cuts where they were going to get Melochick some open looks.
"She got them and she made them."
Melochick's 22 points gave her 1,984 career points, passing Homa for second in school history. She now only trails Homa's sister Kim, who posted 3,151 from 1987-90.