CLINTON TWP. – Once Lackawanna Trail held on to the ball, it did a better job of putting it in the basket.
The Lady Lions shook off 20 first-half turnovers, then scored 27 fourth-quarter points to pull away for a 47-25 District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal playoff victory March 4 at home against Northwest.
The win was the program’s first in the postseason since a Class A upset of Susquehanna in 2016.
“Our spacing was a little bit better and we did a little bit better getting the ball out from traps earlier,” Lackawanna Trail coach Joel Nietz said of the second-half adjustments. “ … We talked before the game and we talked at halftime about handling their pressure and their physicality.
“In the second half, we just did better.”
Two freshmen came off the bench to lead the victory.
Gretchen Rejrat had nine of her 11 points and Mackenzie Schirg had eight of her 10 in the fourth quarter.
“Gretchen had struggled a little bit the last couple weeks,” Nietz said. “She just came out and played how we expect her to play.
“She’s a girl with a lot of energy. She’s the captain of our freshmen because of her energy and willingness to be a leader.”
Rejrat also had all seven of her rebounds, four of her five assists, two of her three steals and one of her two blocked shots in the fourth quarter.
The playoff win followed up a winning regular season adding to the progress the team made in Nietz’s first season before losing to eventual champion Holy Cross in the semifinals, 71-45, March 8.
Northwest went 0-for-13 from 3-point range, leading to offensive struggles throughout the game. The Lady Rangers scored one point in the first 7:04 of the second quarter and just two points in the first 9:30 of the second half.
Amaralis Thiel added nine points for the Lady Lions, who trailed 5-4 after one quarter and led just 11-10 at halftime.
Northwest had knocked Lackawanna Trail out of the playoffs the previous two seasons.
Thiel had 16 points against Holy Cross, which got 26 points from Kaci Kranson and 20 from Abbey Lentowski.