EXETER — The first attempt Riley Baird took from the foul line in the final seconds kicked off the side of the rim, bounced high, then curled around and dropped straight through the net.
So did the second.
And with that, Nanticoke Area eliminated Wyoming Valley Conference overall champion Lake-Lehman from the District 2 Class 4A playoffs.
Baird’s two foul shots with 7.6 seconds on the clock broke a last-minute tie Tuesday and sent the charged-up Trojanettes into the district semifinals with a stunning 30-28 victory over Lehman at Wyoming Area High School.
“I thought they were both coming out,” Baird said of her game-winning foul shots. “I was really nervous.”
She didn’t show it, though.
And neither did Nanticoke Area, which rallied from deficits after the first three quarters to claim the victory by holding the Black Knights to two points during the final period.
“That’s a credit to our kids,” Nanticoke Area coach Ed Grant said. “They know how to play in those situations. They may not have been on the court for them in the past, maybe some were on the bench. But our kids, we practice that. We’re in those situations. We understand what we have to do.”
The mission for the Trojanettes was getting past a red-hot Lehman team that had won four straight games and 14 of 16, including upsets of heavily-favored Dallas and Hazleton Area to win the WVC league title.
Nanticoke Area accomplished it by turning to Baird, who hit a game-high 14 points, and using some big baskets by Emily Hauer to give the Trojanettes a shot at the end.
When Baird converted, fifth-seeded and 13-10 Nanticoke Area earned a date with No. 1 Scranton Prep (23-0) in Friday’s Class 4A semifinal round. Win or lose that battle, the Trojanettes are assured at least two more games, as the Class 4A semifinal losers will play Tuesday for District 2’s third Class 4A slot in the PIAA tournament.
“It feels great,” Baird said. “We came here so prepared. And we knew it, too.”
Lehman had one final chance to launch more magic — it was Chase Purdy’s 3-pointer with nine seconds to play that beat Hazleton Area for the WVC overall title Saturday — but ran out of time.
Barely.
A long pass to team scoring leader Sarah Salus was contested, and by the time Salush swished a turn-around jumper from the foul line for the tie, the buzzer had sounded.
“Oh, it was really close,” said Lake-Lehman coach Charlie Lavan, whose team finished its season at 16-9. “But it was definitely after the buzzer. Tough. The girls played hard. This wasn’t our smoothest game. Foul trouble was a key issue for us. But it was a good year. We’ve got a very young team. We’ll be back next year.”
The Black Knights were close to going back to the district semifinals for a second straight year, as Claire Dougherty scored a team-high 12 points and paced Lehman to leads of 11-6 after the opening quarter; 17-15 at halftime; and 26-24 after the third period.
Cullen’s 3-pointer cut Nanticoke Area’s deficit to two points early in the second quarter and her basket in the third gave the Trojanettes their first lead, 20-19, over two minutes into the second half. She also made two layups in the final 5:02, with the first one tying the game and the second giving Nanticoke Area a two-point lead with 2:20 on the clock. Dougherty answered with a scooping layup to even things at 28-28 with 83 seconds to go, setting the stage for Baird’s winning foul shots.
“We were all so happy,” Baird said. “Even to beat a team by two, it’s a great game.”
District 2 Class 4A Quarterfinals
Nanticoke Area 30, Lake-Lehman 28
NANTICOKE AREA (30) — Abby Cullen 4 0-0 9, Jen Kurkoski 0 0-0 0, Riley Baird 6 2-2 14, Emily Hauer 1 0-1 3, Lauren Casey 1 2-2 4, Brooklyn Biehl 0 0-0 0, Genevieve Nalepa 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 4-5 30.
LAKE-LEHMAN (28) — Chase Purdy 1 4-4 6, Claire Dougherty 5 1-1 12, Lia Keefe 2 0-0 4, Sarah Salus 2 0-0 4, Hailey Kline 1 0-0 2, Madison Brdaric 0 0-0 0, Autumn Savitski 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 5-5 28.
Nanticoke Area`6`9`9`6 — 30
Lake-Lehman`11`6`9`2 — 28
Three-point goals — NAN 2 (Cullen, Hauer); LL 1 (Dougherty).
