JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
THE GAME: District 3 fifth-place finisher Hempfield (25-5 overall) vs. District 1 third-place finisher Spring-Ford (27-3 overall).
WHERE: Coatesville High School.
WHEN: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
WINNER GETS: District 11 champ Allentown Allen (23-5) or District 1 sixth-place finisher Abington (23-6).
ABOUT HEMPFIELD: L-L League champions were the No. 4 seed heading into Districts, but fell to Central Dauphin (40-36) in the quarterfinals before fighting back through the consolation round. Topped Harrisburg (39-21) before beating league foe McCaskey (41-28) in the fifth-place game. … Stingy D allowing just 33.7 points a game. … Knights average 46.9 points and have 74 team 3-pointers. … Last year in States – Knocked off western kingpin Altoona (51-41) in the first round and topped University City 47-40 before falling to eventual champ Cheltenham (57-36) in the Western semifinals. … Probable starters – G Steph Graver (7.7, 13 3-pointers), G Hannah Miller (5.7, 24 3-pointers), G Samantha Holker (4.6, 15 3-pointers), F Analicia Evans (13.9, 9 3-pointers), F Chelsea Cypress (6.3). … Evans, who scored a career-high 23 points in the Knights’ win over section foe Warwick in the first round of Districts, is a Pitt-Johnstown recruit, and she has 947 career points. … Has won six out of seven heading into States. … Coach is Lenny Groft (14th season). … No state titles; deepest trip was last year.
ABOUT SPRING-FORD: The Rams compete in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, and they won their third league championship in a row this season. … Went 13-0 in league play, and won both playoff games for 15-0 run. … Coach is 14-year vet Jeff Rinehimer, who has more than 200 career wins. … Three losses are to Upper Dublin, Mount St. Joseph (in triple OT) and to Methacton in the District 1 semifinals. Snapped back to beat Norristown in the third-place game. … Led by a pair of 1,000-career-point scorers and four-year starters – 5-5 senior guard Megan Bedard and 5-7 senior guard Allie Kakareka (Ka-kah-ree-ka). … Bedard, who runs the point, averages 15 points a game, and she’s the leading scorer in the history of the program. … Kakareka, the shooting guard, averages 14 points a game. She’s headed to Bloomsburg to play lacrosse. … Top rebounder is 5-11 soph forward Jasmin Hinnant (8 points, 6 rebounds per game). … Top lock-down defender is 5-4 junior guard Ashley Wood (7.0), and fifth starter is jack-of-all-trades 5-6 senior forward Gabbie Hunsberger. … Lost to University City (67-52) in the first round of States last season.
