HAZLE TWP. — Bella Boylan made a 3-point shot to finish the first quarter on Friday night, putting Holy Redeemer ahead by five points.
Loyalsock wasn't concerned.
“To be honest, we felt really good after the first quarter,” said Loyalsock coach Curtis Jacobson. “It's hard to feel really good being down 9-4, but at the start of the game we defended them for a minute and a half. We thought that holding them to nine points in a quarter would make us feel good.”
Loyalsock did just that and the Dadzie sisters stepped up the offense as the Lancers ended Redeemer’s season with a 51-34 win in a PIAA Class 3A girls basketball state quarterfinal game at Hazleton Area.
District 4 runner-up Loyalsock (27-3) will play District 3 champion Lancaster Catholic (24-2) in the semifinals on Monday. District 2 champion Redeemer finished its season at 23-6.
Redeemer came into Friday’s game after its best offensive performance of the season in a 73-41 win over York Catholic in the second round. The Royals ended their season with one of their worst offensive performances.
“It just wasn't our night tonight,” Redeemer coach John Jezorwski said. “The ball just didn't go in the basket. In another game, the ball goes in the basket for us. We knew we needed to score points in transition, and I don't think we scored two transition points all game.”
Brooke Kroptavich was the only Redeemer player to reach double figures with 11 points. Megan Albrecht had seven.
Redeemer had only five field goals in the second and third quarters as Loyalsock outscored the Royals 35-18 in the middle quarters. In contrast, Alaina Dadzie and Izzy Dadzie each had six baskets for Loyalsock in those periods.
Alaina Dadzie finished with 22 points. Izzy Dadzie had 15. Both sisters were also strong on the boards. Alaina Dadzie had 11 rebounds while Izzy Dadzie had 10.
Redeemer narrowed the gap to 28-21 in the middle of the third quarter, but Loyalsock responded with a 9-2 run, ending any chance of a comeback for the Royals.
“I don't think their (defensive) pressure hurt us,” Jezorwski said. “The whole game was just a struggle.”
The win gave Loyalsock its fifth victory over a Wyoming Valley Conference opponent this season.
PIAA Class 3A Quarterfinals
Loyalsock 51, Holy Redeemer 34
LOYALSOCK (51) — Ellis 0 2-2 2, Kriebel 1 2-2 5, Kennedy 1 1-3 3, I.Dadzie 6 3-3 15, A.Dadzie 9 4-6 22, A.Luxenberger 0 0-0 0, Harden 1 2-2 4, Melito 0 0-0 0, Zajack 0 0-0 0, Sewell 0 0-3 0, Wertz 0 0-0 0, Bastian 0 0-0 0, M.Luxenberger 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-21 51.
HOLY REDEEMER (34) — Albrecht 2 3-4 7, Boylan 2 0-0 5, Kroptavich 3 4-4 11, Racicky 2 1-2 5, Corridoni 1 0-0 2, Chimock 0 2-2 2, Parsons 1 1-2 3, Khoudary 0 0-0 0, Lombardi 0 0-0 0, Pekarovsky 0 0-0 0, Quinn 0 0-0 0, Gilchrist 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 11-14 34.
Loyalsock`4`18`17`12 — 51
Holy Redeemer`9`9`9`7 — 34
Three-point goals — LOY 1 (Kriebel). HR 1 (Boylan).
