Lancaster Catholic girls roll Audenried in PIAA opener
So far, the PIAA state tournament has offered a bit of déjà vu all over again for District 3 champion Lancaster Catholic.
After demolishing District 12 fourth-seed Audenried, 81-32, Saturday at Manheim Township High School, the Crusader girls advance into the Round-of-16 where they will face L-L League foe Northern Lebanon, a 43-30 winner over District 1 runner-up Villa Maria.
While Saturday’s victory is reminiscent of some of Lancaster Catholic’s regular season victories, the matchup versus the District 3 fifth-seed Vikings (27-3), who owe all three of their losses this season to the Crusaders (29-1), should also seem familiar as both teams met in the L-L tournament final as well as the District 3 quarters.
Those contests versus Northern Lebanon came down to the final quarter, however—a stark contrast to Saturday, when Catholic blitzed Audenried with a 16-0 game-opening run, then utilized a 35-7 second quarter to cruise into the next round.
Crusader’s freshman Kiki Jefferson (28 points) led the way, outscoring Kevin Slaughter’s crew by seven points in the first half while Audenried racked up 21 turnovers versus Lancaster Catholic’s pressure defense.
Also reaching double-figures for Lancaster Catholic were sophomore Lauren Mills and junior Julia Breit with 11 points each, the Crusaders getting 20 points from its deep rotation off the bench.
Senior starters Caroline Scarff (nine points) and Annaliese Schreder (two points) cracked the scorebook as well Saturday, as Charlie Detz’s squad looks to maintain the familiar versus Northern Lebanon on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.
Audenried, which was paced by senior Jaquay Williams with 13 points, ends its season with a 16-10 record.
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Lancaster Catholic 81, Audenried 32
Audenried (32)
Jaquay Williams 4 4-6 13, Denijsha Wilson 2 1-2 5, Tatyana Sao 2 0-0 4, Madison Keenan 0 3-4 3, Zinnia Wormack 1 1-2 3, Labriya Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 9-14 32.
Lancaster Catholic (81)
Kiki Jefferson 10 8-9 28, Julia Breit 5 1-2 11, Lauren Mills 4 2-5 11, Caroline Scarff 3 3-6 9, Crista Ricci 2 0-0 5, Molly Hackman 2 1-1 5, Peyton Jaquis 1 0-0 3, Helena Ramos 0 3-4 3, Annaliese Schreder 0 2-4 2, Corina Rivera 1 0-0 2, Lily Fritz 1 0-0 2, Heather Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 20-31 81.
UA _ 08 _ 07 _ 06 _ 11 _ — _ 32
LC _ 23 _ 35 _ 12 _ 11 _ — _ 81
3-Point Goals — UA 1 (Jaquay Williams); LC 3 (Lauren Mills, Peyton Jaquis, Crista Ricci)