Eagles rally past Lehighton girls

Blue Mountain had a game plan — and it executed that plan to perfection.

The Eagles wanted to be patient, and if that meant seven or more passes before taking a shot, that was fine.

The game plan worked, as Blue Mountain posted a 43-34 conquest over Lehighton on Saturday at Northern Lehigh High School in the District 11 Class 4A quarterfinals.

The loss ended the season for a senior-dominated Indian team that had superb results for first-year coach Joe Berezwick.

“I never felt comfortable with the rhythm,” said Berezwick. “We’re a moving, running team. Give Blue Mountain credit, they were very patient. Down the stretch, they took advantage of their opportunities.”

When terrific guard Skylynn Faust buried a triple from the corner to start the fourth quarter, Lehighton was up 29-25 and looked ready to explode. Momentum felt like it was on Lehighton’s side.

“We’re a pretty resilient ballclub,” said highly-successful Blue Mountain coach Ruth Weidman. “We pretty much stayed with it.”

Weidman was referring to the Faust triple and how her team didn’t fold the tent.

What the Eagles did was outscore Lehighton 11-2 over a three-plus minute stretch to take control of the game.

“It’s pretty tough to beat a team three times, let alone a Ruth Weidman-coached team,” offered Berezwick, whose team had won two Schuylkill League Division I games against Blue Mountain this season.

Faust without question was the fulcrum for the Indians. She was stellar throughout, finishing with a game-high 21 points.

Blue Mountain knew that Faust was going to get her points, but what Weidman did was design a game plan to shut down the other four players.

“You design a game-plan and you work with it. That’s basketball, and we responded,” said Weidman.

Faust poured in seven of her team’s 10-first-quarter points, and proceeded to punch home the first six points of the second period to help spur her team to a 20-18 halftime lead.

All Blue Mountain was trying to attain was to stay close until the stretch run. Once the final eight minutes kicked in, the Eagles were turning to their inside rebounding duo of Rachel Lukacz and Zara Albertini, who combined for 14 boards, and had seven and five points, respectively.

When Faust did a near-360 off a drive for two and a 31-30 Lehighton lead with 5:38 to play, the Eagles started to set sail.

Erin McQuilan fueled the rally with back-to-back buckets, Albertini, Emily Fasnacht and Lukacz all followed with baskets for a 40-33 lead with 1:34 to play.

Lehighton didn’t have an answer.

“Our seniors set the bar high,” said Berezwick. “Today was a tough day for four seniors. I told the underclassmen that our seniors have set the bar high … now it is their turn.”

END OF THE LINE … Taking a final curtain call for the Indians were, Faust, Julia Frey, Aubrey Blasiak and Thera Hibbler.

QUOTEABLE … “Baskets were hard to come by… we just went cold,” Berezwick said about the final eight minutes.

IRONY … The Eagles (14-9) will play Bethlehem Catholic. The Indians finish the season 15-9.

BLUE MOUNTAIN

Dean 2-5-7-9, McQuilan 3-3-4-9, Fasnacht 3-0-0-7, Lukacz 2-3-5-7, Albertini 2-1-2-5, Martin 1-0-0-3, Pishock 0-3-5-3. TOTALS: 13-15-23-43.

LEHIGHTON

Faust 7-6-8-22, Blasiak 0-5-9-5, Miller 1-1-2-3, Frey 2-0-0-4, Brown 0-0-0-0, Hibbler 0-0-0-0, Pantella 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 10-12-14-34.

Blue Mountain 10 8 7 18 - 43

Lehighton 10 10 6 8 - 34

Three-pointers: Blue Mountain - Martin 1, Fasnacht 1. Lehighton - Faust 2.