Pictured above: Mackenzie Schirg goes up for a Lackawanna Trail layup during Friday’s opening win at Lakeland. (Ben Magnotta Photo)
SCOTT TOWNSHIP – A well-executed, in-bounds play in the final minute completed a Lackawanna Trail comeback for an Opening Night girls basketball victory.
Mackenzie Schirg was freed up to score from close range with 49 seconds left Friday night, lifting the Lady Lions over host Lakeland, 37-36, in a non-league game.
Lackawanna Trail overcame an eight-point, third-quarter deficit and 25 points on six 3-pointers by Lakeland’s Alexia Bauer.
The Lady Lions held the Lady Chiefs to 6 points, on a pair of Bauer 3-pointers, over the final 10 minutes to pull off the comeback.
“A lot of the stuff they were running was for (Bauer),” Lackawanna Trail coach Joel Nietz said. “We felt like if we could get the other girls to be more involved, we might be able to force tougher shots, force some turnovers.”
Ella Axtell and Gretchen Rejrat led Lackawanna Trail back.
They scored baskets and Samantha Duffy added a free throw to give the Lady Lions the last five points of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 30-27.
Axtell scored again to open the fourth quarter before Bauer’s fifth 3-pointer stopped the 7-0 Lackawanna Trail run and gave Lakeland a 33-29 lead.
Rejrat then sandwiched two baskets around an Axtell putback. Rejrat’s drive put the Lady Lions in front, 35-33.
Bauer’s 3-pointer from the top left with 2:39 remaining put Lakeland ahead for the last time, 36-35.
Rejrat had 10 of her team-high 13 points in the second half. Axtell had all six of her points in the last 10 minutes.
Schirg finished with eight points.
Bauer drained two 3-pointers and had a three-point play while scoring 13 points in the first quarter to get Lakeland out to an 18-11 lead.
The Lady Chiefs managed just 18 points combined in the remaining 3 quarters, including just a single point in the second as Lackawanna Trail closed within 19-16 at halftime.
“I felt like we did a pretty good job in the second quarter getting the game kind of into the style that we would want,” Nietz said. “Make it about toughness and being physical inside a little bit.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was created from the on-site reporting of Ben Magnotta.
