JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
THE GAME: District 3 fourth-place finisher Lampeter-Strasburg (23-5 overall) vs. District 11 runner-up Blue Mountain (23-4 overall).
WHERE: Martz Hall, Pottsville High School.
WHEN: Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
WINNER GETS: District 1 champ Villa Maria (21-6) or District 3 sixth-place finisher Lancaster Catholic (21-10).
ABOUT L-S: L-L League Section 3 champ went into Districts as the No. 1 seed, but fell to league foe (and eventual champ) Lancaster Mennonite in the semifinals (56-29). … Lost to Northeastern in the third-place game (77-60). … Averaging 58.6 points and giving up 46.6 points a game, with 53 team 3-pointers. … No state titles, and reached the PIAA playoffs for the first time in the history of the program last year, beating Northwest Lehigh (51-44) in the first round, before falling to Mount St. Joseph (58-46) in the Eastern quarterfinals. … Coach is Matt Wieand (2nd year), who won L-L League Coach of the Year honors in his rookie season. … Probable starters – G Lisa Boyer (12.6, 17 3-pointers), G Danielle Rittenhouse (10.2, 10 3-pointers), G Kelsey Souders (7.6), F Katie Lynch (9.5, 18 3-pointers), C Renee Fritz (10.3). … Boyer, Rittenhouse, Lynch and Fritz are all juniors, and all started last year. Souders is a freshman, as is sub Katie Andrews (3.7). Other top sub is junior Jess Manchak (2.5). … Fritz blocked 125 shots in the regular season (5.4 swats per game). … Zero seniors on the roster.
ABOUT BLUE MOUNTAIN: The Eagles ran the table in Division 1 of the Schuylkill League, going 13-0. … Coach is former Pottsville Nativity boss Ruth Weidman, who is in her fourth season with Blue Mountain and 17th overall. She led Nativity to back-to-back Single-A state titles in 1999 and 2000. … First trip to PIAA playoffs since 2006. … Averaging 52.9 points and giving up 36.6 points a game. … Probable starters – G Meghan Holobetz (12.6, 25 3-pointers), F Jennifer Maloney (11.3), F Steph Ellwood (10.3), G Alyssa Myro (9.1, 34 3-pointers), G Maggie Mattu (2.5). … Top-scoring sub is G Megan Hardinger (3.2). … Myro scored a season-high 17 points in the District 11 finale – a 59-47 loss to Allentown Central Catholic. … Had a 13-game winning streak between Dec. 28 and Feb. 5. … No state titles.
