Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By KEVIN KAZOKAS Times Leader Sports Correspondent
Sunday, March 09, 2003 Page: 3C
HAZLETON – The Bishop Hoban girls basketball team entered the state
playoffs on a down note after its loss to Dallas in last week’s District 2
Class 3A title game. However, the bitter taste of that defeat did not rattle
the Lady Argents’ confidence.
It made them hungrier.
The Lady Argents made their appetite for victory evident in Saturday’s
84-25 rout over District 11 runner-up Southern Lehigh in a PIAA Class 3A
first-round playoff at Hazleton Area High School. Hoban center Meredith Alexis
led the Lady Argents with a game-high 39 points and became the school’s
all-time leading scorer, surpassing Chelsey Ostrowski. (Hoban officials were
unsure of the exact figures.)
Hoban (25-3) will face District 3-champion Trinity (27-3) on Wednesday in a
second-round game at a site and time to be announced.
Southern Lehigh finishes its season at 18-9.
“That loss last week, it kind of hurt us,” said Alexis, whose team fell
63-53 to Dallas in the district title game March 1. “I think in losing last
week, it made us want this more.”
Led by the 6-foot-2 Alexis, Hoban went on an 18-0 run midway through the
first quarter and held a 36-9 lead by halftime. Alexis, who averages 34 points
per game, had 10 of her 39 in the first quarter and added another nine in the
second.
“Meredith, she does so many things for you,” said Hoban head coach Bob
Schuler.
Yet, she was only one component of a well-executed game plan. The Lady
Argents also received 15 points from Aimee Harenza and relied on a dominant
inside attack and a strong defense.
“Our press was great,” Schuler said. His team’s defense held the Lady
Spartans scoreless on two separate occasions while the Hoban offense went on
big runs. The second instance occurred during the third quarter, when the Lady
Argents went on a 15-0 surge that increased their lead to 59-14.
With her team ahead 63-16 at the end of the third, Alexis added 10 more
points in the fourth quarter before being taken out of the game with 3:58
left.
“I worked really hard and the team really helped me out to accomplish this
great goal,” Alexis said in reference to having her name etched in the record
book.
Christian Crivellaro led Southern Lehigh with five points.