MIKE GROSS | Sports WriterDALLASTOWN - The good news for Lebanon’s girls’ basketball team is that the ride isn’t over.
Monday’s 37-35 loss to Dallastown would have been a brutal way for a historic four-year run to end.
The Cedars (24-4) were eliminated from the District 3 tournament by the Wildcats for the third straight year. Dallastown (25-2) plays for the district title Thursday at Giant Center against York County rival Red Lion, which handled Central Dauphin 55-39 in their semifinal Monday.
Lebanon plays for third place, really for state-tournament seeding, against the Rams on Wednesday.
“I told them, let it hurt,’’ said Lebanon coach Jaime Walborn. “It’s supposed to hurt. But we’ve got a game Wednesday. We’ve got a lot to play for.’’
What must really hurt, from Monday, is how well the Cedars defensively locked up a team with athletes and much better overall size, especially in the first half.
At the other end, Lebanon got enough of the kind of shots it wants, certainly before halftime. The Cedars simply didn’t make them; star point guard Kailah Correa, now a 2,131-point career scorer, was 2-for-10 from the field in the half.
Critically, Lebanon went to the break leading only 16-11.
It was a game of intriguing matchups - Lebanon’s 5-5 Olive Brandt guarding Dallastown’s 6-1 Praise Matthews and 5-11 Ava Jamison on the 5-3 Correa, for example, and the matchups in general seemed to be working in Lebanon’s favor.
“I thought our defense was good, especially in the first half but even in the second,’’ Walborn said. “We just didn’t make the shots we normally make.’’
Jay Rexroth, the Wildcats’ veteran coach, needing a tweak after halftime, dialed up a three-quarter court zone trap that rendered the Cedars tentative, if only for a few possessions. Matthews, who’d been a jump-shooter in the first half, got to the rim and the foul line a couple times.
Dallastown’s Campbell O’Neill got a 3 to fall, her first points of the game, and the Wildcats had a 19-18 lead.
The defenses stayed ahead of the offenses, but the rest of the way classically tense, loud postseason stuff.
Lebanon rallied, and led 23-19 on Brandt's 3-pointer midway through the third. But the Cedars came up empty on four of their next five possessions.
The Wildcats can guard you, too.
Ultimately they got the Cedars spread out and chasing a bit. Dallastown guard Alonna Dowell, who did not attempt a shot in the first half, got to the rim and scored all eight of her points in a three-minute stretch to push the lead to 34-27 with 3:35 left.
Lebanon center Lili Harrison fouled out a minute later. Correa (13 points) hit a deep 3-pointer and then got fouled shooting a 3 and made all three, in the final seconds.
Harrison scored 10 and Brandt seven for the Cedars. Matthews led Dallastown with 10 points.
JEFF REINHART | Sports Writer
