LEHMAN TWP. – The Lake-Lehman girls set their goals high, hoping to add a district championship or Mohegan Sun Arena appearance to the two titles they won in the Wyoming Valley Conference.
In a stacked bracket, however, the Lady Knights never lost sight of the fact that District 2 had three Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament berths in Class 4A this season.
That perspective may have helped create the quick reset after a semifinal loss that Lake-Lehman used to put together a strong performance Tuesday night with the state berth on the line, handling visiting Nanticoke, 55-33, in the district’s third-place game.
“We talked about,” Lake-Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said of Saturday’s 44-28 loss at four-time defending champion Scranton Prep. “We know that Scranton Prep is a very good team and we didn’t play to our potential either.
“So, we just said, ‘let’s get back on the wagon tonight and get to the state tournament’. They really bought into it. They were ready to play.”
Lake-Lehman opened a 20-6 lead after one quarter and placed three scorers and a rebounder in double figures.
“I thought we were ready to go right from the get-go,” Lavan said. “We were a little herky-jerky and missed some shots in the second quarter, but we more than made up for it in the third and fourth quarters.”
The Lady Knights pushed the lead to 30 points and the Mercy Rule before the Trojanettes cut into the final margin.
Ella Wilson hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter and had seven points in the third quarter when Lake-Lehman stretched its 26-11 halftime lead to 41-18. The freshman guard finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
Claire Dougherty had eight points in the first quarter on the way to 14 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Brenna Hunt added 11 points.
Hailey Kline chipped in with 8 points and 12 rebounds.
Lia Keefe had five points and four assists.
The Lake-Lehman defense held Nanticoke to one 3-pointer until the Trojanettes hit four in the fourth quarter.
Claire Aufiero led Nanticoke with 13 points and Riley Baird added 10. Brooklyn Biehl had seven points.
Lake-Lehman (20-4) will hit the road to play the District 3 runner-up, either Delone Catholic (25-1) or Berks Catholic (21-5) in the March 9 state opener.
“Naturally, we always want to win the district, but we were very realistic,” Lavan said of his Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 and overall champions. “In order to get to the state tournament, we had a 20-win season and we’re very satisfied with that.”
Nanticoke finished 13-12.
