Lady Sabers take win from MV

Mountain View’s Erika Freely (#4) guards Lady Saber Mackenzie Heath as she brings the ball down the court Monday as Susquehanna defeated the Lady Eagles, 65-44. PHOTO BY DAWN STEELE

Susquehanna’s Mackenzie Steele (#4) and Mountain View’s Sydney Newhart go up for a jump ball on Monday. PHOTO BY DAWN STEELE

Matching wins Thursday night set up a showdown in the borough of Susquehanna Monday night between league leaders Susquehanna and Mountain View.
Mountain View who is having a breakout season in league play after a couple lean years played the defending District 1A champs tight in the first quarter trailing 12-11 as McKenzie Bell scored three quick buckets for the Lady Eagles.
However, Mountain View’s key inside player Sydney Newhart went to the bench with her second foul and Susquehanna took advantage.
The Lady Sabers outscored Mountain View 23-4 to take control of the game and never looked back, in a 65-44 win over the Eagles.
Taylor Huyck and Mackenzie Steele each scored 22 points to lead Susquehanna. The pair also completed a double-double with 11 and 17 rebounds respectively. Steele added 5 blocked shots as well.
“We missed a lot of shots early, which you sometimes get in a big game like this,” said Susquehanna Coach Errol Mannick. “Newhart gets in foul trouble and we took advantage. She creates a lot of havoc inside and gives them another scoring option.”
Mountain View Coach Ashley Kilmer felt her team was not as disciplined with all facets of the game as they had been during their 4-1 start to regular season play.
“We weren’t disciplined in the little things that you need to be in order to play with a team like Susquehanna,” said Kilmer. “An example is our positioning on rebounds. You don’t get inside position against them, things get difficult.”
Mannick thought his team accomplished one of their defensive goals in limiting the division’s scoring leader, Ericka Freely, to seven points under her average.
“I thought we did a good job containing her in the half-court,” said Mannick. “She’s very good but we limited her opportunities there (in half-court) and she did most of her damage off our turnovers.”
Lucy Adams led the Lady Eagles with 14 points and Freely added 10.
In other action Monday night, Montrose kept pace with Mountain View and Susquehanna by defeating Lackawanna Trail 36-30 in overtime to finish the first half of play with a 4-2 record.
Montrose shut out the Lady Lions in the first quarter, but Trail rallied back with 12 points in the second quarter to trail 16-12 at halftime. Lackawanna Trail outscored the Lady Meteors 18-14 in the second half to force overtime.
However, in the extra session Betsy Warner scored four points to lead Montrose to the win. Radvile Vaiciulyte paced Montrose with 10 points.
Montrose will face Riverside in a crossover game Thursday that will not impact their first half division record.
Elk Lake rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit but fell short against Forest City 50-41. Down 28-8 at half the Lady Warriors outscored the Lady Foresters 17-6 in the third stanza, but could not sustain the pace in the fourth.
Forest City took advantage of 15-shot differential from the foul line, connecting on 18 of 26 free throws in the game.
Tamara Voda led a balanced Elk Lake attack with 11 points and Eliza Bosscher and Rose Warner each scored 10.
Forest City’s MacKenzie Hartman led all scorers with 20 points and Skylar Fortuner added 12.
In a Division III-IV crossover game, Blue Ridge fell to the top-ranked Holy Cross team, 62-11.
Danielle Goff led the Lady Raiders with seven points. Holy Cross’s Lexie Walsh paced the Lady Crusaders with 22 points and Abbey Lentowski added 11.
Monday’s big match-up was set up on Thursday when Mountain View outlasted Montrose 20-14 in a game where baskets were hard to come by and the effect of two days off were evident as both teams struggled to find any offensive rhythm.
Freely hit a three-pointer two minutes into the fourth quarter and the Eagles never looked back on their way to a 20-14 victory. Freely led the Eagles with eight points and Newhart chipped in with seven. Annalise Ely paced Montrose with seven.
“I think the kids keeping their composure and in controlled manner, and playing as one unit was the big factor tonight,” said Mountain View Coach Ashley Kilmer. “In the past we’ve put forth good efforts, but it wasn’t always a collective effort and we’re seeing that difference this year. “
Both coaches cited the weather cancellations as a factor in the outcome of the game. Montrose had played Blue Ridge on Monday night and then missed two days of practice, meanwhile Mountain View had two school cancellations sandwiched between an early dismissal.
“It had a tremendous effect,” said Kilmer. “We hadn’t touched a ball in three days, but I try to teach that offense is less controllable than your defense…and defense was the story tonight.”
“It hampered our preparation,” said Montrose Coach Todd Smith. “We struggled with that match-up zone because we didn’t have those two days to prepare for it.”
Susquehanna reached Monday’s clash undefeated in league play by beating Lackawanna Trail 55-31.
Bethany Maby led the balanced attack with 15 points, and Taylor Huyck was one of three Lady Sabers to finish with a double-double adding 13 points to go along with 14 rebounds. MacKenzie Steele had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots to control the lane, and McKenzie Rhone scored 10 points and snared 10 rebounds.
Forest City defeated Blue Ridge 40-13 behind Maggie Kowleski’s 14 points and Hartman added 11.
Elk Lake’s crossover game with Carbondale was postponed to a later date.
In non-league action Saturday, Susquehanna hosted the Lady Rangers of Northwest Area. The Lady Sabers withstood Northwest’s constant defensive pressure and enjoyed a 35-14 shot attempt advantage at the free throw line, making 24, on its way to a 64-52 win.
Huyck scored 18 points and snared 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Sabers and Maby added 17 points. Mackenzie Steele came within a block shot of recording a triple-double, scoring 15 points, grabbing 17 rebounds and blocking 9 shots to aid in the effort.