BY JEFF FALK

NEW HOLLAND – ‘Are we having fun yet?’

It is not enough to simply remember the journey, no matter the destination. It is extremely important to take a step back, enjoy the moment and experience it – sense it, taste it, feel it.

The Lebanon Catholic girls’ basketball team genuinely seems to be enjoying the ride. No matter how much the Beavers’ latest moment tested their resolve to do so.

On Tuesday night at Garden Spot High School, Lebanon Catholic advanced to its third state championship game in program history, with a tense 41-37 triumph over Jenkintown in the Eastern Final. After they had dominated the entire way and led by as many as 14 points late in the third period, the Beavers were forced to hold off the Drakes, and hang on.

Ultimately, the Beavers got it done with their man-to-man defense, as they protected a 39-37 edge in the final six seconds by getting a finger on a Jenkintown inbound, scrambling for the resulting loose ball and then forcing a last-ditch air ball. Fittingly, Catholic junior Alexis Hill provided the game’s final points with free throws, with under a second to go, after she had missed front-ends of one-and-ones, 26 and 36 seconds earlier.

A three-pointer from Jenkintown’s Jennifer Kremp had made it a one-possession game with 29 ticks to go.

But missed free throws down the stretch – junior point Neesha Pierre also misfired on a front-end with a minute left – was just part of Lebanon Catholic’s difficulties. Jenkintown had hijacked the Beavers’ mojo when Hill was forced to the bench with foul trouble late in the third period.

“I think we’ve become very business-like,” said Lebanon Catholic head coach Patti Hower. “But I think they’ve (her players) been able to enjoy it.

“I don’t care who we play (in the state final),” continued Hower. “It’s been 22 years. This is a great group of kids. I want them to enjoy this. It’s a lifelong experience. We’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity.”

“This is a big deal for me,” said Hill. “I’m still in awe. It’s crazy. It’s been a good journey so far. I’m ready to go back to Giant Center. I just want to cry right now, I’m so happy.

“I can’t even imagine what it’s like,” Hill continued. “I’ve never even seen a state championship game. I can’t wait until Friday. I’m nervous already.”

The outcome was Lebanon Catholic’s eighth playoff triumph in-a-row and pushed its overall record to 24-7. The Beavers will take on District Six runner-up Juniata Valley, which downed Bishop Carroll, 46-33 in the Western Final, on Friday at noon at Hershey’s Giant Center, for the PIAA Class A championship.

Lebanon Catholic captured state gold in 1991-92 and 1994-95.

Jenkintown, the champions of District One, closed out its campaign at 25-6.

“They were stoic, but they weren’t panicking,” said Hower of  her players in the waning seconds. “We took those couple of time-outs. They switched on picks. They were very business-like. We were all business. It’s just a good win.

“How many times do I say, ‘We’ve got to make foul shots’,?” added Hower. “We’re not a good foul-shooting team. But it’s not like we don’t practice them. I think it might have been a little mental.”

“That’s hard,” said Hill of shooting free throws with the game on the line. “I try to block out the crowd and put the pressure aside. The first two times I couldn’t do that. The third time I did.

“It was stressful,” Hill added. “I’m just glad my team pulled through.”

Hill picked up her fourth foul with 1:40 of the third quarter remaining and went to the bench with the Beavers up 36-22. Lebanon Catholic did not score over the next 5:22  – until Hill netted a foul shot with 4:18 remaining.

During that time, the Drakes closed to within 36-31 of the lead. Two minutes later, Hill scored inside to push the Beavers’ advantage back to 39-34.

“We know what kind of player Alexis is,” said Hower. “When she goes out of the game, we’re not as strong. She can do it all. Neesha is now sort of out there by herself. They (her players) handled it well, but obviously we were out of sync without her. We were just letting it slip away.

“We wanted to take good shots,” Hower added. “They (the Drakes) had to take a lot of time off the clock, and that helped us. On the bench, I said, ‘If we can keep it (the lead) at ten, we’ll be OK.'”

“Once they got me out of the game, the momentum changed,” said Hill. “But the whole team was able to keep playing defense, and hold it down until I got back in there.”

Hill registered 13 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. Teammate Jasmine Turner notched eight points in the first half, but did not score in the second.

Lebanon Catholic finished seven-for-12 at the charity stripe.

“I thought we had a chance to get to the final,” said Hower. “I thought we were as good as anyone in the East. I would’ve been disappointed if we weren’t able to do it.”

“Since the first game, we’ve come a long way with chemistry,” said Hill. “We love to share the ball. There’s never a selfish moment. We play as a team, and it gets our offense going.”

With Hill notching four points, Turner knocking down a jumper and Pierre scoring on a drive, Lebanon Catholic opened an early 8-0 lead. Then the Beavers closed the opening quarter on a 7-2 run – Pierre converted a three-point play, Hill turned a steal into a lay-up and Turner canned another ‘J’ – to push their advantage to 17-8.

“I thought we played well  in the first half,” said Hower. “We ran the court well. We played good defense. We wanted to build on the lead.

“But it (the lead) went from 12 to five in a hurry,” she added.

“We like to get off to a fast start,” said Hill. “And we did that, from the first shot. But they (the Drakes) were still in it.”

The Beavers suffered through a score-less drought over the first 4:06 of the second period, as Jenkintown closed to within 17-13. But Hill tallied seven points, Turner drained a jumper and Jayden Shellehamer laid in a deuce, as Lebanon Catholic ended the period on an 11-3 burst, and with a 28-16 halftime margin.

“It took us a while to get the chemistry going on the court,” said Hower. “But I think we started picking that up. It takes a while. With those two state championship teams, it took four years to jell.

“We lost in the Eastern final three times,” continued Hower. “We’ve had some teams we felt like could’ve made it back (to the state championship game).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016-17 Lebanon Catholic Girls’ Basketball Results

Date	Opponents	Outcome
12/13 7:00 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Mahanoy Area	29 44
12/14 7:30 pm	Trinity at Lebanon Catholic	33 56
12/16 7:30 pm	Pequea Valley at Lebanon Catholic	35 62
12/17 6:00 pm	Christian School of York at Lebanon Catholic	12 62
12/19 7:30 pm	Northern Lebanon at Lebanon Catholic	42 45
12/21 7:30 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Elco	63 46
12/27 1:30 pm	Lebanon Catholic Marian Catholic	39 52
12/29 7:30 pm	Linden Hall at Lebanon Catholic	39 53
12/30 7:30 pm	Donegal at Lebanon Catholic	51 43
1/03 7:30 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Lancaster Mennonite	60 37
1/06 7:30 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Columbia	52 42
1/09 6:00 pm	Lititz Christian at Lebanon Catholic	22 71
1/10 7:30 pm	Lancaster Catholic at Lebanon Catholic	42 41
1/13 6:00 pm	Annville-Cleona at Lebanon Catholic	26 48
1/17 7:30 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Pequea Valley	75 50
1/20 7:30 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Northern Lebanon	31 44
1/24 7:30 pm	Elco at Lebanon Catholic	35 59
1/27 7:30 pm	Lancaster Mennonite at Lebanon Catholic	43 57
1/31 7:30 pm	Columbia at Lebanon Catholic	38 57
2/03 8:00 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Lancaster Catholic	39 49
2/06 6:00 pm	High Point Baptist at Lebanon Catholic	16 71
2/07 7:30 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Annville-Cleona	46 27
2/09 6:00 pm	Lebanon Catholic Cocalico at Warwick	43 42
2/11 7:00 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Cedar Crest	54 63
2/24 7:00 pm	Christian School of York at Lebanon Catholic	35 58
2/28 8:00 pm	Lebanon Catholic Linden Hall at Lower Dauphin	53 31
3/03 3:15 pm	Lebanon Catholic Halifax at Giant Center	55 27
3/11 6:30 pm	Galeton Lebanon Catholic at Warwick	29 53
3/16 6:00 pm	Faith Christian Lebanon Catholic at Tulpehocken	33 68
3/18 1:00 pm	Pottsville Nativity Lebanon Catholic at Hamburg Area H.S.	38 58
3/21 6:00 pm	Jenkintown Lebanon Catholic at Garden Spot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most Prolific Scorers in Lebanon Catholic Girls’ Basketball History 1. Becky Hower (2001) 2,445 points

Lebanon Catholic Girls’ Basketball: A History of Champions

PIAA Class A Championships

1994-95