JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
The look on Katelyn Vanderhoff’s face was priceless.
Lancaster Mennonite’s junior guard cradled the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 championship trophy in her hands, held it up for closer inspection, and then, smiling from ear to ear, planted a big kiss on it.
“This means a lot to us,” Vanderhoff said later, reflecting on the Blazers’ 57-34 win over Lancaster Catholic in a one-game playoff for the Section 4 title Friday night before an overflow crowd at Conestoga Valley High School.
“This was our goal at the beginning of the season,” she said, “and we all came together and did it. This was a total team accomplishment.”
Mennonite’s team played flawlessly against Catholic, grabbing a 4-3 lead on Vanderhoff’s jumper with 5:07 to go in the first quarter and never looking back.
The Blazers, who finished 15-2 in league play and improved to 21-3 overall, led 12-4 after the first quarter, 24-15 at the break, and then opened the fourth quarter on a 12-0 tear and slammed the door.
Mennonite clinched its third section championship. The Blazers also won Section 3 in 1990-91 and again in 2004-05.
“We don’t have that tradition of having all of those trophies and all of those banners, so this is a great feeling,” Mennonite coach Sherri Gorman said. “This shows that we belong here and that we can compete. This is huge for us.”
For Catholic, it’s the end of a six-year stranglehold in L-L League section play.
The Crusaders won Section 3 crowns in 2001-02, 02-03 and 03-04, and won the first three Section 4 titles since the league expanded to four sections in 2004-05. Catholic owns 15 section championships in all, since the inception of the league in 1972-73.
Against Mennonite, Catholic, which finished 14-3 in league play and slipped to 17-7 overall, turned the ball over 10 times in the fourth quarter and 22 times in all. The Crusaders never found their rhythm, despite a big night by Brittany Ryder, who scored all 11 of Catholic’s third-quarter points, and finished with 18 points and eight boards.
“Our mental approach was the most disappointing thing to me,” Catholic coach Lamar Kauffman said. “We never really got it going. We never had five kids on the same page at the same time. You must have five kids on the same page at the same time, and we didn’t.”
Catholic played without senior point guard Molly Holt, who is serving a school-imposed five-day suspension for academic reasons, Kauffman said. She had a team-high 32 3-pointers heading into Friday’s playoff.
The one-game playoff was needed after Mennonite and Catholic split their season series. Mennonite won 45-40 at Catholic on Dec. 21 when the Blazers overcame a 16-point second-half deficit. Catholic returned the favor Jan. 22 at Mennonite, getting a 3-pointer late in regulation to force overtime, and then winning 62-58 to force a tie for first.
The rubber match was all Mennonite, which outrebounded Catholic 39-29, wasn’t bothered by the Crusaders’ usual pressure defense, and held Catholic to a season-low 15 first-half points.
“Everbody did their job – especially defensively,” said Mennonite super sub Erin LaVenice, who scored 16 points, blocked two shots and grabbed six rebounds off the bench.
“This is such an incredible feeling,” said Mennonite guard Katelyn Kreider, who scored 10 points, including back-to-back third-quarter buckets which gave the Blazers a 30-17 cushion.
“We’re going to have our year up there on that championship banner now,” she said, “and that’s going to mean so much to us.”
