The Royals’ Lucie Racicky (15) blocks Lake-Lehman’s Delcia Biscotto’s shot in first quarter action.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
The Black Knights’ Ella Wilson (14) gets by the Royals’ Brooke Kroptavich (14) in scoring on a layup.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Molly Jenkins (22) tosses in two-points of her seven first-half points.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Brooke Kroptavich poured in 12-first-half points for the Royals against Lake-Lehman.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Bella Boylan (5) hits on a 10-foot jump shot against Lake-Lehman in PIAA D2 3A semifinal action at Holy Redeemer.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — There was no keeping Holy Redeemer off the glass on Thursday night, with plenty of second and even third chance-points boosting the Royals to a spot in the District 2 title game.
A massive advantage on the glass proved to be Redeemer’s key and Lake-Lehman’s undoing, with the Royals running away from Lehman to win Thursday’s Class 3A semifinal by a 64-47 final.
Redeemer’s size advantage was apparent right from the jump, and the Royals used it to full effect, working the offensive glass and finding two or even more looks for every trip down the floor, rarely failing to capitalize on those extra chances.
Brooke Kroptavich led the way for the Royals with a 19-point, 14-rebound performance, also adding about a half-dozen steals and generally causing a lot of problems for Lake-Lehman on both ends of the floor.
“We don’t give up on the first shots. … I like rebounding because it turns into easy second-chance points,” Kroptavich said. “We all knew we had to play hard and we had to play the best we could be to beat them.”
After the two teams flipped momentum over the first two quarters, Lake-Lehman trailed by just four points heading into halftime.
The dagger came after the break: Holy Redeemer outscored the Black Knights 17-5 in the third quarter, working the glass and making some tough shots to bust the game wide open.
“The girls did such a great job. … For us to do that on the boards is extremely impressive,” Royals coach John Jezorwski said. “This is a rivalry game, you know Lake-Lehman is coming with their best game. … Our girls were really psyched up for the game and into what we wanted to do.”
The Black Knights were without starter Brenna Hunt for this one, the team’s second-leading scorer behind junior Ella Wilson.
Shouldering a bit more of the load on offense, Wilson led all scorers with 23 points and almost single-handedly kept Lake-Lehman afloat in the second half, scoring 16 of her team’s 20 second-half points.
“Ella played a solid, solid game,” Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said. “She really came out strong for us.”
Bella Boylan and Megan Albrecht also cracked double-figures for Holy Redeemer, adding 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Holy Redeemer will take on defending district and state champion Dunmore in the Class 3A finals at 5 p.m. Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena. By winning Thursday’s semifinal, the Royals have also secured their spot in the PIAA tournament.
Lake-Lehman will have another chance to qualify for states as well. The Black Knights will travel to Western Wayne on Wednesday night to play for District 2’s third and final PIAA berth in the Class 3A field.
District 2 Class 3A semifinals
Holy Redeemer 64, Lake-Lehman 47
LAKE-LEHMAN (47) — Biscotto 1 0-0 3, Wilson 8 6-7 23, Jenkins 4 1-2 9, Morgan 0 1-2 1, Oliver 4 0-0 9, Chipego 0 0-0 0, Decesaris 1 0-0 2, Corcoran 0 0-0 0, James 0 0-0 0, DiGiovanni 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 8-11 47.
HOLY REDEEMER (64) — Boylan 6 0-0 14, Albrecht 2 6-8 10, Kroptavich 7 5-7 19, Racicky 3 0-0 6, Corridoni 2 0-0 4, Chimock 3 2-3 9, Parsons 1 0-0 2, Quinn 0 0-0 0, Pekarovski 0 0-0 0, Gilchrist 0 0-0 0, Khoudary 0 0-0 0, Lombardi 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 13-18 64.
Lake-Lehman`13`14`5`17 — 47
Holy Redeemer`20`11`17`16 — 64
Three-point goals — LL 3 (Biscotto, Wilson, Oliver); HR 3 (Boylan 2, Chimock).
