Red Lion beats Central for YAIAA girls' title
The Red Lion girls' basketball team leaped into the air, screaming victoriously as the bench mobbed the court, excitement and relief taking over after the Lions captured their eighth league title since 2002.
After a seesaw final few minutes, the Lions earned a 35-34 win against Central York in the YAIAA tournament final.
Clutch free-throw shooting from Courtney Dimoff led to the Lions' victory. With the seconds ticking away and Red Lion trailing by one point, Dimoff tried to get into the lane for one last shot, but she was fouled in the process.
She stepped to the line and fired her first shot. It dropped. Her second shot did the same, and the Lions had the lead with 2.6 second remaining. In a last-ditch effort, Central York (22-3) heaved the ball down court, but Dimoff picked off the pass to end the game.
While Dimoff's late heroics sealed the win, Amy Maciejewski kept the Lions (23-2) in the game all night. The junior guard stepped up for Dimoff, who was held to seven points in the championship game and didn’t hit a shot from the field until the fourth quarter.
Maciejewski finished the night with 15 points for the Lions and shot 5-of-10 from the free-throw line.
“I was just driving to the basket hoping to get fouled,” Maciewjewski explained. "And when I didn’t get fouled I was just hoping to finish the shot.”
Especially in the first half, she helped fill the offensive gap and kept the Lions just one step in front of Central. Maciejewski's back-to-back jumpers early in the third quarter helped extend Red Lions lead to four.
And later in that same quarter when Central had pulled ahead, she hit a layup to bring the Lions backs within three points.
“(Amy) was the only one that was scoring for us,” Lions coach Don Dimoff said. “I was happy to see she stepped up and scored. She really did a great job attacking. She’s a good player.”
Central York's Nikson Valencik led all scorers with 16 points, and Saxton added 13. The Panthers open the District 3 Class AAAA tournament Tuesday as the No. 4 seed, hosting No. 20 Wilson (14-10).
The Lions will enjoy the league championship win — Courtney Dimoff’s first league title in her four years as a Red Lion starter — before they turn their attention to districts next week. No. 3 seed Red Lion hosts No. 14 Cedar Cliff (15-8) on Tuesday in the first round.
“We didn’t have school today so I’m planning on just partying it up,” Courtney Dimoff said with a smile.
Central York (34)
Nikson Valencik 5 6-7 16, Fabbri 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Emma Saxton 4 5-8 13, Williams 0 0-0 0, Sepic 0 2-2 2, Shellenberger 0 0-0 0, 0 0-0. Totals — 10 14-19 34.
Red Lion (35)
Wolf 0 0-0 0, Shepherd 1 1-3 4, Reba 0 2-2 2, Amy Maciejewski 5 5-10 15, Dimoff 2 3-4 7, Funke 1 0-0 2, Shingler 0 3-4 3, Harvey 1 0-0 2. Totals — 10 14-23 35.
Central York _ 6 _ 8 _ 16 _ 4 _ — _ 34
Red Lion _ 6 _ 10 _ 11 _ 8 _ — _ 35
3-point goals — RL 1 (Shepherd).
YAIAA tournament champions
2015 — West York
2014 — Dover
2013 — Dallastown
2012 — Red Lion
2011 — York Catholic
2010 — Red Lion
2009 — West York
2008 — York Catholic
2007 — York Catholic
2006 — Red Lion
2005 — Red Lion
2004 — Red Lion
2003 — Red Lion
2002 — Red Lion