JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
HUMMELSTOWN – Lancaster Country Day will not make a return appearance in the District 3 Single-A girls’ basketball title game.
But longtime Lancaster-Lebanon League Single-A kingpin Lebanon Catholic will be back in the Giant Center on Thursday night to try and defend its title – and bring a 15th district championship to Assumption Hill.
Country Day, the No. 3 seed, rallied from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit, took the lead with 4:14 to play, but fell to No. 2 Reading Central Catholic in the first Single-A semifinal game Tuesday night at Lower Dauphin High School.
In the nightcap, Lebanon Catholic, the No. 4 seed, downed Berks Christian, the No. 1 seed, 68-40.
Lebanon Catholic (14-12 overall) and Reading Central Catholic (20-6) will square off Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the Giant Center for district gold. Country Day (20-4) and Berks Christian (20-4) will meet in the third-place game, also Friday.
All four semifinalists clinched a spot in the state playoffs.
“It’s upsetting that we’re not going back to the district final,” said Country Day coach Kristin Maneval, whose team trailed 32-23 with 7:36 to play, but clawed from behind and took a 39-38 lead on Katie Mersky’s baseline jumper with 4:14 to go.
Central Catholic, which won Single-A crowns in 2005 and 2006, closed the game on a 9-3 run and advanced to the final behind senior forward Krissy Wrobel, who pumped in a season-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Cardinals.
“Too much Wrobel,” Maneval conceded.
If nothing else, Maneval hoped her team gained a little respect Tuesday – even though the Cougars are just one season removed from reaching the district championship game.
“I think we gained a lot of respect tonight because I really believe Central Catholic thought they were going to come in here and blow us out,” Maneval said. “We heard them talking during warm-ups about getting out of school early on Thursday to go to Chocolate World.
“That didn’t sit very well with me. But I think they gained a little respect for us after tonight.”
Country Day led 14-12 after the first quarter, but Central Catholic opened up some breathing room with an 18-9 second-quarter run – fueled by Wrobel, who scored nine points in the period – and led 30-23 at the half.
Wrobel’s basket on the Cardinals’ first trip of the third quarter made it 32-23, and Central Catholic led 38-33 heading into the fourth before Country Day mounted its comeback.
Christine Long and Grace Chesters scored on the Cougars’ first two trips of the fourth to cut it to 38-37. And Country Day took a short-lived 39-38 lead on Mersky’s basket.
Wrobel’s foul shot tied the game at 39, and Wrobel’s basket put Central Catholic back on top, 41-39. Country Day tied the game for the final time, at 41, when Chesters, who scored 11 points, scored in the key with 2:21 to go.
Wrobel put the Cardinals ahead to stay, 43-41, with 1:42 to go.
Senior forward Kaitlyn Lukehart scored 10 points before fouling out, and senior guard Phoebe Fasulo hit a pair of 3-pointers and added eight points for Country Day.
Lebanon Catholic had no problems with Berks Christian. The Beavers jumped out to an 11-0 lead, led 18-6 after the first quarter and 37-19 at the break and cruised from there – setting up another trip to Hershey.
“It never gets old going there,” said Lebanon Catholic coach Patti Hower, whose teams are 14-2 in district championship games.
“This is what we’ve worked for,” she said. “To get back to Hershey. Now hopefully we can defend our title.”
Lebanon Catholic outrebounded Berks Christian 46-31 and forced the Lions into 32 turnovers. Hailey Carangelo and Samantha Carangelo scored 14 points apiece and Meghan Orr scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Beavers.
“We all had a good vibe going into this game,” Hailey Carangelo said. “And now we want to keep that vibe going.”
Up next for the Beavers is a rematch with Central Catholic, which routed Lebanon Catholic 47-27 in a non-league game back on Dec. 6.
“They beat us by 20 in December,” Hower said. “This isn’t December anymore.”
In Tuesday’s Quad-A semifinals:
Central Dauphin East 49,
Cedar Crest 39
In the Giant Center, the 10th-seeded Panthers (21-6) outscored the L-L League Section 1 champs 16-4 in the third quarter and advanced to Friday’s championship game opposite Berks County champ Wilson, the No. 1 seed.
Shannon Stokes scored 15 points for No. 3 Cedar Crest (22-6), which will take on No. 5 Central Dauphin in the third-place game on Thursday.
And in Tuesday’s Triple-A consolation round:
Lancaster Catholic 60,
Delone Catholic 38
At Dallastown, Brittany Ryder (13 points), Molly Holt (12) and Emily Weaver (10) paced the Crusaders (21-9), who used a 24-10 second-quarter blitz to take a 36-15 lead at the half, wrapped up a spot in the state playoffs, and advanced to Thursday’s fifth-place game against Palmyra, which topped Muhlenberg. That game is set for 5 p.m. at Hempfield.
