By Brody Patmore
Sports Editor Two years ago the Red Lion girls basketball team cut downthe nets at York College following their victory in the county championship against Central. It’s accomplishments like this one that the team wants to achieve again. Finishing last season 11-11 and disappointingly missing out on districts by one spot, they’re hoping to improve upon last season. What will help this be possible? “A more aggressive defensive scheme this year,” said head coach Bill Novak.
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By Paul Jones
Sports Coordinator The Red Lion girls basketball team has been a powerhouse in York County. Under former coach Don Dimoff, the team won a total of 14 York-Adams county championships, along with a streak of 12 straight from 2001-2012. However, Mr. Dimoff is coaching at Millersville University now, leaving a coaching vacancy for the team for the first time in 22 years. “Don was here for 22 years,” Athletic Director Arnold Fritzius said. “So we knew going into it that finding somebody to replace Mr. Dimoff was going to be virtually impossible.” The impossible was reached however, as the next coach was found right within the program. Assistant coach, Bill Novak, was elevated to the head coaching position and done so at the suggestion of Don Dimoff himself. By Paul Jones Sports Editor After a big win over cross town rival, Central, the Lady Lions prepare to make a run in the State Tournament. On Friday, March 4, they will take Perkiomen Valley at Wissahickon High School. However, rarely in any sport does a team go through a regular season with only four losses. “Overall it’s been a very good season, I’ve been really happy with the overall picture of things,” Head Coach Dom Dimoff said. With 25 wins and four losses, the Lady Lions look like the definition of consistency, but Coach Dimoff still believes there is room for improvement. “We haven’t played a lot of games where we played all four quarters. We’ve had some games where we played two or three solid quarters, but come playoff time for both counties and districts we’re going to have to figure out a way to play four solid quarters,” Coach Dimoff said. The team will be going into States with the number seven seed and a division championship win. “It’s a credit to the girls for how hard they’ve worked all season to get that. In order to get that we had to win the division, which is the first time we’ve won it here in about four years,” Coach Dimoff said. By Paul Jones
Sports Editor The Lady Lions proved that it is not about how you start something, but how you finish it. In their season opener on Dec. 5 versus Manheim Township they only scored six points in the first quarter but came back in the end for the win. Only down by four, the Lady Lions stormed back to win the second quarter 20-6 and go into halftime with a 20 point lead. The slow start could be attributed to the ball just not going into the net. They received quality looks the whole game and after the first quarter they got most of their shots to go down. The majority of the outside shooting came from junior Amy Maciejewski and senior Courtney Dimoff. The Lady Lions pulled away from Manheim Township easily and won 51-36. Dimoff led all of the scorers with 20 points. Saturday night, the girls played CD East for the championship of their tip-off tournament. They won 43-33, but something even more special happened. Courtney Dimoff became the 11th girl to score 1000 points in a Red Lion uniform. The team now prepares to play crosstown rival Dallastown, as they try to improve their record to 3-0. By Bella McCarey Co-Editor-in-Chief With a 13-10 finish to their 2014-2015 regular and postseason, the boys’ basketball team looks ahead at next season as they say goodbye to their seniors. If anything, the one thing that has been lacking all season long for the Red Lion boys basketball team has been consistency. The team propelled their way into the New Year on a 5-game winning streak, but a dramatic 5-point loss to crosstown rival Dallastown was the first of a 4-game losing streak. Since then, the team has found ways to keep themselves at the top of the PIAA Districts III power rankings, until losing against Spring Grove in the first round of districts 66-55. “Toward the end of the season we all started to come together and just have fun out on the court, while playing hard and to the best of our ability,” junior Bennett Frey said. Putting wins and losses aside, earning a district playoff berth still tasted sweet for the Lions. As far as their formula on the court, the team displayed a balanced force on both sides of the ball. It hasn’t been just one or two players that helped this team along, but a variety. Double digit tallies have been averaged not just from forwards Wyatt Tyson, Jason Rebuck and shooting guard Stone McCreary, but also from point guards Austin Huson and Bennett Frey. It’s been this multi-weapon presence that’s only fueled the Lions’ postseason chances even higher. Not only has the team improved as a whole since last year, despite graduating 1,000-point scorer Mike Fox, but junior Wyatt Tyson, who averaged a 74 percent shooting accuracy from the foul line, cites that individual growth has come a long way on the team as well. “We are doing really good right now and I feel I improved a lot since last year.” Another mild improvement who hasn’t been hard to notice is large-framed power forward Jason Rebuck. Using his 6’3” height to his advantage, Rebuck has brought an intimidation factor and an ability to run the court to get to the rim. With the season now officially over, the team now has time and some chances to reflect on memorable moments from the season. “The highlight of this year was probably taking York High (William Penn) into double overtime in their gym,” Huson said. The boys ended up losing the game 69-75. One of the game’s most cherished moments, however, was senior McCreary turning a field goal attempt into a slam dunk that wowed the crowd. Both Tyson and Frey agree that watching a fellow teammate and friend make himself known as a varsity player was definitely a highlight of the season. “[It] was when Brian Treible scored his first varsity points and the bench went crazy,” Tyson said. Treible made a two-point shot in a game against Greencastle-Antrim, earning him his first scoreboard recognition. Treible posted to Twitter later that night, “Thanks to everyone who cheered me on tonight #998moretogo.” McCreary became a stronger leader as the season progressed, finishing out plays his teammates hand off to him and scoring the most points per game at an average of 16. “This year has been a blessing to me. I love the coaches and especially the players,” McCreary said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team. I’m really gonna miss the guys when I’m gone.” Graduating McCreary, Huson and Skyler Godfrey will be noticeable to the otherwise fairly young team, however the seniors developed a great postseason exit strategy to leave their mark. “Win or go home,” McCreary said. By Taylor Bosley Sports Editor The girls’ basketball team looks back at a season of county playoff eligibility and also a spot in District playoffs. Despite a loss to York Catholic in the first round of the county playoffs, the girls came out of the first round of District Three playoffs with an overtime win against Lebanon, 45-42. As the Lions ended the season and headed into the postseason, Coach Dimoff hoped the girls had a “This is why we play” attitude. Sophomore Kynslee Shepherd is proud of how the girls fought through the adversity they faced these season. “We had a few injuries that set us back but in the end we came out stronger with a lost more experience and confidence,” Shepherd said. Shepherd views these over comings of setbacks faced as a confidence booster for the next season. Another hope of hers is for the team to continue to work together. Courtney Dimoff had an attitude of “We want to continue encouraging each other on and off the floor,” Dimoff said. She liked the encouragement throughout the team this season to have the girls continue to work together throughout the regular season and postseason. The girls finished with a 13-6 record and a win in the first round of District Three playoffs but ultimately fell to number two seed Cumberland Valley. By Taylor Bosley Staff Writer After the Red Lions girls basketball finished last season with a record of 17-10 and qualified for states, the ten returning players of the team will be looked at with high expectations this upcoming season. Coach Don Dimoff doesn’t view the loss in size after losing Morgan Khune and Devan Horka as a big worry, but still having a strong net presence is the goal this year. “We have a lot of depth,” Coach Dimoff said despite losing the help around the basket from previous years. The loss of key players won’t change any preparations for the upcoming season, Coach Dimoff said. They will still aim to “pressure full court” he said. “Hopefully this (full court pressure) will neutralize the size issue,” Dimoff said. Junior Courtney Dimoff has her own goals of being a leader on and off the floor. “As well as to do whatever it takes to help my team succeed and win,” said Courtney. Along with personal goals, Coach Dimoff also has team goals. “As a team I would say to just always play hard and have great toughness,” Dimoff said, “Also to get better everytime we step on the floor.” Other than preseason being about preparation and becoming more disciplined, it was also much more focused, said Dimoff. “The team was more focused than it has been in past year I’ve played,” Dimoff said. She said they’ve been focusing on the toughness of the team along with each player being interchangeable on the court. |
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