Basketball
Lady Wildcats come back to down Lady Rangers
By Stan Ross
MOVING THE BALL. York High School senior Jenna Yeomelakis (with the ball) and her sister, sophomore Laney Yeomelakis (toward the back), are seen here on the move in York's recent game against Lake Region on Jan. 26.
Photo by Brenda Bracy
The York Lady Wildcats played tough against top-rated Lake Region last week, losing in the end by a score of 45 to 42. Pictured are sophomore Meredith Reid going for the ball and senior Kortnee Cribby awaiting the throw-in from the side.
Photos by Brenda Bracy
York Coach Rick Clark had conceded, "This is crunch time. We will have to run the table if we are going to meet our pre-season objective of finishing in the top six."
Despite having two players in early foul trouble, one sick, and one playing with a broken thumb, heavily wrapped, the Lady Wildcats were able to pull together on defense and score enough points to pull out a 43-29 win in the Jan. 29 game.
Meredith Reid won the opening tap for York but Traip playmaker Heather Orr scored on a slash to the hoop and a trey from the wing to give Traip the early lead. York countered on a pair of buckets by Laney Yeomelakis and two free-throws by Reid. Traip regained the lead with a baseline bucket by Corey Tackett, but York rallied behind a trey from the top by Jenna Yeomelakis plus a feed from Stephanie Plaisted to Reid and a pair of free-throws by Morgan Taylor to give the Wildcats a 13-9 lead at the quarter.
Traip rallied with eight points to even the score at 17-17 with 1:39 left in the half. Plaisted picked up five points for York but Traip scored on a buzzer-beater by Jordyn Cronen to take a 21-20 lead at half-time.
Both teams opened the third period with a pressing defense and Traip scored first on a bucket by Amy Lemieux. But J. Yeomelakis pulled off a steal for York, was fouled going for the hoop, and made both free throws. Then Taylor drove toward the basket and dished off to Plaisted and York led 26-25 when Traip called time. Plaisted set up Stephanie Hartman on an inbounds play and she also converted a free throw. J. Yeomelakis scored again on a slash to the hoop and York led 31-26 at the end of three periods.
Now the Wildcats increased their lead when Plaisted came up with a steal and went end-to-end before Taylor fed Brittany Bracy on a smooth spin move to give York a commanding 35-26 lead at the 4:17 mark. L. Yeomelakis paced the Lady 'Cats with six straight points in the fourth period and Hartman rounded out the scoring with a pop from the top to give York a win by the final score of 43-29.
Lady Wildcats battle Lakers but lose late, 45-42
The scrappy Lady Wildcats (7-7) never gave up but finally lost to the top-rated Lake Region Lakers (12-2) last Friday night, Jan. 26, by the final score of 45-42.
York was trailing 38-31 going into the fourth period when Kim Rigano fed Plaisted for a baseline bucket. Then Plaisted added a pop from the corner and fed Reid for a pop from the top. Plaisted was playing with a heavily taped, broken thumb, but went all out, including diving on the floor for loose balls and fighting for rebounds.
York had closed the gap to 39-37 with 5:25 to play and, after a Laker basket, Reid came out with a steal and Taylor (team high 11 points and 15 rebounds) drained a pair of free-throws. Each team had seven fouls in the half when Taylor scored on an excellent spin move and converted a free-throw to finally give York the lead, 42-41.
Kayla Nowell scored to regain the lead for the Lakers and they went into a stall while the Wildcats were forced to foul. Despite another rebound and steal by Taylor the Lakers held on to win.
York had opened the game on a fast break by J. Yeomelakis and, after a block by Taylor, Plaisted scored on a breakaway. Then the Yeomelakis sisters took over for the Lady 'Cats as L. Yeomelakis came up with a steal and worked a give and go with J. Yeomelakis. L. Yeomelakis added a pair of free-throws she drained a trey from the top to give York an early lead, 11-9. The Lakers countered with two quick hoops to take a 13-11 lead at the quarter. After Bracy picked off a rebound, Taylor made six straight points for York, but Kim Rivet (game high 18 points) started to warm up for the Lakers. Rivet nailed a trey from the corner and then added an "NBA" three from the top.
York countered on a fast break by Reid, and Hartman scored from the wing. Bracy added a blocked shot and Kortnee Cribby picked up a rebound and also nailed a shot from the wing. But Rivet drained another trey (her fourth of the half) to just beat the buzzer and the Lady Lakers led 31-24 at the half.
Each team scored seven points in a deliberate third period, including a trey from the top by Hartman and a strong penetration drive by Rigano that resulted in a pair of free-throws. York still trailed by seven and went all out in the final quarter, but it was not enough as they lost to the top-rated Lakers by three points.
York will wind up their regular season schedule with home games against Freeport this Friday, Feb. 2, and Cape Elizabeth on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Their last regular season game is scheduled at Wells on Thursday, Feb. 6. All games start at 6:30.
| York vs. Lake Region Score by Quarters |
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| Lady Wildcats | 11 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 42 |
| Lady Lakers | 13 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 45 |
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York scorers: Cribby 2, Hartman 5, Reid 4, Rigano 2, J. Yeomelakis 2, Plaisted 6, L. Yeomelakis 10, Taylor 11 Three pointers: L. Yeomelakis 1, Hartman 1 |
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