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By MICHAEL LELLO [email protected]
Thursday, February 28, 2002 Page: 3B
YATESVILLE – Despite its underdog status, Lake-Lehman knew it could beat
Dallas, the No. 1 seed in the District 2 Class 3A girls basketball tournament.
But even though the Black Knights had upset the Mountaineers in a preseason
tournament, a repeat performance seemed unlikely.
Lehman, the No. 5 seed, however, showed that the victory earlier this year
was no fluke, upending Dallas 45-38 Tuesday night at Pittston Area High
School.
Lehman (17-7) advances to the district final and the state playoffs for the
first time since the early 1980s. The Black Knights will play Scranton Prep in
the final on Saturday at a time and site to be announced. Dallas’ season ends
at 23-4.
“We were the underdog,” said Lehman guard Lisa Wasser, who scored 11
points. “We had nothing to lose.”
Lehman fell behind 14-6 early in the second quarter. But two Dallas
injuries – forward Jackie Hartwick and guard Meredith Lacey hit the floor hard
on consecutive possessions but returned later – seemed to push the
Mountaineers into a lull. Lehman capitalized, scoring nine unanswered points.
“We went hard and we took them out,” said Wasser, who capped the run with
a three-pointer from the top of the arc. “That got us confidence and I think
they held back after that.”
A back-and-forth affair ensued after that until Dallas took a 28-21 lead
with 2:42 left in the third. A Wasser free throw tied it at 28 early in the
fourth, and Jackie Paul’s third-effort layup gave the Black Knights a 30-28
lead at the 6:38 mark.
Dallas took its last lead, 33-32, on two Liz Martin free throws. Wasser’s
layup gave her team a 34-33 lead, her two free throws made it 36-33 and a
Megan DeCesaris inside shot gave Lehman a 38-33 edge with less than two
minutes to play. Down the stretch, Lehman made seven of its 10 foul shots.
DeCesaris scored 13 points for Lehman, and Hartwick had 10 points to go
with seven rebounds for Dallas. The Black Knights used a diamond-and-one zone
defense – assistant coach Barry Horvath’s idea – designed to stifle Rosalyn
Wentko, and held her to nine points and only two buckets from the field. The
Black Knights’ defense also forced six Dallas traveling violations in the
fourth quarter.
“We got some breaks,” Lehman head coach Rob Wilson said. “Shannon
(Thomas) got in foul trouble and Jackie (Hartwick) got hurt.”
“We had a great season,” Dallas coach Joe Noon said. “But it was their
game from the start. They wanted it more.”