Lady Bucks open D4 play Wednesday at #1 Meadowbrook Christian

By Bees O’Brien

FARWELL, PA- The Bucktail Lady Bucks will head to Milton Wednesday night for a quarterfinal District 4 playoff game with home team Meadowbrook Christian, game time 7 p.m. Head coach Carl Gentzyel may have gotten a blessing in disguise following his Lady Bucks loss to Austin Thursday. That loss would see Bucktail slip to #8 in the District 4 1A playoffs. That meant they would not have to travel to St. John Neumann for the second year in a row for playoffs. That also meant they would be meeting a team that they nearly took down in January in Meadowbrook Christian.

Bucktail’s 41-27 loss on the road was a game Coach Gentzyel would have loved to have back. He gets his chance on Wednesday night in Milton in a return contest that his team was in striking distance until midway through the fourth quarter.

The game plan for stopping the Lady Lions will be stopping Kailey Devlin. Devlin is averaging 21 points per contest and at times has made up over 50 percent of their offense in games. She scored 27 against Bucktail in their previous contest. They only received 14 points from the rest of their team.

Meadowbrook has two wins over Muncy and the one over Bucktail.

Lily Francis has been unstoppable on the glass. The senior grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in the Austin loss. Her ability to rebound and run the floor has become a valuable weapon for the Lady Bucks.

Kendall Wagner and Alexis Lowery will need to be ready to go too. Meadowbrook is a tall team that can play inside with the best of them. Wagner is Bucktail’s best threat from beyond the arc.

Senior guard Kayla Probert will be called upon to run a smooth offense. Scoring production out of her, Matti Mason and Dezlyn Halapate will also be critical.

Freshman Eva Sockman has come along nicely as of late and her ability to score could play a factor as well.

Lola and Bella English also will have key roles in Bucktail’s quarterfinal contest. It’s playoff time and all hands on deck will be needed.

The winner of this game will meet the NP-Liberty/Millville winner for a shot at the state playoffs.

The bottom half of the bracket features some heavy hitters. St. John Neumann, a tournament favorite will meet Benton. Cowanesque Valley will travel to another tournament favorite in Lourdes Regional.