The Solanco girls basketball team turned up the defensive intensity to snap a two-game losing streak. Seizing command with a second quarter spurt, the Mules downed perennial postseason participants Northern Lebanon 58-36 Friday night, December 21. Trailing 10-8 in the second quarter, Solanco embarked on a 20-3 run to take control and never led by less than 10 the rest of the way.
Jess Cabrera scored to tie the game and had seven of her team-high 18 points in that significant stretch. The Mules led 13-10 before the Lady Vikings' Tabitha Hubbard hit a three-pointer. Solanco responded by rallying for 15 straight points. Cabrera buried a three-pointer to put the Mules ahead for good. Jenna Dombach also made a three-pointer in the run and Grace Kreider capped the uprising with a steal and layup followed by a three-pointer to supply Solanco with a 28-13 cushion with 66 seconds left in the first half. Northern Lebanon's Zara Zerman almost single-handedly kept her team relatively close. She knocked down a three-pointer to end the Mules' spurt and went on to score her team's next 20 points. Zerman's three-pointer with 4:44 left in the game trimmed the deficit down to 43-33. But Solanco scored 14 of the game's final 17 points. "It was a good win," Solanco coach Chad McDowell said. "We played a good team. Northern Lebanon has the Zerman girl who is a good ballplayer, very solid, consistent player, who does good things on the court. It was a good test for us going into the holiday break. We needed to bounce back. We played a decent game on Wednesday night. just didn't get over the hump. We were up and they scored at the end. Didn't fall our way that night. It was good to bounce back." Aleksa Burger 12 and Grace Kreider each added 12 points. Jenna Dombach and Paige Phillips both supplied seven. "It's awesome, definitely," Burger said. "We put in a lot of hard work in the offseason and preseason, so it's just good to finally come together as a team and get a win. We definitely needed this one…It's a big confidence boost. We definitely needed this one, especially going into Christmas break." Solanco did not perform particularly poorly in consecutive losses to Elco and reigning state champion Lancaster Catholic, but a little something was missing. "We struggled with working together as a team a little bit, just with energy," Burger said. "But we had that [Friday night]." Both teams struggled a bit in the opening eight minutes, which ended with Northern Lebanon holding an 8-6 edge thanks to two three-pointers by Tabitha Hubbard. "We knew Number 30, the blonde point guard out on the wing, Hubbard, could shoot and she hit four and that was more than we expected her to hit," McDowell said. "We knew Zerman was going to get her points, either through penetration and getting to the rim or shooting the three. She's a rhythm jump shooter, and when she gets her feet set and gets in a rhythm, she makes her shots. We hoped to limit her to her average. She averages 16-18 points a game. She got 22, but we were able to contain everybody else." Solanco dictated the pace of play in the second quarter. "We had a rough first quarter," said McDowell. "Our defensive pressure in the second quarter sprung us to the lead. We like to get out and run, but you need to score points. We knew they would try to slow it down. That's the style they play. I thought we did a nice job pushing the tempo, getting in transition, had some balanced scoring. That always helps." A big part of Northern Lebanon's past success is a stifling man-to-man defense which creates turnovers. The Mules managed to protect the ball, in part because they have several talented guards. "It's a key knowing that I can put three, four, five, six girls out there who handle the ball against a team that plays up-in-your-face defense," McDowell said. "They're a good defensive team. they usually play solid man-to-man. they're coached real well on the defensive principles. They help well. they get in the passing lanes. It's nice to have guards that can handle and get to the rim. We were able to do that. We were able to isolate Jenna (Dombach) a little bit in the second half and she got to the rim more times than we did in the first half. Leks got some big steals and Jess hit shots and Grace hit shots." The Solanco girls and boys are both playing host to a holiday tournament this Friday and Saturday. The schedule: Friday, December 28 - 11 a.m. girls JV game, 12:30 p.m. boys JV game, 2 p.m. girls first round game Conestoga Valley vs. Red Lion, 4 p.m. boys first round game Conestoga Valley vs. Manheim Township, 6 p.m. girls first round Solanco vs. Penn Manor, 8 p.m. boys first round Solanco vs. Penn Manor. Saturday, December 29 - Times are the same except the girls consolation game is at 2 followed by the boys consolation game. The girls championship game is set for 6 followed by the boys title game. Comments are closed.
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