Loss spoils senior night for girls basketball team
It was not the kind of senior night for which Rachel Shortes and Emelia Heiss -- not to mention the rest of the Lady Pioneers' girls basketball team -- had hoped. Cocalico -- which solidified its second place standing in section three -- routed L-S 58-36 in a game that was close early in the first quarter, and not thereafter.
Before the game, the team recognized senior guard Rachel Shortes and exchange student Emelia Heiss, who has played on the junior varsity team all season, but did make it into the final seconds of this evening's varsity game, for their contributions to the program.
Early in the first quarter, it looked like a potential barn burner. There were six lead changes in the first five minutes, as Laura Horner held a hot hand from the outside. She made four three pointers in the first half, en route to scoring a team-high 13 points (all in the first half).
Horner was the lone offensive bright spot for the Lady Pioneers, who struggled with shot selection and offensive rebounding all night. Rarely did they launch anything but a wild, contested attempt, and even more rarely did they get a second opportunity to score. Meanwhile, at the foul line, they struggled; even the normally rock-solid foul shooter Hanna Garber missed a pair of free throws.
Section three's leading scorer Nevin Hoenninger did not score until late in the third quarter, and ultimately posted just seven points, certainly not among her stronger outings of the season.
For Cocalico, offense was as easy as passing it to thousand-point scorer Emily White, who dominated the paint all night, as she has for much of her career with the Eagles. L-S had no answer for her explosive presence.
Emma Gochnauer tallied five points for L-S, Rachel Shortes added three in her final regular season game, as did Garber and Brittney Zameroski.
Attention now turns to the playoff picture. L-S will finish either third or fourth in section three, and regardless, will miss the league playoffs. However, in the district playoffs, the standings are more interesting. Entering the game, L-S ranked sixteenth in Class AAA. Since Cocalico is a reasonably strong opponent, it is unlikely their ranking will significantly falter, but nevertheless, the Lady Pioneers are teetering on the brink of contention for a play-in game, which would occur some time late next week.
--Benjamin Pontz, LSNews.org Editor-In-Chief
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| Rachel Shortes and Emelia Heiss were recognized before the game |
Before the game, the team recognized senior guard Rachel Shortes and exchange student Emelia Heiss, who has played on the junior varsity team all season, but did make it into the final seconds of this evening's varsity game, for their contributions to the program.
Early in the first quarter, it looked like a potential barn burner. There were six lead changes in the first five minutes, as Laura Horner held a hot hand from the outside. She made four three pointers in the first half, en route to scoring a team-high 13 points (all in the first half).
Horner was the lone offensive bright spot for the Lady Pioneers, who struggled with shot selection and offensive rebounding all night. Rarely did they launch anything but a wild, contested attempt, and even more rarely did they get a second opportunity to score. Meanwhile, at the foul line, they struggled; even the normally rock-solid foul shooter Hanna Garber missed a pair of free throws.
Section three's leading scorer Nevin Hoenninger did not score until late in the third quarter, and ultimately posted just seven points, certainly not among her stronger outings of the season.
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| Laura Horner was the sole source of offense all night long for L-S Photo by Caleb Gawne, LSNews.org Sports Reporter |
Emma Gochnauer tallied five points for L-S, Rachel Shortes added three in her final regular season game, as did Garber and Brittney Zameroski.
Attention now turns to the playoff picture. L-S will finish either third or fourth in section three, and regardless, will miss the league playoffs. However, in the district playoffs, the standings are more interesting. Entering the game, L-S ranked sixteenth in Class AAA. Since Cocalico is a reasonably strong opponent, it is unlikely their ranking will significantly falter, but nevertheless, the Lady Pioneers are teetering on the brink of contention for a play-in game, which would occur some time late next week.
--Benjamin Pontz, LSNews.org Editor-In-Chief
