POTTSVILLE - Montrose’s run through the eastern half of the bracket came to an end one stop short of a state championship game March 20 when the Lady Meteors hit a rare offensive slump.
When the struggles to score early carried over into other parts of the game, the Lady Meteors fell to York Catholic, 60-37, in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA girls’ basketball semifinal.
“Offensively, we just got frustrated,” Montrose coach Al Smith said.
The Lady Meteors shot 16-for-50 (32.0 percent), including 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Good opportunities that didn’t fall early, eventually morphed into impatience and shots that were tougher to convert.
“We didn’t get the shots to fall that normally do,” Smith said. “That led to frustration, then we struggled.
“Mentally, that led to breakdowns on defense.”
York Catholic outscored Montrose, 7-2, to end the first quarter then ran off the first eight points of the second quarter for a 25-10 lead with 6:34 left in the half.
The Fighting Irish cruised from there to make it to their sixth state final in the last seven years.
“My hat’s off to York Catholic,” Smith said. “They played a good game.”
Karli McFatridge led the way for the District 3 champions with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals. Morgan Klunk had 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Deanna Chesko was 6-for-6 shooting for 13 points.
Myra Lattimore led the way for the Lady Meteors with 17 points. She finished 8-for-12, making eight of nine shots during one stretch. She also had six rebounds.
Dallas Ely, the school’s all-time leading scorer, was held to nine points while producing a team-high four assists.
Sara Krupinski had six points and 10 rebounds.
Lattimore won the opening tip, setting up Ely to score five seconds into the game.
York Catholic scored the next seven points and never trailed again.
McFatridge had eight points in the 12-point streak to a 25-10 lead.
Lattimore worked in the lane to score twice while making it 30-16 at the halftime.
The Fighting Irish scored the first six of the second half for a 36-16 lead before Meghan Gilhool hit a 3-pointer to start a 9-4 run by Montrose. That cut the deficit to 40-25 with 1:26 left in the third, but the Lady Meteors never got any closer.
York Catholic went 7-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter.
The loss ended a postseason run that included two straight wins over Dunmore, ending the Lady Bucks’ streak of consecutive District 2 titles at six. After claiming the district championship, the Lady Meteors ran their winning streak to 26 with dramatic rallies against Carver Engineering & Science of Philadelphia and Delone Catholic in the second and third rounds of the state tournament.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” Smith said after the loss. “They played their tails off all year long.
“Nobody expected us to be here. It just stinks right now.”
Montrose, which also repeated its Lackawanna League Division 3 title, finished 27-3. The Lady Meteors were the last public school standing in Class AA, joining three private schools in the semifinals.
York Catholic (29-4) fell to unbeaten Seton-LaSalle, 71-47, in Friday afternoon’s state final.
COLLEGE CORNER
Karin Mowry went 6-for-8 at the plate Friday when Baptist Bible College swept a Colonial States Athletic Conference doubleheader from Gwynedd-Mercy College, 6-0 and 7-5.
Mowry is off to a torrid start to help Baptist Bible jump to a 4-0 CSAC and 10-4 overall record.
The junior catcher/infielder from Elk Lake is the team’s leading hitter with a .596 average in 14 games. She also leads in runs with 25 and runs batted in with 17 and is tied for the lead in triples (two), home runs (two) and stolen bases (nine). She has three doubles.
Through March 13, Mowry was ranked second in the nation among Division III players in runs scored per game and was 20th in stolen bases.
Another Elk Lake graduate, Kimberly Caines is batting .111 (2-for-18) while playing in 10 games, including eight starts. The sophomore outfielder has a stolen base and two runs scored.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Lackawanna League baseball and softball schedules are set to open Monday, April 2.
Elk Lake opens defense of its Division 3 softball title against Lackawanna Trail. The two schools also meet at Elk Lake in baseball where Lackawanna Trail is the defending champion.
Other openers in both sports have Montrose at Mountain View, Susquehanna at Forest City and Blue Ridge at Western Wayne.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
STEWART WINS CALIFORNIA RAIN GAME
FONTANA, Calif.--Tony Stewart won Sunday's rain-shortened Sprint Cup race at California, after heavy rain showers forced NASCAR to call the 200-lap race at the end of 129 laps.
Tony Stewart was leading on lap 128 of the caution free race when it started sprinkling. NASCAR put out the yellow flag, and instead of pitting for fresh tires like some other drivers, he elected to stay on the track.
Tony Stewart, winner of Sunday's Cup race talks to Carl Edwards in the garage.
“It's a victory, but we would have liked to have gone the distance,” said Stewart. “We had an awesome race car. The guys in the pits did a great job to keep me in front, because all our stops were under green.”
Kyle Busch led earlier in the race and finished second.
“NASCAR told us before the race that rain might be an issue,” said Busch. “I think everyone was driving as hard as they could and trying to stay near the front. It was sunny when the race started, but after it got cloudy and the temperature dropped, our car was a little tight.
“A second-place finish is not nearly as good as first-place.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third.
“We'll never know whether we could have won this one,” said Earnhardt. “We did have a fast car, but there's a whole lot of other things that could have kept us back; traffic, pit stops, and other stuff.”
Kevin Harvick was fourth, followed by Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex, Kurt Busch, and Jimmie Johnson were the remaining top-10 finishers.
The rain was a blessing for Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 team. His car developed an oil line problem as the cars circled the 2-mile track under caution. Johnson's car began smoking and he kept it rolling on the apron until NASCAR stopped the race.
Had the race gone back green he would probably have lost several laps, due to repairs on it.
Top-12 leaders after 5 of 36: 1. Biffle-195, 2. Harvick-188, 3. Earnhardt-178, 4. Stewart-177, 5. Kenseth-176, 6. Truex-175, 7. Hamlin-171, 8. Johnson-156, 9. Bowyer-156, 10. Newman-155, 11. Menard-148, 12. Edwards-146
LOGANO GETS FONTANA NATIONWIDE WIN
Joey Logano held off challenges from a succession of drivers to win Saturday's Nationwide race by 1.066-seconds ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
“It's important to keep the win streak going,” said Logano, who survived a wild restart with 12 laps left and pulled away for the win. “You don't want to be the guy who didn't win it and broke the streak. Obviously, it makes me work extra hard, not that we don't work hard any other weekend; we try to win every one of them, but to keep a streak going like that is important for our whole company.”
The victory was Logano's first of the season, second at Fontana and the 10th of his career. Logano is the first Sprint Cup Series regular to win a Nationwide race this season.
Brad Keselowski ran third, followed by Brian Scott and rookie Austin Dillon. Brad Sweet, Kenny Wallace, Kyle Busch, series leader Elliott Sadler and Brendan Gaughan completed the top-10.
“For me, this is one of the best Nationwide races of the year,” Keselowski said. “You see a lot of really good action here, the way the track has worn in over time. And the way the cars are with really low power, they can seemingly draft very well and do some really cool maneuvers.”
After debris punctured the radiator of her No. 7 Chevrolet, Danica Patrick retired with an engine failure and finished 35th.
Top-10 point leaders after 5 of 33: 1. E. Sadler – 214, 2. R. Stenhouse Jr. - 196, 3. A. Dillon - 187, 4. T. Bayne – 180, 5. S. Hornish Jr. - 160, 6. C. Whitt - 151, 7. M. Annett – 148, 8. T. Malsam – 144, 9. J. Allgaier – 126, 10. M. Bliss – 119.
Ed Clark has been President of Atlanta Motor Speedway for nearly 20 years. Clark recently reflected on some of his memories and thoughts of the past 20 years in a question-and-answer session, and what he thought were the greatest races at AMS:
“Well obviously the 1992 Hooters 500, that’s probably first and foremost. The second one, I’ll recall our first Camping World Truck Series, and how competitive it was. In fact the first couple of Truck races we had, there were three to four guys coming off the fourth turn going for the win. Those were great.
“One that truly stands out is the 2001 event when Kevin Harvick won. I’ve been in this business over 30 years, and I’ve never heard the fans in the stands continue to cheer and express their emotion for that long, once a winner had crossed the finish line. It literally went on for seven or eight minutes without dying down at all. I think it was several things, obviously a new winner, a great photo finish with Kevin just beating Jeff Gordon.
But the biggest thing, it was just a rush, a release of emotion for all the fans. The fact that Dale Earnhardt drove that very car and won that race in a photo finish the year before, his last win here, and being three weeks after his death, it was just an emotional release for everybody.”
Weekend Racing: The Cup and Truck teams are at Martinsville, the smallest (.526-mile), the shortest track on the NASCAR circuit. The Nationwide teams do not race again until Apr. 13.
When Martinsville Speedway first opened, NASCAR was just an idea. When NASCAR was formed, Martinsville Speedway was a charter member, a membership that endures after more than 60 years.
In fact, the historic Virginia half-mile oval is the only track that was on the schedule in the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season that still hosts the series today.
Martinsville Time Line:
September 7, 1947 : H. Clay Earles opens Martinsville Speedway as a dirt track with 750 seats and a paid crowd of 6,013. Red Byron wins the 50-lap feature for "Modified Stock Cars” and earns $500 out of a $2,000 purse.
July 4, 1948 : Martinsville runs its first race under a NASCAR sanction, with Fonty Flock winning the feature followed by Pee Wee Martin of Bassett. Va., Buck Baker, Bill Blair, and Tim Flock as 4,000 watched. Bill France finishes eighth while one of those sidelined with mechanical problems is 19-year-old Fireball Roberts.
September 25, 1949 : NASCAR's "Strictly Stock" division, now the Sprint Cup Series, makes its first appearance at the speedway and Byron wins again in an Oldsmobile 88 with Lee Petty second in a 1949 Plymouth. Seating increased to 10,000.
1950 : The speedway starts running two NASCAR Grand National (Sprint Cup) events races a year on the dirt track. The Strictly Stock Series was renamed the Grand National Series that year.
Sat., Mar. 31, Camping World Trucks Kroger 250, race 2 of 22; Starting time: 1 p.m. ET; TV: SPEED.
Sun., Apr. 1, Sprint Cup Goody's 500, race 4 of 36; Starting time: 12:30 p.m. ET; TV: FOX.
Racing Trivia Question: Who is Joey Logano's new crew chief in the Cup series?
Last Week's Question: Which is the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit? Answer. Martinsville. The first race was held Sept., 1949.
You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania trout stocking schedules are now available online in preparation for opening day of trout season in April, Rep. Sandra Major (R-Susquehanna/Wayne/Wyoming) announced.
A total of 736 streams and 121 lakes will be stocked as a part of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s 2012 adult trout stocking program. Stocking occurs year-round, though most anglers typically view March as the official start of stocking season.
The PFBC will stock nearly 4 million adult trout in Pennsylvanian rivers and streams that are open to the public for fishing. More than 1 million additional trout will be stocked by private contractors across the Commonwealth.
Opening day for trout season is currently scheduled for Saturday, April 14. There also will be a regional opening day at the end of March for many southeastern Pennsylvania counties.
Copies of the trout stocking schedules can be found online at www.RepMajor.com. Hard copies of trout stocking schedules may also be obtained at Major’s offices at 16501 S.R. 706, Suite 2, in Montrose; 130 Bridge St., Suite 3, in Tunkhannock; or at the Preston Township Building on Crosstown Highway (Route 370) in Lakewood from 10 a.m. to noon on the second Tuesday of each month.
