by Bud Hart The Lady Mules improved their Section II record to 4-3 with a 57-40 home win over Cocalico (2-7) on Friday, January 19. Solanco started things off with a 10-0 run to take a 17-8 lead after the first eight minutes. Cocalico didn’t record their first bucket until the 5:28 mark and scored the majority of their points from the charity stripe, as Solanco applied an aggressive style of play. “We jumped out early for a change,” said head coach Chad McDowell. “We’ve been known to come out slow in a few games. This time the girls got it going early.”
During that quarter, Solanco sophomore guard Jenna Dombach led the way with eight points, the only points she scored in the game. The Mules maintained that 10 point margin, 27-17, to end the half, but things got interesting to begin the third quarter as the Eagles outscored the Mules 13-6 to get within three, 33-30, with eight minutes to play. Aleska Burger opened the fourth quarter with a three pointer to cushion the lead to six and Grace Kreider added a goal to push the margin to eight. Not folding, Cocalico went on a 5-0 run to get within three again, but Kreider scored from underneath on a put-back to pad the margin. Again Cocalico went on a 5-0 run to draw within three, 38-35, but from then on the Mules galloped on a run of their own. Applying a girl-to-girl full court press Solanco forced several turnovers and converted to manage a 10-0 run of their own with less than three minutes remaining. Kreider led the way with back to back triples. The Mules 24-point fourth quarter propelled them to the victory. “I give the credit to our fourth quarter turnaround to the players and Coach (Evan) Mankin,” added McDowell. “When I asked if we needed to change our defense, he said stick with the girl to girl.” Kreider, who took game honors with 22 points, scoring 15 alone in the fourth quarter. “Grace had an awesome night,” said McDowell. “She did a great job as Jess (Cabrera) has been ailing all week and was not at her best.” Burger added seven points to her total of 16 in the final eight minutes of play. The junior forward pulled in 12 rebounds, forced four steals and contributed three assists. In addition to the eight first quarter points, Dombach was credited with five boards, two assists and one steal. Cabrera connected on two outside the three point circle, dished off with three assists and managed two steals. Paige Phillips hit a three pointer and Kara McClune scored the last bucket for the Mules for two. The junior forward also pulled down three rebounds and twice stole the ball on Eagle possessions. It was an outstanding fourth quarter,” said McDowell. “We asked them to step it up and that’s exactly what they did. We are really happy for them.” Beset with injuries the Cocalico junior varsity was unable to field a team. Coach Jeff McCardell’s team remains undefeated. On Saturday evening, January 20, the Lady Mules hosted the Kennard Dale Lady Rams with the Mules exiting the gymnasium with a 59-56 win. Down six at the end of the first quarter and five at the half, the Mules narrowed the margin to three, 40-37, entering the final eight minutes of play. Once again, the Mules stepped up and tied the game at 51-all with two minutes and 22 seconds left on the clock when Cabrera swished a three pointer to even the score. The Lady Rams tied it up at 53 all following a Kreider bucket, but Cabrera drained another three-pointer to give the Mules a three-point margin, and Dombach hit the back end of a shooting foul on the next possession to increase the margin to four. Swanson connected on a KD three pointer, reducing the margin to one, 57-56, setting up the Mule heroics. This time it was Dombach earning the laurels. The sophomore guard hit both ends of a one-and-one with four seconds left on the clock to the cheers of the home crowd. The Lady Rams inbounded and passed the ball to the arc, but their attempt at a three pointer bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded. Another Mule playing a heroic role in the fourth quarter was Cabrera who scored 11 of her 15 points in the final eight minutes. Dombach earned game honors in points scored with 19. In addition to Cabrera’s 15, Kreider scored 13, Burger 10 and Mackenzie Gladfelter two. The Mules won it at the foul line as well hitting on 12 of 16, with Dombach going seven for eight and Cabrera five for six. Prior to the game, the head coach recognized the only senior on the 19 player roster, Liz Mowrer. The senior was introduced to the crowd with both parents by her side. Mowrer also started the game with Kreider, Burger, Cabrera and Dombach. The junior varsity girls improved their record to 12-0 with a dominating 44-10 win over Kennard Dale. The JV Mules held the JV Lady Rams to single digits through three quarters shutting them out in the third quarter. Entering the final seven minutes with a 38-6 lead, the Mules allowed them a single bucket, resulting in a two-point second half. Paige Phillips and Angela Cylc led the way with 13 and 11 points respectively. Nikki Trout netted five, Jade Eshelman and Emma Urbine each scored four, Sammi Jackson three and both Kara Lee and Ilynd Rapant drained the net for two. Comments are closed.
|
Archives
August 2023
Categories
All
|