Weatherly tops Golden Girls

POTTSVILLE – Chaotic nearly turned into calamity for Weatherly’s girls on Tuesday against Nativity.

The Wreckers appeared to have it in cruise control after bursting out to a commanding 18-point first quarter lead.

Everything was going Weatherly’s way early as it forced the Golden Girls into 11 first-quarter turnovers and built a lead that looked like it would be impossible to overcome.

And although an incredible comeback bid by Nativity certainly provided a little bit of torture and some upset stomachs among the Weatherly faithful, in the end the Wreckers proved resilient.

Turning to All-State guard Emily Zoscin, and snipper Lindsey Hoffman, the Wreckers had to hang on for dear life to advance to Class 1A District 11/2 subregional championship with a wild and frenzied 58-53 victory.

“It was totally chaotic,” said Weatherly coach Kevin Kringe. “That’s us. We like to create chaos. That’s our style. That’s the way we play.”

That style served the Wreckers well early, but in the end almost cost them.

“We started out really good with great intensity and playing the way we know how to play,” said Zoscin, who buried 26 points and was unstoppable early and late in helping to bail her team out of what seemed for a while like it could be an devastating defeat. “I wasn’t really worried. We’re very chaotic, but in a very good way.”

Despite the huge early deficit, Nativity never quit.

The Golden Girls incredible rally was capped with a 12-09 spurt to start the third quarter that gave them a 39-35 advantage with 4:15 to play in the third quarter. Nativity which still trailed 33-19 with 1:56 left before intermission, got rejuvenated on the wings of Kaitlyn Zemantauski, Samantha Heenan and Tori Hunyara.

But the Wreckers confidence never wavered.

“I really didn’t feel like there was any pressure,” said Zoscin. “I mean we knew that we could win this. We had to take it one play at a time. As long as we played our game, I knew we had this under control.”

That prevailed throughout the Weatherly team.

“I wasn’t going to let this get away,” said Hoffman, who scored 15 points, including four triples. “I want to keep playing. I wasn’t going to let this season come to an end.”

With Zoscin at the controls, and Megan Peifer and Abigail Hernandez making key contributions, Weatherly calmed the waters. When Zoscin kissed a shot off the glass and connected with two foul shots, Weatherly had fought back in front, 43-40 near the close of the third quarter.

Zoscin took command in the fourth quarter as her ballhandling and drives to the basket kept Weatherly ahead.

NO WORRIES … There was a lot of ice running through the veins of Zoscin, Peifer and Hoffman in the second half. Smooth play from Hinkle, Ashley James, and Grace Miller also played a huge role in the Wreckers win.

CHAMPIONS … WIth Susquehanna Community beating Salem Christian in the other D11/2 semifinal, it means that Weatherly is the District 11 champ for the second straight season. “I love coaching these girls, it’s been a great ride, back-to-back district champs, best team in school history, nothing could be better than that,” said Kringe.

NUMBERS … Nativity held a 37-21 rebounding edge. Allison Clarke had nine for her side. Shooting was good early for the Wreckers, who went 8-for-14 in the first quarter, while Nativity was 0-for-6. On the night, the Wreckers were 18-for-33 and Nativity 16-for-41. After 11 first-quarter turnovers, Nativity only had 10 the remainder of the way.

FOUL TROUBLE ... Weatherly had to overcome some severe foul trouble as three starters — Zoscin, Hoffman and Hinkle — were saddled with four fouls entering the fourth quarter. “We were in a really bad situation there,” said Kringe. “We went to our rover (delay) offense and put the ball in Emily’s hands. We couldn’t afford to lose anyone.”

NATIVITY

Hunyara 5-7-12-17, Zemantauski 6-2-5-15, Heenan 6-2-5-13, Stravinski 1-4-4-6, Dexter 0-1-2-1, Clarke 0-1-2-1, Fenstermacher 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-19-30-53.

WEATHERLY

Zoscin 7-11-17-26, Hoffman 5-1-2-15, Peifer 4-2-2-10, Hernandez 2-0-0-4, Hinkle 0-2-2-2, James 0-1-2-1, Miller 0-0-0-0, Provizzi 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-17-26-58.

Nativity 5 22 14 12 - 53

Weatherly 23 12 10 15 - 58

Three-pointers: Nativity - Zemantauski 1, Heenan 1; Weatherly - Hoffman 4, Zoscin 1.