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KINGSTON — Without question, Madison Borum said, she prefers a strong challenge.
The Lake-Lehman center got one Friday from spirited, upstart Wyoming Seminary.
And it only fueled her fire to keep the Black Knights unbeaten in Wyoming Valley Conference play.
Borum put the Black Knights on her back with 23 points and Lehman survived a back-and-forth battle with Sem, 43-40 to keep a slim lead over three other WVC Division 2 teams also undefeated in league play.
“I love feeling that rush,” Borum said. “That pushes myself and helps my team.”
Borum scored eight points in the first half to keep Lehman within 19-18 at halftime, then came up with eight points in the third quarter to put the Black Knights into a five-point lead.
And when Sem pushed back hard, Borum scored her final seven points in the fourth quarter to keep Lehman from stumbling.
“Madison Borum had a great game,” Lake-Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said. “She carried us for three quarters. She She scored inside, she did a great job rebounding. She’s tough. She got loose balls — not the easiest thing for her, but she’s determined.”
Her all-out effort helped the Black Knights improve to 6-0 and assume sole possession of first place in the WVC Division 2 — at least for a night. The game between 5-0 Holy Redeemer and a Hanover Area team still searching for its first league win in Division 3 was moved to 7 p.m. Saturday at Hanover Area High School.
Wyoming Area and Nanticoke Area also remain unbeaten in Division 2, with each carrying a 5-0 record after both picked up wins Friday.
Borum believes the Black Knights will be in the league title race for the long haul.
“Yes. I do have a feeling,” Borum said. “Everybody wants to work hard and that is a great thing to see.”
The Black Knights are seeing a sudden turnaround.
They finished 7-15 overall and 6-10 in Division 2 during the 2016-17 season, and haven’t been much of a factor in a divisional race for a few years.
But things are changing, as Lehman now stands at 7-4 overall — with as many wins as the Black Knights managed all of last season — and on top of Division 2 approaching the season’s midway point.
“This year, it’s more experience,” Lavan said. “At times, it didn’t look like it tonight. But we got together and pulled the game out. Last year, that might not have happened.”
It just so happened Sem was intent on making Friday a fight to the finish.
The Blue Knights, who fell to 5-7 overall and 1-5 in the league’s Division 3, were within a point after the first quarter and took a 19-18 lead into halftime, thanks to six of Anna Micca Reitsma’s 12 points.
Borum’s rebound lay-in with three minutes to play in the third quarter lifted Lehman into a five-point lead, but Sem was back within a bucket entering the fourth quarter thanks to four more points from Reitsma.
The tight score was hardly a surprise to a Lehman team that’s on the rise itself.
“I expect every team to be playing hard,” Borum said. “We just have to be prepared for that every day.”
Lehman appeared prepared to pull away in the fourth quarter.
The Black Knights took their first seven-point lead when Sarah Salus rifled home a 3-pointer early in the last quarter, took another with under four minutes remaining on a Borum bucket and held a 41-35 advantage when Borum scored off her third rebound with 2:08 to play.
Each time, though, Sem refused to fold.
Ally Vezendy hit a 3-point goal to get the Blue Knights within four points, then closed the gap to 41-40 with a jumper with 1:34 remaining. Sem also had the last shot to tie the game, but a heavily-contested 3-point attempt from beyond midcourt fell well short at the buzzer — leaving Lehman alone at the top.
The challenge for the Black Knights will be to stay there.
“Yeah, I think this team, they don’t back down,” Lavan said. “When we get into (playing) Division 1 games and Division 2 games, it’ll bring out the best in us, I think.
“Our kids are competitors.”
Wyoming Area 67, GAR 30
Sarah Holweg drilled three 3-point field goals and scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the first quarter, leading the Warriors to an early 19-point lead over winless GAR.
The victory was Wyoming Area’s 10th straight to start the season, believed to be a school record, and moved the Warriors to 5-0 and into a three-way tie for second place in the WVC Division 2.
Ellie Glatz scored all 12 of her points in the third quarter as Wyoming Area’s lead gret to 65-25 and Aleah Kranson added 10 points in the victory.
Olivia Prato led GAR with 11 points.
Nanticoke Area 66, MMI Prep 13
The Trojanettes used a 31-2 first-quarter advantage and 15 points from Lauren Casey to down MMI Prep.
Lisa Radziak added 11 points and Jil Baron scored 10 to round out Nanticoke Area’s double-digit scorers.
Kim Amentler paced MMI Prep with five points.
Berwick 56, Northwest 36
Reese Mensinger and Roni Isenberg both finished in double figures to pace Berwick.
Mensinger scored a game-high 16 points while Isenberg finished with 14.
Brenna Babcock past Northwest with 11 points.
Lake-Lehman 43, Wyoming Seminary 40
LAKE-LEHMAN (43) — Corinna Scoblick 3 0-0 7, Madison Borum 8 7-8 23, Jodie Salansky 1 1-2 3, Sarah Salus 1 1-2 4, Savannah Purdy 3 0-0 6. Totals 16 9-12 43.
WYOMING SEM (40) — Julia Gabriel 1 0-0 42 Alex Wesneski 0 1-2 1, Ally Vezendy 5 1-2 12, Olivia Meuser 0 0-0 0, Anna Micca Reitsma 6 0-0 12, Mia Raineri 4 3-3 11, Julia Iskra 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 5-7 40.
Lake-Lehman`8`10`12`13`—`43
Wyoming Sem`7`12`9`12`—`40
Three-point goals — LL 2 (Scoblick, Salus); SEM 1 (Vezendy).
Wyoming Area 67, GAR 30
WYOMING AREA (67) — Ellie Glatz 6 0-2 12, Mackenzie Nocchi 1 1-2 3, Jalen Rhodes 0 0-0 0, Nicole Silinskie 2 0-0 5, Aleah Kranson 5 0-0 10, Sarah Holweg 6 0-0 15, Marie Amato 1 0-0 2, Cassidy Orzel 3 1-2 7, Tinsley Sarnak 0 0-0 0, Jessica Davis 1 0-0 2, Lauren Kelly 0 0-0 0, Addison Orzel 2 1-1 5, Kristi Skok 3 0-3 6. Totals 30 3-10 67.
GAR (30) — Alana Germano 3 2-6 9, Olivia Prato 4 2-2 11, Simone Harris 2 0-0 4, Lyann Pena 2 0-0 4, Jada Redditt 0 0-2 0, Emily Engle 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 4-10 30.
Wyoming Area`25`22`18`2`—`67
GAR`6`10`9`5`—`30
Three-point goals — WA 4 (Holweg 3, Silinskie); GAR 2 (Germano, Prato).
Nanticoke Area 66, MMI Prep 13
NANTICOKE AREA (66) — Lauren Casey 7 1-1 15, Lisa Radziak 4 0-0 11, Jil Baron 4 2-2 10, Alyssa Lewis 5 2-2 9, Amiah Lukowski 2 0-0 6, Maddy Grilz 2 0-0 6, Katie Butczynski 1 1-2 3, Lillian Galazin 1 0-0 2, Riley Miller 1 0-0 2, Bella Czeck 1 0-0 2, Lily Kratz 0 0-0 0, Emily Haver 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 6-7 66.
MMI PREP (13) — Kim Amentler 2 1-3 5, Julie Amentler 1 1-3 3, Irene Altmiller 1 0-0 3, Jessica McClellan 1 0-0 2, Bailey Slusser 0 0-0 0, Maddie Perchak 0 0-0 0, Lexi Zola 0 0-0 0. Totals 5 2-6 13.
Nanticoke Area`31`18`9`8`—`66
MMI Prep`2`3`3`5`—`13
Three-point goals — NAN 10 (Lewis 3, Radziak 3, Lukowski 2, Grilz 2); HOM 1 (Altmiller).
Berwick 56, Northwest 36
BERWICK (56) — Reese Mensinger 4 7-11 16, Roni Isenberg 6 2-2 14, Renny Murphy 3 0-0 8, Mallory Pinterich 3 0-0 8, Megan Dalo 2 2-3 6, Katie Starr 1 2-2 4, Sierra Miedaner 0 0-0 0, Haley Owens 0 0-0 0, Jadyn Michael 0 0-0 0, Emily Ouimet 0 0-0 0, Jackie Nevel 0 0-0 0, Makayla Force 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-18 56.
NORTHWEST (36) — Brenna Babcock 4 3-6 11, Reagan Harrison 4 0-0 9, Trista Babcock 2 3-4 7, Jordan Harrison 1 1-6 3, Tess Edwards 1 0-0 2, Kendra Saxton 0 2-3 2. Totals 12 9-19 36.
Berwick`10`12`21`13`—`56
Northwest`12`4`13`5`—`36
Three-point goals — BER 5 (Murphy 2, Pinterich 2, Mensinger 1); NOR 1 (Harrison 1).