Holy Redeemer’s McKenzie Chimock take a shot at the basket during the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Elizabeth Bilbow (30) aims at the basket as Lake-Lehman’s Sofia Sparacio and Olivia Oliver (34) defend in the secod quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Sofia Sparacio (left) and Holy Redeemer’s Kira Millard chase down a loose ball in the second quarter.-
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer point guard Tessa Cegelka watches a loose ball bounce away from her in the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s McKenzie Chimock battles with Lake-Lehman’s Sofia Sparacio (24) for a rebound in the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — The main stat, obviously, was the final score Monday night — Holy Redeemer 52, Lake-Lehman 40.
How Redeemer won a battle of first place teams in Division 2 of Wyoming Valley Conference girls basketball was because of another stat — rebounding. The Royals’ 36-18 advantage created more opportunities and a double-digit gap the Black Knights couldn’t close in the second half.
Redeemer (3-0 Div. 2, 8-1 overall) stayed tied with Nanticoke Area (3-0, 8-1) atop the division. After playing a couple of games in New York during the holidays, the Royals have a favorable conference schedule before traveling to Nanticoke Area on Jan. 14.
“Our girls did a great job following the game plan and understanding what we wanted to do,” Redeemer coach John Jezorwski said. “They executed it today. Our defense was really good again. (Kinley) Purdy is a fantastic player and we had to limit her shots at the basket and we did a really good job at that today.”
Purdy, Lehman’s leading scorer, had nine points. Six came in the final quarter as the Black Knights (2-1, 5-3) tried to chase down a 43-29 deficit in the fourth.
Lehman has won four of the last five divisional titles with Redeemer interrupting the run in the 2023-2024 season.
“We always come very prepared for a game like this,” said Redeemer guard McKenzie Chimock, who scored a game-high 17 points. “Especially against Lehman. They’re our biggest competition and the way to get WVC first place, so it’s always very important.”
So was rebounding. Redeemer had a 12-3 edge after the first quarter. The Royals often limited Lehman to one shot and eventually seized control by outscoring the Black Knights 24-14 in the middle quarters.
Point guard Tessa Cegelka led the board attack with nine rebounds, cutting inside for some and getting good reads on longer bounces off the rim. Gillian Parsons grabbed seven more and freshman Kira Millard came off the bench to record six boards.
Redeemer led 28-25 midway through the third quarter, opening up an 11-point lead on some strong inside offense from Chimock and Parsons to close out the quarter.
“We lost our composure,” Lehman coach Charlie Levan said. “We didn’t run our sets like we normally would. We didn’t box out. Give them credit, they played a nice, nice game.
“Our 2-3 (defense) wasn’t quite there. We were late closing out on shooters. When you start unraveling like we did, it’s not good.”
Holy Redeemer 52, Lake-Lehman 40
LAKE-LEHMAN (40) — Delcia Biscotto 2 2-2 8, Kathryn Morgan 3 1-2 9, Sophia Sparacio 3 0-0 7, Kinley Purdy 4 1-2 9. Olivia Oliver 2 3-6 7, Sophia Tomasino 0 0-0 0, Olivia Corcoran 0 0-0 0, Morgan Breslford 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-9 40.
HOLY REDEEMER (52) — Kearny Quinn 0 0-0 0, Tessa Cegelka 0 3-4 3, Kourtney Jezorwski 4 1-3 10, McKenzie Chimock 7 0-1 17, Gillian Parsons 3 0-0 6, Elizabeth Bilbow 4 0-0 8, Kira Millard 3 1-4 7, Amara Makarczyk 0 1-2 1, Olivia Dutko 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 6-14 52.
Lake-Lehman`15`6`8`11 — 40
Holy Redeemer`16`8`16`12 — 52
Three-point goals: LL 5 (Biscotto 2, Morgan 2, Sparacio). HR 4 (Jezorwski, Chimock 3).
