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By JOHN ERZAR jerzar@leader.net
Sunday, March 16, 2003 Page: 1C
SCRANTON – There was plenty of loitering, and even some jumping jacks.
Bishop Hoban coach Bob Schuler flashed a thumbs-up to chants of “Schuler,
Schuler, Schuler” from the school’s student body, which also seized a chance
to rib North Pocono coach Joe Ferguson with a playful jeer of “Get a new
coach.”
North Pocono students retaliated with “Ferg’s a genius.”
A heck of a lot happened in the second quarter of Saturday night’s PIAA
Class 3A girls basketball quarterfinal game except one thing – basketball.
North Pocono’s unorthodox strategy of wasting an entire quarter nearly paid
off until Hoban’s Meredith Alexis shined down the stretch to give the Argents
a 31-24 victory.
Alexis grabbed a defensive rebound, then raced down court to be on the
scoring end of a fast break with 1:36 left in the game to give Hoban a 27-24
lead. She added two free throws with 35 seconds left and a basket at the
buzzer to finish with 20 points.
District 2 runner-up Hoban (27-3) plays District 11 champion and two-time
defending state champion Allentown Central Catholic (30-1) on Wednesday for a
spot in the state title game. District 2 third-seed North Pocono ended its
season at 27-5.
The near-capacity crowd at Scranton High School expected to see the two
teams go toe-to-toe in a fairly fast-paced game. But when North Pocono’s
6-foot-2 Laura Franceski picked up her third foul early in the second quarter,
the Trojans had no one to go eye-to-eye with 6-2 Alexis.
So Ferguson had guard Kerri Cahill stand with the ball near midcourt as the
clock ran from 7:42 to 15 seconds until the Trojans activated their offense.
Alexis blocked the shot and Hoban led 15-9 at the half. The quarter’s only
points were a basket and ensuing free throw by Alexis just before the stall
tactics.
“We were trying to win the game,” Ferguson said. “Laura Franceski is on
the bench with three fouls and they let us hold the ball. It kept us in the
game and gave us a shot to win the game.”
It also gave Hoban a chance to do some calisthenics. At the three-minute
mark, Hoban’s 2-3 zone defense looked like a workout video as all five Argents
started doing jumping jacks for a few seconds.
“I just started doing them,” Alexis said. “We wanted to keep moving and
we didn’t want our muscles to freeze like in the Berwick game.”
Berwick tried a similar antic during the District 2 playoffs. The Argents,
though, were tipped off Saturday night by North Pocono players.
“(Emily Lynch) was down low and I was supposed to play defense on her,”
Hoban senior forward Therese Price said. “So I put my arms up and she said,
`You don’t have to do that. I’m just walking around out here.’ It was a good
plan. It made sense to me.”
North Pocono never gained the lead, but tied the score 23-23 on Cahill’s
three-pointer with 3:59 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Trojans then
missed two opportunities to take the lead. The first squandered chance
resulted in a short jumper by Hoban’s Aimee Harenza; the second in Alexis’
layup.
Harenza had another solid game, scoring all six of her points in the fourth
quarter.
“That was the key, that one bucket,” Schuler said of Harenza’s basket
that snapped the 23-23 tie. “Now, she wasn’t shooting much at all. Nobody was
really, but then she started taking it to the boards and taking that shot she
has been making of late.”
Lynch scored 10 for North Pocono.