RADNOR — Tiff Lapotsky played the fourth quarter with a chip on her shoulder.
It took one enormous 3-pointer to brush that dirt off.
Lapotsky came off a double screen on an inbound pass, drifted out to the wing beyond the arc, received the ball from out of bounds and drilled a triple with 16 seconds left that lifted North Schuylkill to a 53-51 victory over Imhotep Charter in the first round of the PIAA Class AA girls’ basketball playoffs Friday night at Archbishop Carroll High School.
“It was scary. It was really scary,
ya know,” Lapotsky said. “We run that play all the time and it doesn’t really work a whole lot. I don’t know what happened. It just worked. It was just kind of an in-the-moment thing.”
It was a play that the Spartans have run for awhile, according to coach John Rizzo.
“It was a screen, the screener play where we wanted Tiff under the basket. We wanted her to hit one of our bigs with the backscreen and then come off of another screen that was set by Nina Marone,” Rizzo said. “I give credit to all five of those kids out there. They executed in a game that close and for how loud it was, they got into their set, we called it, executed it beautifully. There were great screens set and Tiff came off the screen and hit a beautiful shot.”
North Schuylkill (25-3) defended the 3-point line on the Panthers’ ensuing possession, allowing a shot and a put-back attempt that were both off the mark before the rebound was finally corralled.
“It’s awesome. I can’t even describe it,” North Schuylkill’s Carly Gregas said. “The second that Tiff hit that shot … it was amazing. Everyone just jumped up, and I really wanted her to shoot it. I was like ‘Come on, Tiff! Come on!’ And the shot went in and we were so pumped. We were screaming all the way here (into the auditorium).”
The victory elevates the Spartans to a second-round matchup Tuesday night against Holy Redeemer, a 57-17 winner over Central Columbia.
Gregas actually helped set up the game-winning shot, hitting 3-of-6 free throws in the final 3 minutes of play. Gregas hit the front end of a 1-and-1 then missed the second, with the rebound going out of bounds and back to North Schuylkill.
Lapotsky’s 3-pointer was the final dagger of a 10-3 run for the Spartans to close out the game.
“There’s no kid that deserves it more than her, for her work ethic and the way she plays for 32 minutes,” Rizzo said. “I think she’s played 32 minutes straight for the last 7-8 games.”
Gregas helped give the Spartans a 30-27 lead at halftime before the game began to see-saw in the second half. The senior forward scored 14 of her game-high 20 points before the break, consistently outmuscling Imhotep’s 6-foot-1 center Bionca Dunham before Dunham went to the bench with a pair of fouls.
Dunham, a Division I prospect, along with Temple signee Deja Reynolds, were held to a combined 19 points. Lorna Caesar led Imhotep with 15 points as North Schuylkill used a 2-3 zone instead of its typical man-to-man defense.
“I knew that everyone needed to play their best game possible,” Gregas said. “Basically, states is survive and advance. You have to leave your heart out on the court every single game you play. Being a senior, it could have been my last, but all the seniors go as hard as we can in order to keep this season going.”
After the Spartans took a nine-point edge early in the third quarter, the Panthers (21-6) chipped away before using a 15-3 run to seize momentum and a 48-43 lead with 5:09 left in the game.
After seeing Gregas go down with an ankle injury midway through the third, shooting just 1-for-6 from the field and watching the Panthers seize the lead, Lapotsky decided she’d had enough.
“I think not scoring is a momentum thing. It really puts a chip on your shoulder,” Lapotsky said. “I had to do it for my team. Carly got hurt. It was really depressing for me because she’s our main big, and we hound the ball to her a lot. She scored a lot of points and played phenomenal. It really took a toll on me. It really put a chip on my shoulder to get back out there.
“The game’s not over. That’s why there’s four quarters,” she added. “Mess up in one, that’s why you’ve got the rest. It’s anybody’s ball game. One minute we’re up by eight, the next minute we’re down. It was just that kind of a team. It was that kind of momentum swing. One team got momentum, and it took off. I knew that we needed to get that momentum swing. Once we got it, it was ours.”
Lapotsky started North Schuylkill’s game-ending run with a drive to the bucket. Gregas then converted at the charity stripe and picked up a big steal with about 21 seconds left.
“Carly was a monster tonight,” Rizzo said. “She had a huge first half. She went down with an ankle injury. I think everybody in the gym was holding their breath. She came back out and played hard and hit a big foul shot at the end. There’s a senior that deserves a win like this. … All the seniors deserve a win like this.”
Those free throws helped set the stage for Lapotsky’s game-winning triple, giving her 15 points on the night.
“It feels awesome. We weren’t expected to win. That team walked in there and they expected to roll right by us,” Lapotsky said. “It’s phenomenal. It’s an experience that you’ll never forget. You’re going to walk by and see your bud and say ‘Hey, remember when we made it that far in states.’ It really is a hell of an experience. It’s something I’ll never forget, especially with these girls.”
Game Summary
PIAA Class AA Girls’ First Round
At Archbishop Carroll H.S., Radnor
NORTH SCHUYLKILL (53) — Marone 1 0-0 3, Lapotsky 6 2-2 15, Shinkus 0 0-0 0, Bell 0 0-0 0, Stokes 1 0-0 2, C. Gregas 5 10-15 20, Snyder 2 2-2 8, Jordan 1 2-4 5. Totals 16 16-23 53.
IMHOTEP CHARTER (51) — Green 1 0-0 2, Scruggs 2 0-0 4, Dunham 3 0-4 6, Adams 0 0-2 0, Parker 0 0-0 0, Reynolds 5 0-0 13, Hinton 1 1-1 3, Kitchen 4 0-0 8, Caesar 4 6-7 15. Totals 20 7-14 51.
N. Sch. (25-3) 9 21 13 10 — 53
Imhotep (21-6) 13 14 13 11 — 51
3-point FGs: Marone, Lapotsky, Snyder 2, Jordan, Reynolds 3, Caesar