Lake-Lehman’s Chase Purdy works her way past Holy Redeemer’s Megan Albrecht during Wednesday night’s game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Lake-Lehman’s Hailey Kline (11) takes a shot at the basket while being guarded by Holy Redeemer’s Aleia Atherton (20), Megan Albrecht (3) and Paige Kroptavich (24) during the first quarter Wednesday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Lia Keefe (15) keeps on control of the ball as Holy Redeemer’s Angie Corridoni applies pressure during the first quarter Wednesday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Ella Wilson puts an eye on the basket as Holy Redeemer’s Aleia Atherton takes a swipe at the ball during the second quarter Wednesday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Claire Dougherty keeps the ball in play by grabbing it before it went out of bounds during Wednesday night’s game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
LEHMAN TWP. — Lake-Lehman left little doubt Wednesday night who was the top team in Division 2 of Wyoming Valley Conference girls basketball.
The Black Knights jumped out quickly, quelled a couple mild comeback bids by Holy Redeemer and rolled to a 45-26 victory in a battle for first place.
Lehman (7-1 Div. 2, 11-3 overall) got a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds from Claire Dougherty, who also added five blocks. Chase Purdy had 12 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
Redeemer (6-2, 9-8) tried to put a dent into Lehman’s lead to start the second and third quarters. The Royals made some inroads, but quickly ran into roadblocks both times.
Shooting was a main culprit as the Royals were 7-of-34 (21%) from the field through the first three quarters and finished 0-of-15 from 3-point territory. It was only the second time all season they failed to score from beyond the arc.
“We answered everything we did,” Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said. “I was very pleased with our zone. Our zone, we worked really hard with it all week and it showed tonight. The press helped us big when we pressed late in the second quarter and it gave us that spurt there and that sort of set the tone for the rest of the game.”
That spurt started with a 3-pointer by Purdy followed by layups off turnovers by Lia Keefe and Brenna Hunt. Those seven points came in the final 40 seconds of the half to give the Black Knights a 25-10 lead.
“When they went to that press, that’s what we were hoping for,” Redeemer coach John Jezorwski said. “We wanted them to press us, but we didn’t expect to turn over the ball four times in a row to end the half. I think that just made the momentum for us to fall.”
Redeemer made another attempt a moving closer to start the third quarter as Mia Ashton and Brooke Kroptavich scored the period’s first four points. Again, Lehman responded with Hailey Kline leading a 6-0 run.
The victory gave Lehman a sweep of the two regular-season games, although the team could meet again in the District 2 Class 4A playoffs or if a playoff game is necessary to decide the division. And the Black Knights aren’t about to rubber stamp a divisional title with Wyoming Area and Nanticoke Area lurking just behind. While Lehman topped Wyoming Area by 20, Nanticoke Area won the first meeting 70-58.
“Nanticoke already beat us so we have to be ready for them,” Lavan said. “And Wyoming Area is no slouch. There’s competition in the division. It’s no cakewalk, it’s a good division. You have a couple teams that are down, but there are teams that can play with you any given night.”
Lake Lehman 45, Holy Redeemer 26
HOLY REDEEMER (26) — Katie Quinn 0 0-0 0, Megan Albrecht 0 2-2 2, Aubrey Curley 1 0-0 2, Brooke Kroptavich 3 0-2 6, Aleia Atherton 3 0-0 6, Lucie Racicky 0 0-0 0, Mia Ashton 2 3-5 8, Jillian DelBalso 1 0-3 2, Angelina Corridoni 0 0-0 0, Paige Kroptavich 0 0-0 0, Theresa Khoudary 0 0-0 0, Julia Desciak 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 4-12 26.
LAKE-LEHMAN (45) — Abby Matysik 0 0-0 0, Hailey Kline 2 0-0 4, Brenna Hunt 2 1-2 5, Claire Dougherty 5 2-2 14, Ella Wilson 3 1-2 8, Lia Keefe 1 0-0 2, Molly Jenkins 0 0-2 0, Melanie Selner 0 0-0 0, Chase Purdy 5 1-6 12, Krista Scoblick 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-14 45.
Holy Redeemer`2`8`6`10 — 26
Lake-Lehman`11`14`12`8 — 45
Three-point goals — HR 0; LL 4 (Dougherty 2, Wilson, Purdy)