Neumann drops Lady Bucks in Mid Penn action
By Bees O’Brien
FARWELL- St. John Neumann entered their Wednesday night Mid Penn Conference road trip to Bucktail sitting at third place in the current District IV 1A standings, while the Lady Bucks currently held the six spot. With January rolling around, the time for jockeying for playoff positions has begun and Neumann was well aware of it and was aware of their opponents’ capabilities.
Gigi Parlante, Nia Tutler and Lizzy Weller made an impact at Bucktail and made sure that the final was never in doubt. Parlante would lead the way on the inside with 22 points and her front court partner Weller would chip in 9 points. Tutler was as smooth as ever on Wednesday night by scoring 17 points.
Neumann jumped out to a 12-3 lead after one quarter. The Lady Bucks struggled from the field early and often with Matti Mason’s three-point basket being their only score in the quarter.
St. John Neumann would shadow Bucktail’s leading scorer Mak Wagner throughout the first half. Neumann held Wagner to just a single basket in the first half. Those two points wouldn’t come until 30 seconds remained in the first half.
The Lady Knights led 25-8 at the break, but Bucktail proved they could hang against a team that made it to the state quarterfinals a season ago.
Mak Wagner and sister Kendall began to take over in the third quarter. Bucktail would outscore Neumann 13-11 in the third quarter and played the visitors even at 19-19 in the final quarter. Their efforts would fall short as Neumann would hold on for the 55-40 win.
Mak Wagner led Bucktail with 16 points, while Kendall Wagner ended her night with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double effort.
Neumann improved to 6-4 on the season. Bucktail fell to 4-5 on the year.
The Lady Bucks will next be in action when they head to Potter County on Monday to take on Austin.
Neumann 12 13 11 19 – 55
Bucktail 3 5 13 19 – 40
Bucktail (40)
M. Wagner 7 0-0 16, K. Wagner 10 2-7 12, English 0 1-2 1, Lowery 2 0-0 4, Halpate 0 0-2 0, Mason 2 0-0 5, Stone 1 0-0 2, Sockman 0 0-0 0, TOTALS 22 3-11 40
3FG 3 (M. Wagner 2, Mason) Rebounds-34 (K. Wagner 10) Assists- 4 (M. Wagner 2) Steals-9 (Lowery 4, M. Wagner 4) Blocks- 2 (K. Wagner, M. Wagner)
