Lourdes edges Weatherly

WEATHERLY – One more run that’s all the Weatherly girls’ basketball team needed Thursday night to beat Lourdes Regional and the snowstorm.

The Wreckers got a split, but not the result they wanted.

Weatherly dropped a 50-48 Schuylkill League decision in a game that started and ended early to avoid the incoming snow.

“This would have been just great for our program,” said Weatherly coach Kevin Kringe. “Here we are going up against one of the great programs in the Schuylkill League, and we had them. I knew we needed to make another big run to kind of put a buffer between us, because every time we went up nine, they came back.”

Kringe remembered the score vividly. His team led 39-30 to open the final quarter. When the Red Raiders got an early Katie Sandri triple, Kringe knew his team could be in for trouble. And he was right.

Having the patience of Job is what Lourdes’ highly successful and long-time mentor Mike “Gish” Klembara teaches.

“We need patience, otherwise we could have been in trouble with their (aggressive) style of play,” said Klembara about the game plan. “They don’t have the big girl in the middle, so we didn’t want to get caught up the pace they wanted. We slowed it down and got it to work in our favor.”

As the final quarter inched closer to conclusion, Weatherly’s Megan Peifer hit a free throw that made it a 42-36, but it was the last Weatherly point for a while as Lourdes ran off 10 unanswered points to take a 46-42 lead with 1:17 to play.

The Red Raiders (5-1, 9-2) were making trips to the foul line where Lilly Bickel kept draining points, converting seven of 13 attempts. Down the stretch, Bickel was the game-changer.

“She had a great stretch at the end,” said Kringe. “We left her wide open and how that happens, I don’t know. Then they get the lead, and now we’re playing from behind.”

Yet there was still life and gas in the Weatherly tank. Emily Zoscin, who had another fantastic outing with 16 points, drained a pair of fouls, and Peifer also swished a pair, cutting the deficit to 48-46.

When Lourdes got only one free throw to fall on its next possession, the game was still within reach (49-46) with :25 remaining.

Grace Miller’s sweet kiss off the glass with :20 to play made it a one-point game. Weatherly (10-4, 4-3) had a couple of chances for the victory, but missed a pair of point blank shots. Meanwhile, Francis Czeponis connected on one more foul try with :02 left to set the final count.

“You know, the ball just didn’t fall for us,” said Kringe. “We really didn’t shoot the ball all that well tonight.”

SHOOTING STARS … Weatherly did indeed have troubles putting it in the cylinder going 17-for-56, while Lourdes converted 16-of-43.

INSIDE WOES … Even though Lourdes was taller, Weatherly scrapped for rebounds and finished with a 38-37 edge, with 13 of those coming from Zoscin. Teammate Tabitha Hinkle had seven rebounds before fouling out late in the game.

JV GAME ... The Weatherly JVs lost, 44-20. Skyler Provizzi sank 12 for the Wreckers.

LOURDES

Bickel 6-7-13-22, Sandri 4-0-0-9, Shimko 3-1-4-7, Czeponis 1-4-6-6, Coleman 2-1-1-6, Berezovske 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-13-245-50.

WEATHERLY

Zoscin 5-5-6-16, Hoffman 3-0-0-9, Peifer 2-3-4-7, T. Hinkle 2-1-2-6, James 2-0-0-4, Hernandez 2-0-0-4, Miller 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 17-9-12-48.

Lourdes 6 9 15 20 – 50

Weatherly 10 9 20 0 – 48

Three-pointers: L - Bickel 3, Sandri 1, Coleman 1. W - Zoscin 5.