Top seeded Meadowbrook Christian Ends Lady Bucks’ season, 44-12
By Bees O’Brien
MILTON, PA- 8-seeded Bucktail had some hope entering their PIAA District 4 1A quarterfinal matchup at top seeded Meadowbrook Christian on Thursday night. The Lady Bucks played the Lady Lions tight in their previous meeting, but a dismal shooting night combined with just 11 rebounds the entire game and 12 turnovers would send Bucktail back to Farwell after the quarterfinal round for the second straight season.
This was a team that battled through injuries down the stretch and lost their leading scorer Mak Wagner in early January and they still managed to finish amongst the district’s top 8 teams in 1A. Late season wins over Juniata Christian, Galeton, Montgomery and CMVT were needed just to finish in a playoff spot.
Meadowbrook continued to cruise. Their 20-5 halftime lead set the tone early and would dictate Bucktail’s play the remainder of the game.
“We could not make a shot tonight.” Was how head coach Carl Gentzyel simply described his Lady Bucks play.
He was right. Bucktail connected on just 3 field goals the entire game and helplessly watched as All-State candidate Kailey Devlin racked up a game-high 24 points for Meadowbrook Christian.
The deciding factor in this contest was the Lady Lions’ 8-0 second quarter, followed by a 16-3 third quarter.
Meadowbrook Christian will meet NP-Liberty at a neutral site in the semifinals with a state playoff bid on the line. Liberty downed Millville 49-35 to advance. Other quarterfinal results saw St. John Neumann eliminate Benton 58-33 and Lourdes Regional cruise past Cowanesque Valley 53-18.
The 12 Bucktail points was the lowest total of the season. The loss of Mak Wagner’s offense has been apparent.
“That was a big blow when she got hurt. We lost games by 1, 9, 10 and even 14.” Gentzyel said of Wagner. “We were giving up 16 points per game when she got hurt.”
Even without Wagner Bucktail played on and eventually would win 9 games on the season, just one shy of last year’s district quarterfinalist team.
Senior leaders Kayla Probert, Bella English and Lily Francis were key in that final run towards playoffs and the emergence of Kendall Wagner, Eva Sockman, Lola English, Alexis Lowery and Matti Mason were vital for the coming years.
Probert led Bucktail with 7 points against Meadowbrook. Wagner added 3 points and Lilly Francis finished her strong senior season with 2 points.
Coach Gentzyel’s Lady Bucks have an incredibly bright future ahead of them and will be looking to be the first girls’ team at Bucktail to make it to three consecutive playoffs next season.
