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By JOHN ERZAR jerzar@leader.net
Saturday, March 08, 2003 Page: 1B
WILKES-BARRE – As evenly as Meyers and Notre Dame Green Pond girls basketball
teams played through most of four quarters Friday night, a slight disparity
seemed evident.
Sometimes it took the form of a Mary Mushock layup. Or a Sameerah Woods
steal. Or a Rose Morgans scramble for a loose ball.
It took its biggest – and most important – form as 23 fourth-quarter
points.
Using its athletic advantage, Meyers was able to turn a close game into a
late fourth-quarter cruise and defeat Notre Dame, 56-45, in a PIAA Class 2A
first-round game at King’s College.
“Their athleticism had a lot to do with it,” said Notre Dame coach Nat
Amato, whose District 11 runner-up Crusaders ended their season at 22-7.
“We’d get a 2-on-1 and they’d somehow get their hand on the ball and finish
with a layup.”
Meyers did so sporadically throughout the first two quarters as the lead
switched hands five times. Coach Curt Lloyd contemplated using the press less
in the final period, but reconsidered.
“I talked to them at halftime and told them we had to be a step quicker
with the press and I thought we were,” Lloyd said. “In the second half, the
press took its toll on them, and they started throwing the ball all over the
place.”
In the fourth quarter, the Crusaders threw the ball directly to a Mohawk at
times. The miscues led to rather easy baskets as Morgans and Heather Antolik
each scored six points.
And a 35-35 tie entering the fourth abruptly turned into a 43-37 Meyers
lead by the midway point. The advantage was in double digits the final two
minutes.
The turnovers also resulted in Meyers (26-3) advancing to the second round.
The Mohawks will play District 4 champion Southern Columbia (21-7) on Tuesday
at a site and time to be determined. Southern Columbia defeated District 2
third seed Carbondale 63-51.
The victory also set the school mark for most wins in a season by a Meyers
girls team.
Moreover, the victory erased two bitter losses – a 44-38 setback to
Montrose in the district title game, and a 32-point loss to Delone Catholic in
the first round of states a year ago.
“We were just trying to keep our heads up,” said Antolik, one of three
seniors in the starting lineup. “We just had a bad game (against Montrose)
and it just wasn’t meant to be. We just wanted to come in and play our best.”
While Mushock, playing with a broken nose, led Meyers with 10 points, the
contribution of the Meyers three reserves was invaluable.
Woods, Sabrina Gibson and Lauren Trinisewski combined to outscore Notre
Dame’s bench 21-5. The advantage would have been even larger if not for a
last-second basket by a Crusader reserve.
Each Mohawk reserve struck at key times. Trinisewski had four of her eight
points in the first quarter. Woods had five of her seven in the second. Gibson
tossed in four of her six in the final quarter.
“Anybody can step up any night,” Gibson said. “We’re good for that. We
have eight players. It’s not just five people or one person. It’s eight
players you have to watch.”
Meyers expected to be cautious about three Notre Dame players, all of whom
averaged in double figures. Only forward Jenna Stampf proved to be a threat,
scoring a game-high 22 points.