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The Holy Redeemer girls basketball team hasn’t practiced hitting outside shots for weeks.
The Royals may need a few tonight.
That’s because the Royals (25-2) will run into a tall task when they face District 1 champion St. Basil Academy and shot-blocking forward Natalie Kucowski in today’s 7:30 p.m. PIAA Class 2A girls basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem’s Freedom High School.
“Why, because she blocks shots?” Redeemer coach Chris Parker asked. “You can never go wrong taking the ball to the basket. If you don’t take the ball to the basket, you have no shot of getting her in foul trouble.
“We’re going to go at her.”
That could make for a tough test of wills.
Kucowski, a sophomore, averages nearly nine blocked shots per game with averages of 11 points and 10 rebounds. And if teams try to control her, St. Basil’s can break out sharpshooter Karen Lapkiweicz, who piled up 20 points in Tuesday’s 46-42 win over York Catholic.
Kucowski, though, may be most dangerous. She’s had six triple-doubles through St. Basil’s 18-7 season and is coming off a performance where she had 12 blocks and six assists and buried a pair of late 3-point field goals against York Catholic.
But Redeemer counters with some size itself, featuring 6-2 forward Meghan Corridoni and 6-foot junior Rebecca Prociak. Corridoni is coming off a 14-point performance Tuesday and Prociak scored eight in a 61-48 roller-coaster second-round PIAA playoff victory over North Schuylkill.
“We have not shot a jumper in practice since the Dunmore game,” Parker said, referring to Redeemer’s 65-48 District 2 championship game defeat. “We fell in love with the 3-point shot. We’re not going anywhere shooting 3-pointers.”
He probably has a point.
When Redeemer fell behind North Schuykill by nine points in the second quarter, the Royals quickly worked the ball inside to gain some traction.
The result was a 20-point run between the end of the first half and start of the second, a surge that left the Royals with a comfortable 11-point lead.
Prociak had four points during that comeback while adding a couple shifty assists inside. Corridoni proved troublesome for ballhandlers in the middle of Redeemer’s press defense. She also scored a personal playoff high of 14 points, including the bucket that put the Royals ahead to stay.
“Coming up the court, I could help out, get back and make the defense back out,” Corridoni said. “The head fake, swinging around, good passes from my teammates really helped.”
That’s the kind of help that could make life easier for Alexis Lewis, Redeemer’s Iona-bound star who was all-state last season.
“It’s very important,” said Lewis, who scored 30 points against North Schuylkill. “It’s not all about me. It’s good for me to have my points. But I look for my teammates – Rebecca, Lydia (Lawson), Meghan – all of them. I want to make sure they get their share.”
The Royals are just hoping to get going early.
After barreling through most teams during the regular season, Redeemer has opened slowly during a couple of district playoff games and in the second round of states before using second-half sprees to trigger victories.
“We need to play well at the bigs, we need to play well at the guards,” Parker said. “We can’t afford to have a first half like we had against North Schuylkill. If we play like we played in the second half against North Schuylkill from the start, we should be OK.”