By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
Holy Cross made it to the top of District 2 Class 2A two years ago when Abbey Lentowski was a sophomore, but Old Forge prevented a repeat last season.
The Lady Crusaders made it to the second round of the state tournament last year before being stopped by Linden Hall.
Lentowski wanted more before finishing her high school career.
“We had a chip on our shoulder from last year,” Lentowski said after scoring a game-high 21 points to lead Holy Cross past Old Forge, 59-38, Friday in the third straight district championship game meeting between the two. “We all wanted this. We want to go back down to Linden Hall to play them again and I’ve wanted another district medal before I graduated.”
Lentowski got her district gold medal. Holy Cross earned its rematch with Linden Hall, only to end up receiving a forfeit into the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state quarterfinals when the District 3 champions had to drop out because they entered quarantine for COVID-19.
For her role in the two wins that lifted the Lady Crusaders to the title, Lentowski is the latest Brucelli Advertising District 2 Girls Basketball Player of the Week.
Lentowski, who became a 1,000-point career scorer earlier this season, had 20 points in a 71-45 semifinal victory over Lackawanna Trail that was also part of her selection for the week ending March 14.
“We came out a little slow that game because we had been off with everything with COVID-19 and having to be tested,” Lentowski said. “But, once we got together, we used our transition offense to our advantage and we rebounded very well that game.”
The same traits were part of the championship game victory.
Lentowski said she could sense early in the game that her team was ready to secure the title.
“A few minutes in when I felt the energy the team was giving,” Lentowski said, “we knew it. We had this and we kept it the whole game.”
Lentowski helped Holy Cross win the rebounding battle with a team-high seven and shared the team lead with three steals. She was 8-for-13 from the floor, 1-for-2 on 3-pointers and 4-for-5 from the line.
In addition to her four years in a prominent role on the basketball team, Lentowski was also a four-year starter at midfield on the school’s soccer team. She was a second-team NEPABasketball.com Lackawanna League Division 3 all-star as a junior and also earned second-team, division all-star honors in soccer as a senior.
Outside of the high school seasons, Lentowski also played on the Electric City Surge AAU basketball team.
Lentowski plans to continue her academic and athletic careers at Immaculata University. She will study pre-law and criminal justice while playing basketball.
Abbey is the daughter of Andrew and Tricia Lentowski of Covington Township.
Vanessa Luna from Wilkes-Barre Area and Rachael Rose from Scranton Prep were the other players considered for the award.
Luna was the leading scorer in both the semifinal and final as the Wolfpack won the District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional title in the program’s second season. She had 13 points in a 42-37 overtime victory over Williamsport in the semifinal, then took over in the second half of the championship game at the arena, finishing with 21 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Luna was 7-for-10 from the floor while scoring 17 of the team’s 26 second-half points in the 47-33 victory over Hazleton Area.
Rose came back from an ankle injury that led to her sitting out the entire second half and finishing scoreless in the quarterfinal. In two games during the week, she had 30 points to help Scranton Prep win its fourth straight District 2 Class 4A title with the three-time, all-state selection in a leading role. Rose had 18 points, 4 assists and 3 steals to lead the way in the 51-25 championship game victory over Berwick. In the semifinals, she had 12 points, 7 assists and 3 steals in a 51-30 win over Lake-Lehman.
