Lady Bucks get rematch with top-seeded Meadowbrook Christian Saturday
By Bees O’Brien
FARWELL- For one quarter on Tuesday night, the entire District IV 1A girls’ playoff field was on the edge of their seats. Dominating and defending district champions Meadowbrook Christian was down 11-10 to 8-seed NP-Liberty. The Lady Lions would respond with an 18-8 and 16-4 middle quarter effort to fend off the pesky Lady Mounties.
Bucktail’s scare lasted a lot longer than head coach Suellen Wagner and her Lady Bucks would have liked. Bucktail would eventually outlast MPC East Champions Millville to advance to a semifinal meeting with Meadowbrook Christian in a rematch from earlier this season.
Bucktail would lead 12-10 after one quarter, but the Lady Lions would turn things up an escape Farwell with a 44-32 win.
This battle won’t be in Farwell, but on a neutral site at Loyalsock High School, following the Bucktail boys’ clash with Norry Christian. Both Bucktail games will be video streamed on The Record Online.
How They Got Here
Meadowbrook continued their quest for another district title by downing NP-Liberty 53-34 in Milton on Wednesday night. Kailey Devlin led the Lady Lions with 19 points in the win.
Mak Wagner’s 22-point night helped send the Lady Bucks to only their second semifinal in program history in a nailbiting 48-47 win over Millville.
Key Players
Mak Wagner has led Bucktail in scoring all season long. The Lady Bucks senior has showed unbelievable toughness down the stretch, especially in her last two outings against an extremely physical Millville team. Her sister Kendall has become the complete package for Bucktail. Kendall Wagner continued to own the paint against Millville with another double-double. Her 10 points and 10 rebounds were a huge part of Bucktail’s comeback win and she can also step out and hit big threes when needed.
Lola English played solid defense on Devlin in the first meeting by holding her to just 14 points. She will more than likely be tasked with the toughest assignment in the game again.
Eva Sockman could possibly be the biggest x-factor for Bucktail. Sockman sparked Bucktail’s rally in the quarterfinals by scoring 9 points and grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds. Matti Mason, the Lady Bucks third leading scorer was dynamite from the charity stripe against Millville.
Kailey Devlin must be contained if the Lady Bucks have a shot at stunning the Lady Lions. Devlin enters the contest averaging nearly 16 points per contest. Maddy Fasnacht is not to be taken lightly neither. Fasnacht scored 15 points in the NP-Liberty win and led the Lady Lions in scoring with 16 points in the first meeting at Bucktail.
Alayna Smith stands at 6’1” and can alter a game in a hurry. Smith scored 10 points in the Meadowbrook quarterfinal win. She leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and should have an entertaining battle with Kendall Wagner on Saturday night.
The Rest Of The Field
Mid Penn Conference champions St. John Neumann cruised past Benton on Tuesday night to advance to another 1A semifinal. Their hopes at returning to the district title game will have a major roadblock. They will meet a Lourdes Regional team that could very well be poised to dethrone Meadowbrook Christian, but first they need to stop Gigi Parlante and the Lady Knights. Lourdes allowed just 12 points to Juniata Christian in their dominating quarterfinal win.
The winners of this one will meet the Bucktail vs. Meadowbrook Christian winners. Semifinal winners will lock up a state title spot and a spot in the PIAA District IV 1A championship game. Losers of both games will also meet in a consolation contest with a state title berth n the line. Bucktail has never advanced beyond the district semifinals, or qualified for the state tournament. Championship andconsolation games are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of next week.
