Lady Bucks keep playoff hopes alive with 42-29 win over Juniata Christian
By Bees O’Brien
FARWELL, PA- Bucktail girls basketball coach Carl Gentzyel would like to see his Lady Bucks finish in the PIAA District IV 1A top 8 and accumulate a total of 10 wins before he would accept a playoff bid. That would mean that Bucktail would have to walk away with every possible winnable game remaining on their schedule.
Monday night against Juniata Christian was one of those games. The Lady Lions entered the contest at just 4-10, but early on they showed that they weren’t going to be pushovers.
Juniata Christian opened the game on an 8-4 run through one quarter of play and then the host Lady Bucks snapped it into overdrive. Bucktail would rally and use a 14-6 second quarter to build an 18-14 lead at the break.
Bucktail continued to play extraordinary team basketball in the second half. A 15-10 third quarter Lady Bucks’ advantage built their lead to 33-24.
Bucktail (7-9) closed out the game with a 9-5 fourth quarter to set the 42-29 final, in favor of the Lady Bucks.
Seniors Kayla Probert and Lily Francis paced the Bucktail attack with 12 and 11 points respectively. Francis also added a team-high 6 rebounds. Kendall Wagner would net 9 points.
Matti Mason would dish out a team-high 5 assists to go along with her 6 points scored. Lola English and Alexis Lowery added 2 points each to round out the Bucktail scoring.
The Lady Bucks’ quest for a playoff spot continues this week. On Wednesday it will be a tough trip to Williamsport to face St. John Neumann (10-7, 7-4). On Saturday Bucktail will be in another must-win contest at Montgomery (2-13, 2-7) for an afternoon Mid Penn Conference clash. The Lady Bucks already own a 55-44 win over Montgomery back on Dec.19.
