Lady Bucks drop close battle with defending District Champions at home, 47-39

By Bees O’Brien

FARWELL- St. John Neumann may have lost standout center Gigi Parlante and all-conference forward Lizzy Weller, but the Lady Knights are still defending District IV 1A champions and return a good core group from their state playoff run a season ago.

On Monday night in Farwell, Bucktail who was returning just three players from their fourth place district team from a season ago nearly knocked off St. John Neumann.

The Lady Bucks secured a strong start by taking the 9-7 lead after one quarter of play. Neumann countered with a 13-8 second quarter to hold a slim 20-17 lead at the half.

The Lady Bucks countered with a 14-12 third quarter effort to only trail by one at 32-31 heading into the game’s final frame.

Neumann used their experience on the younger Bucktail squad to hold down a 15-8 fourth quarter advantage to gain the 47-39 victory.

Kendall Wagner led Bucktail with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Eva Sockman also collected another double-double by scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Senior Matti Mason continued her strong 2024-25 season by netting 9 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists and swiping 4 steals. Adriele Intallura scored 4 points, Miyah Devlin dropped in 2 points and Riley Salizzonni added 1 point in the loss.

The victory gave the Lady Golden Knights a big win in their quest to catch Lourdes Regional in the current District IV 1A standings. Neumann is now 8-4 and currently second in the standings.

The loss dropped the young Lady Bucks to 4-8 on the season, but still in good position to make the postseason.

Bucktail will be back in action on Wednesday when they are set to travel to Millville (6-4).