Lancers make sure York can't pull another upset

Posted February 23, 2009 10:00 pm

Kevin Schmit

After watching two heavy favorites fall to York last week, Lake Park's girls basketball team was determined not to become upset victim No. 3.

Dominating the final three quarters, the third-seeded Lancers cruised to a 60-36 victory over No. 18 York in Monday's Class 4A Addison Trail sectional semifinals.

Lake Park (26-5) advances to Thursday's sectional final to face top-seeded and unbeaten Geneva, which beat Elk Grove 66-57. The Lancers will vie for their first sectional title since 2003 while Geneva (30-0) plays for its first.

"We knew they were beating teams that were seeded higher, so we weren't underestimating them at all," said Lancers senior Samantha Arnold, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds. "We came in ready to play like any game."

York - which hit 16 3-pointers in regional wins over No. 2 Hoffman Estates and No. 7 Bartlett - hit 5 first-quarter 3s while taking a 17-16 lead. Courtney Owens, who scored 21 points, hit four of her five 3s in the period.

When Lake Park switched from zone to man defense, however, the perimeter shooting disappeared for the Dukes (13-18). The Lancers limited York to 5-of-30 shooting over the final three quarters.

Leading by 8 at the half and 47-34 after three quarters, Lake Park scored the first 6 points of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Jenna Aloia added 12 points and Carly Willert scored 11 for the Lancers.

"It hurts right now, but we're proud of what we did," Owens said. "We had some really good looks that we just couldn't get to drop."

BOX SCORE

Lake Park 60, York 36

Lake Park - Aloia 3 5-6 12, Arnold 8 4-4 22, Clark 0 1-2 1, Willert 4 1-2 11, Johnston 3 1-1 7, Drozdowski 0 0-0 0, Ryba 0 1-2 1, Gieseke 1 2-2 4, Danek 1 0-0 2, Spejcher 0 0-0 0, McNeela 0 0-0 0, Hahn 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 15-19 60.

York - Matsas 0 1-2 1, Heuser 2 1-2 5, Cripe 2 0-0 5, Owens 6 4-6 21, 1 0-0 3, Silver 0 0-0 0, Bianchi 0 1-2 1, Klein 0 0-0 0, Moriarty 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 7-12 36.

Lake Park 16 16 15 13 -60

York 17 7 10 2 -36

3-point baskets: LP: Arnold 2, Willert 2, Aloia; Y: Owens 5, Cripe, Colon.

Fouled out: None.

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