Lady Tigers falls to Muncy in District playoffs
By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | February 19, 2020 | Photo courtesy The Home Page Network
For three quarters North Penn-Mansfield Girls Basketball team kept pace with Muncy. It was the 4th quarter that was the difference maker in a 49-39 loss on Tuesday, February 18.
"We got into a little foul trouble. In this game we had 4 kids foul out, you typically don't have 4 kids foul out, so the game was pretty physical," Tiger head coach Jason Dominick said afterwards. "They made a ton of free throws down the stretch, that's what stretched the game out. If you're going to have teams shoot 15-20 free throws in a quarter you're not going to be successful. I will say I'm super proud of the kids, we dind't quit. Our kids battled and they didn't stop. They fought until the end but Muncy is a good team so I wish them luck."
Mansfield started out with an early lead on a 3-pointer from Lizzi Welch, but early foul trouble would force Coach Dominick to go to his bench. The Lady Tigers held Muncy's offense in check through the first 3 quarters, trailing 14-13 after the 1st, 25-23 at the half, and 31-29 after the 3rd. The 4th quarter was a different story as the Lady Indians broke open their two-point lead, while getting Mansfield into further foul trouble. At the end of the game 4 Lady Tiger starters fouled out while Muncy went to shoot 39 foul shots, 18 of which came over the final 8 minutes.
Jaime Palmer led the Lady Tigers, and all scorers on the night, with 16 points. Welch finished with 8, JoAnne McNamara scored 6, Shaelyn Berguson added 5 off the bench, and Hannah Bowens rounded out the scoring with 4 points and added 5 rebounds.
Bell Hitesman led Muncy with 13 points.
The loss ends the Lady Tigers' season with a 14-10 overall record and a 2nd place finish in the NTL Small School Division (9-7). Muncy faces top-seeded Mount Carmel in the semi-finals at a place and time to be determined.
Ed Weaver is the owner of Circle W Sports in Wellsboro, PA, is the Sports Director for The Home Page Network and the creator of WellsboroAthletics.com and WellsboroFootball.com. You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.
