BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent

The Montrose Lady Meteors secured their sixth straight finish at the top of the Lackawanna league Division IV with victories over Forest City and Elk Lake last week.

Montrose faced Forest City on Wednesday (Feb. 11). In the first half of the regular season, the Lady Meteors delivered Forest City their only defeat in division play action.

The Lady Foresters got off to an early lead in the first quarter. Kendra Bendyk started the scoring for the Lady Foresters with a 3-pointer that got the home crowd going. Madison McGraw added another 3-pointer. Freshman,

Mackenzie Hartman made two baskets for four points, and Bendyk added one more basket.

But the Lady Meteors did not stay quiet for long. Morgan Groover and Fallon Gurn each scored six points and Meghan Gilhool scored a point from the foul line. By the end of the first quarter, Montrose was up by one, 13-12.

The teams remained in a tight race through the second. Katelyn Zembrzycki scored two points for the Lady Foresters. Bendyk added one from the foul line. Hartman

got the go-ahead basket with a deep 3-pointer and followed it up with another basket for two points to take the lead back for Forest City.

Montrose kept pace with Angela Russell and Gurn each scoring baskets. Gurn was on fire under the basket with a blocked shot and four rebounds to bring her total to eight rebounds in the first half; but it was her 3-point shot that tied the score at 20 each going into half

time.

The Lady Meteors came out aggressively in the third, stepping up their defense and holding the Foresters scoreless in the quarter.

Montrose put up 14 points to take a 34-20 lead by the end of the quarter. Gilhool scored two points, had one steal, and four rebounds. Russell had six points, one steal, a blocked shot, and two rebounds. Hannah Dieck added a basket, as did Gurn who also snagged two more rebounds. Groover went two for two from the foul line and took one more rebound.

The final quarter had the stunned Lady Foresters trying to recover from the disappointing third. McGraw scored a basket and a foul shot and Hartman scored four points. It just wasn’t enough.

The Lady Meteors continued to dominate with scoring and defensively under the basket with rebounds. Gilhool and Russell had two points each and Groover had seven points; three baskets and a foul shot as Montrose claimed a 43-27 victory over the Lady Foresters.

The high scorer for Forest City was Hartman with 13 points and four rebounds, followed by McGraw and Bendyk with six points each.

Montrose’s high scorer was Groover with 15 points and five rebounds, followed by Gurn with 13 points and ten rebounds and Russell with 10 points and four rebounds.

On Thursday, the Lady Meteors faced Elk Lake at home for the final game of the regular season.

The weather had wreaked havoc on the schedule earlier in the week so the varsity girls and boys played back to back home games with a Senior Night celebration between the action.

The Lady Meteors dominated in the first quarter outscoring them 20-5. Scoring points for Elk Lake was Whitney Tyler with a basket and a foul shot and Kerri Jones with two foul shots.

Montrose had excellent defense and rebounding to keep possession of the ball. Meghan Gilhool had five steals and six points. Fallon Gurn had six points and six rebounds. Hannah Dieck had four points, a rebound and a steal. Angela Russell and Katie Warner each had a basket.

Elk Lake added 14 points in the second quarter. Jones had six points and three rebounds, Justine Johns was four of four from the foul line, Darci Warner and Tyler each added a bucket.

The Lady Meteors continued to put up points and play tough defense. Gilhool had two baskets, two foul shots, and two steals. Gurn had four points, Russell and Groover each scored two. Hailey Rapisardi scored a 3-pointer. At the half the Lady Meteors were up 37-19.

The Lady Warriors fought for their share of rebounds under the basket in the third. Julie Van Etten grabbed three rebounds, Justine Johns had Tyler had two each, and Darci Warner had one. Rose Warner played some tough defense and was able to steal the ball twice for Elk Lake. Darci Warner scored a basket and two foul shots, Jones added another basket, as did Tyler and Justine Johns scored one from the foul line to give the Lady Warriors nine points in the quarter.

Gilhool scored five and had two more steals for Montrose. Russell and Lauren Andre each scored 3-pointers. Dieck and Katie Warner each scored two more points; Warner’s points came from the foul line.

The last quarter had Montrose players coming off the bench. Andre scored the only points for Montrose in the final quarter with four points. Montrose’s Rapisardi had two rebounds, Ashley Birchard had a rebound, Radvile Vacuilyte had two blocked shots, and Andre had a rebound, a block, and a steal.

The Lady Warriors outscored Montrose 7-4 with Darci Warner, Rose Warner, and Abby Johns each scored two points and Justine Johns scoring one. Five of the seven points scored by Elk Lake came from the foul line. Defensively, Darci Warner, Rose Warner, and Abby Johns each had a rebound and Van Etten had two rebounds and a steal. The game ended with a Montrose 56-35 win.

Kerri Jones was the high scorer for Elk Lake with 10 points, followed by Darci Warner with eight. Montrose’s high scorer was Gilhool with 17 points and 10 steals, followed by Gurn with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Lady Meteors face Northwest Area in the first round of District II playoffs on Tuesday, February 17 at 7:00 at Montrose Area High School.

In other girls basketball action last week:

Blue Ridge picked up a 49-42 win over Susquehanna on Tuesday (Feb. 10).

Isabella Cosmello scored 23 points to lead the Lady Raiders to an overtime victory in Division IV.
Kim Klim added 10 points for Blue Ridge.

D.J. Decker led Susquehanna with 10 points.

At Lackawanna Trail, McKenzie Hartman scored 12 points to lead Forest City to a 46-32 win on Tuesday.
Emily Lewis scored 11 points and Kendra Bendyk added 10 for the Lady Foresters.