Lady Meteors head to state tourney

BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent

Montrose rallied from eight points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game and pulled away in overtime to win the third-place game and clinch the final spot from District 2 in the Class AA state tournament with a 50-42 win over Hanover, Friday in Scranton.

Haylee Bobos scored the final basket of regulation to tie the game for Hanover, then blocked two potential game-winning shots.

But Kourtney Snigar had two big buckets in the extra period to pace the Lady Meteors, who were paced by 16 points apiece from Myra Lattimore and Meghan Gilhool.

Montrose will be on the road on Friday to play the District 4 champ, Mount Carmel, in a 6 p.m. start.

Offense falters in semifinals

The number one ranked Montrose Lady Meteors knew that they were in for a tougher semifinal game Tuesday then they faced in the quarterfinals, facing off against rival Holy Cross for a third time this season. Montrose won one and dropped one in regular season play action with the Crusaders.

Holy Cross got the upper hand and ended the Lady Meteors’ hopes of a championship contention with a 47-30 win.

Things looked rough for Montrose from the beginning of the game. Shots were not dropping and Holy Cross invoked a new strategy of double and triple teaming Montrose’s leading scorer, Meghan Gilhool every time she got the ball in shooting range.

The Lady Meteors took a lot of shots, but they were not making baskets.

“We just had a horrific shooting night,” Montrose Coach Al Smith said. “We have played solid basketball all year and I thought we’ve been pretty good on offense most of the year. Tonight was one of those nights we just struggled putting the ball in the basket.”

In the first quarter Morgan Groover was the only player to make a field goal for the Lady Meteors. Myra Lattimore went four for six from the foul line to give the Lady Meteors a six point tally at the end of the first quarter while Holy Cross put 16 on the board.

Montrose played a consistent came through the next three quarters, scoring eight points in each.

In the second quarter Kourtney Snigar led the Meteors with four points and team seniors Nicki Lewis and Lattimore each scored a basket.

Lewis once again showed her quickness by grabbing a steal, one of five for her in the game. Both seniors also got two rebounds each.

Holy Cross outscored the Montrose in the second period, adding two points to their lead to end the half with a 26-14 lead.

Gihool, Snigar, Lattimore and Groover all scored two points in the third; but the Lady Crusaders posted 15 points pushing the Crusaders to an almost 20 point lead heading into the final period.

The Lady Meteor defense came on strong in the fourth, allowing Holy Cross to score just six.

Baskets by Gilhool, Lewis, Groover, and Fallon Gurn again netted Montrose eight points but it wasn’t enough and the 4th ranked Lady Crusaders stopped top seeded Montrose’s run at the District II Class AA championship.

The loss set Montrose up to play for third – and a shot to make it to state play – against No. 3 Hanover on Friday.

Myra Lattimore was the high scorer for Montrose with eight points and matched with eight rebounds. Nicki Lewis, the other senior on the team scored four points, had two rebounds, and five steals.

Montrose Coach Al Smith said, “The girls played hard as a team all season. Tonight was tough because we just struggled offensively, but we had a great season.”

Marty Myers, Times Shamrock Writer, contributed to this report.