L-S wins Ephrata Tournament
- 31 December 2008
It was not the prettiest basketball game ever contested – unless you like plenty of stops and starts, stalling, turnovers and fouls.If you like those things, then you would have loved Lampeter-Strasburg’s herky-jerky 49-30 win over Ephrata in the championship game of the Ephrata Holiday Tournament on Tuesday night at Ephrata Middle School.
The Pioneers and the Mountaineers combined to turn the ball over 36 times, so there was absolutely no fluidity in the game.
Yeah, fluidity.
Ephrata’s game plan, coach Mike Garman said, was to be ultra patient on offense, which meant a bunch of passes and even more v-cuts and back screens. So when the Mounts had the ball, they horded it, keeping L-S from doing what it does best – fun-and-gun.
When the Pioneers got the ball, it was like a jail break – fast breaks, quick passes and a ton of layups.
In the end, L-S used a pair of back-breaking runs to fend off Ephrata. There was a 15-0 spree that spanned the first two quarters, and a 10-0 blitz to end the third quarter, which ended with the Pioneers ahead 43-19 – and the game turned into a glorified JV contest.
Which is OK – I’m just saying as all.
The win did two things for L-S:
First, it ran the Pioneers’ winning streak to nine in a row, as L-S improved to 9-1 overall and stayed wicked hot.
Second, it set up a monster L-L League Section 3 showdown on Friday night against Donegal in Mount Joy. The Indians knocked off Susquenita 45-35 in the title game of the Donegal Holiday Tournament on Tuesday night and improved to 10-0 overall.
The Pioneers and the Indians – oh my – will bring identical 4-0 league records into Friday’s clash. The winner is walking out of there in sole possession of first place. The loser will be a game back.
Oh yeah, and someone’s winning streak will be snapped.
“We’ll be focused for the next game, and we’re definitely excited for this next game – the whole team is looking forward to it,” said L-S senior guard Lisa Boyer, who was named MVP of the Ephrata Holiday Tournament after scoring 18 points in the first round against McCaskey, and followed that up with 21 points Tuesday night in the clincher against the Mounts.
“We kind of feel like the underdogs going into the next game, so we’re using that as a motivator for our team,” Boyer said. “We’re excited to see how it goes. We’re pumped up for this game.”
L-S will bring a healthy team to Mount Joy. Senior guard Danielle Rittenhouse (knee) returned to the court against Ephrata after missing the last five games. So the Pioneers’ depth – much to the chagrin of everyone in Section 3 — just got a little better.
“We’re in a really good spot right now,” said L-S senior forward Renee Fritz, who scored 12 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked six shots – four in the third quarter alone – against Ephrata.
“There are a lot of things we need to keep working on, but our team chemistry is great. So I think we’re in a very good spot right now. I don’t think a first-place showdown atmosphere will affect us. I think we’ll come out ready to play.”
L-S will have to be pesky on defense, because Donegal features one of the top snipers in the league in senior guard Nicky Hess, a Messiah recruit.
Hess pumped in 26 points and hit five 3-pointers in the Indians’ win over Susquenita on Tuesday night.
“We know who we need to focus on,” Fritz said, without saying Hess’ name. “We’ll need to play great, all-around team defense.”
(By the way, after the game, Garman, who is in his second stint as Ephrata’s coach, said as good as L-S’s guards are, he called the 6-1 Fritz the Pioneers’ glue. “I’m not sure where they’d be without her,” he said.)
The Pioneers’ defense forced Ephrata into 22 turnovers on Tuesday night. The Mounts didn’t have much luck from the tip until the buzzer. And when sharpshooter Aly Goodman didn’t start because of an illness, Ephrata, which was out-rebounded 41-36, was down a scorer from the start.
Alison Weaver picked up the slack with 11 points and nine boards for Ephrata, which slipped to 5-5 overall – and will take a first-place 2-2 league record into Friday’s Section 2 clash against Lebanon.
Goodman played in spurts and was held to a season-low three points, which came on a 3-pointer with 5:44 to go in the first half.
“Right now I think we’re where we need to be heading into the big game on Friday,” L-S coach Matt Wieand said. “I know we’re excited for the game, and we might have some usual big-game jitters. But I think we’ll be fine, and it will be a matter of focusing and executing and playing our game.
“Donegal is red-hot. We’re red-hot. So this should be a real battle. I know we’re in for a battle on their home court. We’re excited and we’re confident and we’re anxious to go over there and play. The way we’re playing right now … we need to keep this rolling.”
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.