By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Lindsey Welsh had the ball in her hands for nearly every possession of an efficient offensive effort by the Old Forge Lady Devils.
On the other end of the floor, she kept the ball out of the hands of what had been the game’s most effective offensive force.
The all-around contributions of the senior point guard led to her selection as the PNC Bank District 2 Girls Basketball Player of the Week following Old Forge’s 55-33 romp over Holy Cross in the district’s Class 2A championship game.
Welsh finished with 12 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds, but those numbers tell only part of the story.
Without a missed open layup by a teammate and fouls by Holy Cross that forced Old Forge to score from the foul line instead of close range, the assist total easily could have been doubled.
Welsh ran an offense that committed just four turnovers through three quarters while building a 41-26 lead.
“From last year, I was not under control at all and that was a big lesson for me,” said Welsh, who helped Old Forge avenge a loss in the same game a year ago. “Just coming in here calm, cool and collected was the biggest thing for me.
“ … I had a lot of turnovers and I wanted to make sure I cut that down to slim to none and make sure I did that for my team.”
As Old Forge coach Ron Stachiotti sees it, that is what Welsh does consistently for the team.
“That’s what she does,” he said. “She controls the whole floor for us.
“She’s smart. She knows the game. She controls everything for us.”
On defense, she played a major role in the team holding the Lady Crusaders to just one field goal for 14:21 of the second half when Old Forge put the game away with a 27-7 scoring margin.
Welsh helped control Kaci Kranson in that time. Kranson had 15 points less than 30 seconds into the second half, but just 3 the rest of the way.
NEPABasketball.com named Welsh a first-team Lackawanna League Division 3 all-star in both her sophomore and junior seasons. She surpassed 1,000 points for her career at Old Forge at a junior.
A JB Hoops Bucci AAU national team alum, Welsh recently committed to play at DeSales University, which is again in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III national tournament.
“I like the way they play – a lot of transition,” said Welsh, who plans to study biology and enter the physicians assistant program. “That’s my game.”
Welsh also visited the University of Rochester and strongly considered the University of Scranton.
Lindsey is the daughter of Paula Welsh of Old Forge.
Welsh’s teammate, Olivia Ciullo, and Taylor Huyck from Susquehanna also were considered for the award.
Ciullo had team-highs of 15 points and 8 rebounds in the district final.
Huyck led Susquehanna in scoring in all three games, combining for 46 points and becoming the school’s all-time leading career scorer. She helped the Lady Sabers go 2-1, win the District 2 Class A championship and clinch a state playoff berth with a second-place finish in the District 2-11 Subregional.
