BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent

The Lady Meteors captured their fourth Denise Reddon Memorial Tournament title mounting up wins over Elk Lake and Susquehanna in the Dec. 27-28 play action held at Blue Ridge High School

The Lady Meteors, coached by Al Smith, are the only team to win this tournament came in with the intention of defending their title.

Montrose took on Elk Lake, coached by Alicia Traver, in the opening round.
The first quarter of the game had Montrose over Elk Lake 17-6 with junior Meghan Gilhool scoring nine points to give her team a significant lead. By half-time the score had increased to 27-13.

With one minute left in the third quarter, Elk Lake sophomore Darci Warner made contact with a Montrose player and slipped while going in for a lay-up.

The shot hit its mark but Warner had to leave the game due to a knee injury. She left the tournament to go to the hospital to get checked out but returned a few hours later on crutches and was greeted warmly by her teammates and the Lady Meteors.

According to her coaches, Warner did not sustain a fracture but she will be sidelined for at least a week pending x-rays and a diagnosis.

The final score was 57-34 in favor of Montrose with Gilhool leading her team with 16 points.

Despite missing the entire fourth period, Warner was the Lady Warrior high scorer with 12 points.

The second opening round match-up saw Susquehanna Coach Errol Mannick’s Lady Sabers taking on Blue Ridge.

The Sabers’ fast pace was too much for the Lady Raiders, coached by Nicole Wellman and Paula Finn, who quickly fell behind in the first quarter and were outscored 18-6.

The second half followed the same pattern with the Sabers outscoring the Raiders 11-8 to bring a half-time score of 29-14.

During the third quarter the Sabers picked up the pace again by outscoring the Raiders by 10 ending the quarter 44-19 lead.

Blue Ridge freshman Isabella Cosmello played great defense with plenty of steals and fast breaks throughout the game, but could not convert them into points for her team.

The game ended with a final score of 59-26.

Amber Dubanowitz led the scoring for Susquehanna with 10 points, followed closely by teammate junior Nicole Barnes with nine.

Cosmello led the Raiders, scoring six of her 10 foul shots and putting in two lay-ups for a total of 10 points.

Consolation game

The Elk Lake-Blue Ridge consolation gamed proved to be the most exciting round in the tournament going into overtime.

Game play went back and forth with the players, fans, and coaches never quite knowing which team would be victorious until the final buzzer.
The first quarter was won by the Lady Warriors who outscored their counterparts from Blue Ridge 9-8.

The tables turned in the second quarter and the Lady Raiders outscored Elk Lake 16-13 to go into half-time with a 24-22 lead.

Action flipped in the third quarter as Elk Lake took the lead scoring eight points in foul shots in addition to two field goals to bring the score to 34-33 entering the final period.

Elk Lake freshman Keri Jones scored a whopping 26 points.

With a few seconds left on the clock, Blue Ridge senior Jenna Bennett tied it up with a 3-pointer to take the game into overtime.

The four minute overtime period was hard fought and intense, but ultimately Elk Lake prevailed, 52-50.

Bennett led the Lady Raiders with 12 points followed closely by teammate Lindsey Burdick who scored 10.

Championship game

Although the Sabers played a fast-paced game, they were no match for the Lady Meteors who outscored them 18-4 in the first quarter and led 33-10 at half time.

The Lady Sabers put up a fight in the third quarter but were still outscored 17-13 by Montrose.

Coach Smith pulled most of his varsity players for the fourth quarter and gave his junior varsity team some quality playing time.

The Lady Sabers outscored Montrose 9-4 in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough to stop a Lady Meteors 54-34 victory and earning their fourth championship in as many years.

Gilhool led the Meteors with 18 points; while the Sabers had three players who each scored eight points: Sarah Serfilippi and sisters Marshawna and Mikayla Hargett.

Players chosen by their coaches for the All-Tournament team were: Jenna Bennett (BR), Keri Jones (EL), Morgan Groover (Mont), and Amber Dubanowitz (Susq). The tournament MVP was Montrose’s Meghan Gilhool.