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Red Lion brings the Funke to beat Dallastown


Red Lion’s Taylor Funke couldn’t recall ever scoring 10 points in a quarter before, adding, “If I did, I don’t remember it. Maybe in the youth days.”

But it happened for Funke on Friday night at Dallastown. The senior scored the first two baskets of the game and finished the opening period with 10. It got the Lions, and they never looked back.

Funke finished with a game-high 12 points, which combined with Red Lion's patented defense to pave the way to a 49-33 win.

“I definitely needed to finish more. I haven’t been finishing well around the basket,” Funke said. “But the atmosphere in the locker room beforehand — we were all very confident, and I think that confidence kind of pushed me.”

“I thought (Funke) and Natalie (Reba) both got us a really nice spark getting us off in the beginning of the game, then everybody else just went along with it,” Lions coach Don Dimoff said.

He was pleased by his team's execution at both ends of the floor, particularly on defense where Red Lion (16-1, 9-0 YAIAA Division I) shut out the Wildcats (3-12, 2-7) in the first quarter.

Dimoff said the team benefited from practice after a couple of weeks of constant games.

“We worked really hard the last couple days defensively, both in the half and full court,” he said. “We had a chance to get two days of practice in, and we just went back and cleaned things up. I thought we did a much better job tonight. That resembled defense from years gone by.”

Funke dropped in three layups, and Kami Harvey added a hook shot to help Red Lion open an 8-0 lead midway through the first.

Using a motion offense, the patient Lions passed exceptionally well, recording assists on eight of their first 11 field goals. Red Lion built a 14-0 lead after one, an advantage that grew to 21-0 after Amy Maciejewski converted a pass from Reba.

“Thought we did a great job of moving the ball,” Dimoff said. “We haven’t run that offense a ton this year, but we did a nice job with it. We got a lot of movement, a lot of passing and took what the defense gave us. The nice thing is the team is so unselfish.”

Finally, Dallastown freshman Samantha Miller put back an offensive rebound, getting her team on the board with 4:35 left in the first half. Miller added a jumper the next time down the floor and finished with a team-high eight points off the bench.

Fellow freshman Lily Jamison pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, although the Lions finished with a 42-27 edge on the glass.

Red Lion 49, Dallastown 33

Red Lion (49)

Johnson 0 0-0 0, Wolf 0 0-0 0, Klunk 1 0-0 2, Shepherd 1 3-3 6, Reba 3 0-2 7, Maciejewski 1 6-6 8, Kocman 0 0-0 0, Dimoff 2 2-2 6, Taylor Funke 6 0-1 12, J. Shingler 0 0-0 0, P. Shingler 2 0-2 4, Harvey 2 0-0 4. Totals — 18 11-16 49.

Dallastown (33)

Anders 0 0-0 0, Coyne 1 1-2 4, Sutton 1 3-4 6, Brockway 0 0-0 0, Gettle 0 2-2 2, Stough 2 1-2 5, Robinson 2 0-0 4, Samantha Miller 4 0-0 8, Jamison 0 4-6 4. Totals — 10 11-16 33.

Red Lion _ 14 _ 16 _ 11 _ 8 _ — _ 49  

Dallastown _ 0 _ 7 _ 13 _ 13 _ — _ 33  

3-point goals — RL 2 (Shepherd, Reba); Dt 2 (Coyne, Sutton).

JV game —  Dallastown 35, Red Lion 29