Pioneers’ guard talks about winning state-playoff opener, rematch with Palmyra

So how would Lampeter-Strasburg respond after falling to Trinity in the District 3 Triple-A championship game last week?

Pretty darn well.

The Pioneers put the pedal down, set the early tempo, swarmed on defense and turned their quick-pass, quick-strike offense up a notch in their 47-33 win over Villa Maria on Saturday in the first round of the PIAA playoffs at Garden Spot.

L-S senior Danielle Rittenhouse scored 14 points, including a couple of clutch 3-pointers, in the Pioneers’ victory, which vaulted them into the second round against a familiar foe – Palmyra, whom L-S topped 51-42 on Feb. 21 in the district quarterfinals.

The rematch is set for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School, and the winner goes to the state quarterfinals – in the ‘west’ portion of the bracket. I will be blogging live from the L-S/Palmyra game. Check out lancsports.com for the link.

By the way, Rittenhouse pushed her career total to 963 points in the win over Villa Maria, so she needs 37 points for 1,000.

I chatted with Ms. Rittenhouse on Saturday, and we talked about the win over Villa Maria, about how the team spent its week off forgetting about the Trinity game and focusing on States, and about the Pioneers’ next opponent, and how they’ll prep for a team they just played two weeks ago.

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the ‘play’ button above.

You can also download the Podcast and listen to it on your favorite mp3 player by clicking here.