BY JEFF FALK

 FREDERICKSBURG – They’ve been there before. They’ll certainly get there again.

 But right now, the Northern Lebanon girls’ basketball team isn’t where it’s supposed to be, where it needs to be.

 On Friday night, the Vikings’ offense was downright offensive, during a 43-34 home setback to a solid Lampeter-Strasburg club. Northern Lebanon struggled mightily to score the basketball, during an extended stretch of time during the middle of the second half.

 The Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three-Four crossover served as the league opener for Northern Lebanon, which plummeted to 1-3 overall with its third straight loss. It’s still early and no one is panicking.

 The result moved Lampeter-Strasburg to 3-1 on the year.

 “They’re all important,” said Northern Lebanon interim head coach Chris Battistelli, who was standing in for his brother, Ken. “We’re trying to become a good team right now. We have to have a lot of kids playing primary roles. We’re having really good halves, but we’ve got to have four good quarters.

 “We lost to Palmyra. We lost to Lampeter-Strasburg. We lost to West Perry on the road,” continued Battistelli. “All we’re trying to do is take the next step. Once we take the next step, we’re going to be good enough to do what we need to do.”

 Following a competitive first half, the Vikings struggled through a scoring drought of epic proportions, one which doomed their fate.

  Northern Lebanon was sitting on a 26-23 cushion four minutes into the second half, thanks to a free throw from freshman Ashyln Messinger, before it endured a 10:13 scoreless period. The drought ended with 2:06 to go, with a Zara Zerman driving lay-in, but by that time the Pioneers were up 35-26.

 The closest the Vikings would come the rest of the way was 37-30, on a Messinger bucket with 34 ticks left.

 “It’s happened to us quite a bit,” said Battistelli. “We’ve had some scoring droughts. As the game goes along, it seems like our attitude changes and we get away from the mindset of doing the things that make us successful. We have to always do the right thing, over and over again.

 “It definitely hurts,” added Battistelli. “We just need to play better when we get a little tired. We’re definitely going to work on it and we’re definitely going to get better. We’re not far off.”

 With 15 points, Zerman led the Northern Lebanon offense. Her output represented more than 44 percent of the Vikings’ point total.

 Lampeter-Strasburg drained six three-point field goals and the Pioneers outscored Northern Lebanon 18-6 from beyond the arc.

 “Zara’s job is to be our stud,” said Battistelli. “We definitely lean on her, especially until our other kids get the confidence to score. And she wants to be leaned on.

 “I thought we played well enough defensively to win,” Battistelli continued. “For the most part, we did well defensively. But there were times when we didn’t have communication. For the most part, we did a pretty good job. We stopped the penetration really well.”

 Most of the opening quarter was back and forth. That was before the Vikings went inside for lay-ups from RaeAnn Lessing and Zerman to grab a 15-12 edge.

  “We had a great first half,” said Battistelli. “Lampeter-Strasburg was making every ‘three’. You can’t go a whole game making ‘threes’ like that.

 “In the second half, maybe it gets a little more tense,” Battistelli added. “We started to dribble more and our heads went down. We need a little more experience playing the right way, during pressure time.”

 Emily Hauck and Emma Kelliher connected on free throws, and Zerman scored on a tough ‘take’ to the rim, as the Vikings took a four-point lead to the break. And when Lessing dropped in a bucket 13 seconds into the third quarter, Northern Lebanon had its largest advantage of the evening, at 25-19.

 “I don’t believe so,” said Battistelli, when asked if the temporary coaching change affected his charges. “The girls know how we do it here. I’ve definitely got a weaker mind than my brother, but I have the same intensity, and the girls respond to me.”

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2018-19 Northern Lebanon Girls’ Basketball Schedule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2018-19 Northern Lebanon Girls’ Basketball Roster

No.	Name	Year		Position
31	Isabella Aiello	Jr.		F G
20	Jessica Courneya	Jr.		F
15	Emily Hauck	So.		G
30	Tabitha Hubbard	Jr.		G
21	Emma Kelliher	Sr.		G
34	RaeAnn Lessing	Sr.		F
12	Chloe McCoy	Jr.		G
24	Lindsay McFeaters	Jr.		F
13	Ashlyn Messinger	Fr.		G
25	Rachel Papson	So.		F
41	Avery Via	Sr.		F
22	Zara Zerman	Jr.		G