JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
THE GAME: District 3 runner-up Lebanon Catholic (15-13 overall) vs. District 6 champ Bishop Guilfoyle (26-3 overall), Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Big Spring High School, Newville.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Lebanon Catholic topped District 1 runner-up Girard College 57-46; Bishop Guilfoyle crushed District 5 third-place finisher Northern Bedford 48-26.
WINNER GETS: District 4 champ Northeast Bradford (25-3) or District 11 champ Marian Catholic (28-1) in the Eastern semifinals on Saturday.
ABOUT LEBANON CATHOLIC: Probable starters – PG Anna Wengert (Sr., 7.2, 6 3-pointers), G Samantha Carangelo (Sr., 11.6, 26 3-pointers), G Hailey Carangelo (So., 15.6, 18 3-pointers), G Kelsey Boehmer (Sr., 5.7), F Meghan Orr (Sr., 8.2). … Lost to Reading Central Catholic in District 3 Single-A title game. … Owns 14 District 3 Single-A championships – most by any District 3 girls’ program in a single class. … Rallied from an 11-point third-quarter deficit to beat Girard College in the first round. Soph G Hailey Carangelo matched her career-high with 27 points – 21 in the second half, when the Beavers used a 13-0 tear to grab the lead for good. … G Samantha Carangelo added 12 points, raising her career total to 987 points. … Won state Single-A titles in 1992 and 1995. … Hower is the longest-tenured coach in the L-L League, and her teams are 566-273 overall heading into the Bishop Guilfoyle game. … Averages 52.1 points, gives up 51.4 points and has 70 team 3-pointers.
ABOUT BISHOP GUILFOYLE: The Marauders topped Saltsburg in the District 6 title game. Saltsburg is also still alive, and will take on District 7 champ Mount Alvernia in the second round, also Wednesday. … Bishop Guilfoyle is the reigning state PIAA Single-A champ; topped Pittsburgh North Catholic 43-38 in last year’s championship game. Returned just one starter (Christine Conrad) from that team. … In first-round win over Northern Bedford, Alli Williams led the way with 15 points and Kaylee Keagy chipped in with 10 points. … Program is no stranger to the PIAA playoffs: Marauders won state crowns in 1984 (Double-A over Pine Grove), 1991 (Double-A over Delone Catholic) and 1993 (Single-A over Lourdes Regional), and also reached the state final but lost in 1987 (Double-A to Riverside), 1994 (Single-A to Lourdes Regional), 1995 (Double-A to Merion Mercy), 1999 (Single-A to Pottsville Nativity) and 2004 (Double-A to Delone Catholic). … Coach is Mark Moschella, who was last year’s Associated Press Single-A Coach of the Year.
PATTI HOWER SAYS: “Not everyone makes Districts, let alone States, so we want out kids to enjoy this experience. … We’re not just content to play another game. We want to go as far as we can. Our kids should be proud to get to the second round, and now they have some enthusiasm because they came back and won a good game (against Girard College) when something was on the line.”
