Lady Bucks give divisional champions Neumann a fight in 55-48 road loss

By Bees O’Brien

WILLIAMSPORT- With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, not many teams in District IV 1A girls basketball are excited about potentially drawing Bucktail. Just in case MPC West Division Champions St. John Neumann had forgotten how good this Lady Bucks team was, Mak Wagner and company reminded them on Tuesday night in Williamsport.

Bucktail fought hard, especially behind their senior leader in Wagner and nearly knocked off the district’s second ranked team in a 55-48 road loss.

St. John Neumann would ride senior forward Lizzie Weller in the first quarter. Weller would score 8 of the Knights’ 16 points in the frame. Bucktail would manage 11 points to keep themselves in the contest. Weller would score 15 points on the night and grab her 500th career rebound.

Bucktail’s defense would tighten up in the second quarter and only allow Neumann to score 9 points, to their 8 points. Bucktail actually should have scored two more points in the quarter, but Mak Wagner’s layup with 1.1 seconds remaining in the half was waived off by the officials despite Wagner clearly beating the buzzer.

Up 25-19 at the break, a sense of urgency swept through the Neumann sideline. The Lady Bucks would keep fighting.

Neumann’s 12-11 third quarter advantage would have them up by just 7 at 37-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

Wagner would do everything in her power to lead her underdog squad to victory in the fourth quarter. Wagner would score 13 in the frame alone, but Gigi Parlante and Niah Tutler responded for the Knights.

Bucktail would win the quarter by a 19-18 count, but it wouldn’t be enough. Tutler and Parlante combined for 16 of their team’s 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Mak Wagner finished with a game-high 27 points, including 5 from beyond the arc. Three of those long balls would come in the fourth and final quarter.

Kendall Wagner also scored in double figures with 10 points.

Despite the loss, Bucktail (10-9) still holds the fourth and final home court spot in the upcoming District IV 1A playoffs. The Lady Bucks control their own destiny with three favorable opponents remaining on their schedule. That all begins with a home meeting with Montgomery (5-14) on Friday.

Bucktail will then host Columbia Montour Vo-Tech (0-17) on Monday and a battle with MPC East Division Champions Millville (9-10) on Wednesday in Farwell.

St. John Neumann (16-4) is poised to hold the number 2 spot in the upcoming District IV 1A tournament.

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Bucktail (48)

M. Wagner 10 2-4 27, English 2 1-2 5, Lowery 0 1-2 1, Halpate 0 0-0 0, Mason 1 1-2 3, Sockman 1 0-0 2, K. Wagner 4 1-4 10, TOTALS- 16 6-14 48

3FG- 6 (M. Wagner 5, K. Wagner)