Lilly Bleck converted a perfectly executed pick-and-roll off a ball screen at the high post into the winning basket with 5.8 seconds left Tuesday night to lift Blue Ridge to a 45-43 victory over visiting Old Forge in a District 2 Class 2A girls quarterfinal.
Blue Ridge trailed, 43-42, as it worked the ball in the half-court offense.
Bleck set a pick for Emma Button, who was dribbling the ball at the point.
When the defense concentrated on Button, the team’s leading scorer in the game with 15 points, Bleck slipped free, moving down the lane.
Button looped a pass over the defenders to Bleck for the winning layup.
Button added one of two free throws with six-tenths of a second left to complete the scoring.
Bleck and Libby Zick scored 12 points each.
The victory was the first in the postseason for Blue Ridge since 2017. The Lady Raiders had been outscored by an average of 60.7-12.7 in their three appearances since.
The loss ended Old Forge’s streak of five straight appearances in the district final.
Blue Ridge advances to play at top-seeded Holy Cross in Saturday’s semifinals.
Lackawanna Trail 56, Mountain View 20
Megan Gatto scored 17 points to lead Lackawanna Trail into a semifinal game at Lackawanna League Division 4 rival Elk Lake, which had a bye as the second seed.
Amaralis Thiel added 16 points and Mackenzie Schirg had 13.
The Lady Lions steadily built a 39-18 lead, then outscored the Lady Eagles, 17-2, in the fourth quarter.
Taylor Neri led Mountain View with seven points.
