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Girls 3A Semi-Final: Dunmore 43, Lancaster Catholic 37
 

Girls 3A Semi-Final: Dunmore 43, Lancaster Catholic 37

Written by: Jon K on March 23, 2023

 

 

March 20, 2023

 

Dunmore is Heading Back to Hershey

 

Dunmore 43, Lancaster Catholic 37

 

By Phil T.

POTTSVILLE – “Don’t eat candy you find on the floor” said every mother, EVER.  A definite exception to that rule had to be given following the shower of Hershey Kisses after the Lady Bucks’ 43-37 Girls 3A Semi-Final victory over Lancaster Catholic at Martz Hall Monday evening. 

As players relished in victory, fans celebrated amid hundreds of Hershey Kisses that poured onto the court.

Dunmore is making their first trip back to the PIAA State Championship game for the first time since 2019 – at the same venue that erased an undefeated season and ended in heartbreak with a 49-43 loss to Delone Catholic.  With the departure of Victoria Toomey from that stellar squad, younger sister Ciera took over the reins.  Along with freshman phenom Moriah Murray, a return trip to Hershey seemed inevitable.  

The Lady Bucks appeared primed to make a statement in the 2020 state tourney, that is until the COVID-19 pandemic halted play and put an early end to the tournament just 24 hours after a triumphant playoff victory over Diamond Johnson-led Neumann-Goretti.  Dunmore came back stronger in 2021, but ultimately had to forfeit their eligibility during the district playoffs due to a COVID outbreak.  2022 was again a year in which Hershey was circled on everyone’s calendar, that was until Ciera Toomey suffered a season -ending injury during the District 2 championship games.  Dunmore would eventually advance to Quarter-Finals Round where they fell to Jim Thorpe, 40-39, on a last second shot.  

The Lady Bucks wasted no time on Monday night as they sprinted to an 8-0 lead with buckets from Sophia Talutto, Amanda Dempsey and Cierra Toomey.  The Crusader’s offense would get off to a slow start as they didn’t make their first basket until Rylee Kraft got free on a breakaway.

Lancaster Catholic would fail to score for the remainder of the frame as Toomey and Jackie Brown both added to the Dunmore total, giving them a 12-2 lead at the first intermission.

Rylee Kraft would provide a spark to her team at the turn of the period when she went coast-to-coast for the opening score.  Carleigh Anderson and Mary Bolesky would each drain triples as they closed the gap on their opponent, 14-10.

Dunmore would find a way to shake LC’s run off with a 7-0 run of their own.  Jackie Brown and Cierra Toomey would get the Lady Bucks back on the scoresheet, with scores from close range, and with Sophia Talutto forcing a steal and taking it back for two-points and a renewed double-digit lead, 21-10.

With two late buckets from Kraft and Lily Lehman, the Crusaders would cut into the deficit, marginally, as both sides headed off for the locker rooms with Dunmore sporting a 21-14 advantage.

The Lady Bucks showed off their excellent ball movement at the start of the second half as they recorded assists all their first four buckets.  Lancaster Catholic would keep pace with the Lady Bucks as the sides alternated the first 17 points of the second half.

Back-to-back floaters from Carleigh Anderson and a triple from Mary Bolesky would bring the Crusaders back within a single score, 29-26.

A late floater from Sophia Talutto would salvage the frame for Dunmore as they carried a trimmed down lead into the final stanza, 31-26.

Talutto’s bucket gave Dunmore the push they needed to get their scoring rolling again.  Tristan Canavan got the final period going with a layup and successful ‘and 1’ foul shot.  Canavan would score shortly thereafter and Ciera Toomey would clean up her teammate’s errant shot to bump Dunmore’s advantage back to ten, 38-28, with nearly three minutes remaining.

The Crusaders would try to bring the game closer, but could only get to within six as the Lady Buck’s foul shooting kept them comfortably ahead.

With 13.1 seconds left, Amanda Dempsey, headed for the charity stripe for the one-and-one bonus foul shot.  After missing her first attempt, the ball would end up in the hands of a Dunmore player and the Buck’s side of Martz Hall erupted as they watched the final seconds of their 43-37 victory tick away.

Cierra Toomey led her team to victory with a double-double performance in which she recorded 13 points and 14 rebounds in addition to swatting away three Crusader shot attempts.  Tristian Canavan led the Lady Bucks charge down the stretch with 11 points in the second half.  Sophia Talutto was simply everywhere tonight as she scored eight points, assisted on five buckets, blocked four shots and generated two steals in the victory.

Mary Bolesky led the Crusaders with 13 points on the night while bringing down five rebounds.  Rylee Kraft spent most the night battling with Toomey, but was still able to score 12 points and secure eight rebounds in the contest.

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