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Red Lion girls advance to tournament final


Red Lion began the season tight. As in, it couldn't hit a shot from the floor.

In the opening seven minutes of the game, Red Lion didn't convert a single field goal.

And then all of those offensive struggles just faded away in the second quarter. During the eight-minute stretch, Red Lion went from trailing to in command. It put away Manheim Township, 51-36, in the nightcap of Red Lion's tip-off tournament.

Red Lion hit almost 50 percent of its shots in the pivotal quarter (shooting 6-of-13), which would have been troublesome if that's all Manheim Township had to deal with in the quarter. But Red Lion (1-0) also forced the Blue Streaks (0-1) to commit nine turnovers. And Red Lion hit four 3-pointers.

The Lions started the quarter trailing by four points, and they ended the quarter leading by 10.

"I think we can be as good as any team as I've had in a long time," Red Lion coach Don Dimoff said.

That could be trouble for District 3 considering Dimoff is entering his 22nd season ... and he owns a couple of district gold medals... and he has taken a team to the state final four.

The reason for the high expectations include the return of senior guard Courtney Dimoff (19 points) with talented guard Amy Maciejewski (14 points) helping run the offense. Seniors Taylor Funke and Kami Harvey are also healthy after recovering from ACL surgeries.

Although the Lions took a bunch of 3-pointers (25), they made some big shots. And they utilized the frantic Red Lion press that has been a hallmark of the Lions' best teams.

The Lions can expect a challenge in the tournament title game tonight, however, since Central Dauphin East earned a 69-49 victory against Red Land in the opening game. Expected to contend for the District 3 title, CD East rolled behind 20 first-half points by Justyn Roberts as the Panthers used height and speed to dominate.

"We have really high expectations and we want to go far," Harvey said. "I think this will be really good for us. It will let us know what we need to work on. I think it's going to be a great matchup."

Red Lion 51, Manheim Township 36

Manheim Township (36)

Olivia Matto 4 2-2 12, Newcomer 2 4-4 9, Hickey 2 2-2 6, Baldassarre 2 2-2 6, Hinnenkamp 0 2-2 2, Moore 0 1-2 1, McKnight 0 0-0 0, Beitzel 0 0-0 0, . Totals — .

Red Lion (51)

Courtney Dimoff 7 2-3 19, Amy Maciejewski 4 4-5 14, Sheperd 2 0-0 5, Wolf 2 0-0 4, Reba 2 0-0 4, P. Shingler 2 0-0 4, Funke 0 1-2 1, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Klunk 0 0-0 0, J. Shingler 0 0-0 0, Harvey 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 7-10 51.

Manheim Township _ 10 _ 6 _ 4 _ 16 _ — _ 36

Red Lion _ 6 _ 20 _ 12 _ 13 _ — _ 51

3-point goals — Manheim Township 3 (Matto 2, Newcomer 1). Red Lion 6 (Dimoff 3, Maciejewski 2, Sheperd 1).

CD East 69, Red Land 49 

Red Land (49)

Bella Ricci 6 5-8 18, Rileigh Devine 3 8-9 14, Bell 2 1-2 6, Cramer 1 2-6, 4, Kosovac 2 0-0 4, Walter 1 0-0 3, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Kishbaugh 0 0-0 0. Totals — 15 16-25 49.

CD East (69)

Justyn Roberts 11 2-4 24, Marissa Butts 3 4-6 10, J. Rawls 4 0-0 8, Pettis 3 1-1 7, Boyer 3 0-0 6, A. Rawls 3 0-0 6, Peterson 1 1-1 3, Green 1 0-0 2, Little 1 0-2 2, Marcedo 0 1-2 1, Stokes 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 0-0 0, Sneeringer 0 0-0 0. Totals — 30 9-16 69.

Red Land _ 13 _ 9 _ 13 _ 14 _ — _ 49

CD East _ 16 _ 23 _ 17 _ 13 _ — _ 69

3-point goals — Red Land 3 (Ricci 1, Walter 1, Bell 1). CD East 0.