SCRANTON — The Scranton Prep girls basketball team displayed championship form on Monday night, controlling every facet of the game in a 51-30 wire-to-wire victory over Lake-Lehman in the District 2 Class 4A semifinals.
“They were just great out there tonight,” Lake-Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said after his team’s season-ending loss. “That’s where you want your program to be.”
Lavan’s praise was certainly justified; the top-seeded Classics shone in just about every way imaginable on Monday while clinching their spot in the 4A title game.
On offense, Prep swung the ball around Lehman’s defense and got a number of open looks, both under the basket and from deep. The Classics couldn’t match the 83 points they hung on Wyoming Area in the previous round, but with help from standouts Cecilia Collins and Rachael Rose, Prep had more than enough firepower to overwhelm the Black Knights.
Collins finished with a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds, while Rose stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. Maria Belardi was Prep’s third double-digit scorer with 11 points.
“They move the ball so well, it’s hard to stop,” Lavan said.
The Knights did their best to hang with the Classics all night long, keeping the game close until the final few minutes. But Prep’s defense performed even better than their offense, suffocating the Knights with a full-court press and trapping Lehman’s ball-handlers at every chance.
The Knights were led by junior Claire Dougherty with 15 points, many of which came on tough baskets in traffic.
“Claire did everything we could have asked from her at both ends of the floor,” Lavan said.
Dougherty managed to knock down a deep three-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to cut Prep’s lead to 33-20 heading into the final eight minutes, but the Classics answered with a few huge threes of their own to effectively put the game away.
The Knights amped up their pressure on defense to try and force some turnovers, but as the final whistle sounded, it was the Classics punching their ticket to the title game.
“It’s a disappointing end to the year, no doubt, but we had a great season. … Even the fact that there was a season at all was good news,” Lavan said. “And now we could take tonight’s game and use it to get ready for next year.”
The Classics will have one more hurdle to clear in their quest for a District 2 crown: Prep will take on Berwick, which defeated Nanticoke Area 46-27 in Monday’s other 4A semifinal, at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday in the 4A championship game.
District 2 Class 4A semifinals
Scranton Prep 51, Lake-Lehman 30
LAKE-LEHMAN (30) — Marissa Brdaric 0 0-0 0, Hailey Kline 0 1-2 1, Brenna Hunt 2 0-0 5, Claire Dougherty 7 0-0 15, Chase Purdy 3 2-4 9, Halle Jones 0 0-0 0, Krista Scoblick 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 3-6 30.
SCRANTON PREP (51) — Cecelia Collins 7 1-2 17, Lizzie Neville 1 2-2 4, Rachael Rose 4 3-3 12, Maria Belardi 4 0-0 11, Meredith Purcell 1 2-2 4, Avery McNulty 0 0-0 0, Maggie Mills 1 1-2 3, Maggie Kosierowski 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 9-11 51.
Lake-Lehman`3`5`12`10 — 30
Scranton Prep`7`15`11`18 — 51
Three-point goals — LL 3 (Hunt, Dougherty, Purdy); SP 6 (Belardi 3, Collins 2, Rose)