Lancaster Country Day drops Lady Mounts

Ashanti Duncan challenged herself to step up and play big on the boards on Saturday, when Lancaster Country Day welcomed Ephrata for a Lancaster-Lebanon League girls basketball quarterfinalround showdown.

She outdid herself.

Duncan poured in 19 points and pulled down 23 rebounds, and the host Cougars beat the Mountaineers 49-40 to earn a spot in Tuesday’s semifinals.

“I had a little talk with my teammates before the game,” Duncan said, “and I knew I had to play my very best because we all really wanted to get this one.”

Country Day got it. And Duncan dominated.

“We knew coming in that she was a good player, and she destroyed us,” Ephrata coach Brian Cerullo said. “It was hard to match her physicality.”

Country Day outrebounded Ephrata 46-25, and the Cougars opened the game on a 14-2 run and never trailed. Genesis Meadows scored 13 points — including a pair of dagger fourth-quarter 3-pointers — and Kaela Stankiewicz chipped in with 10 points for Country Day, the Section Five champ.

“This is absolutely huge for us,” Country Day coach Hilary Waltman said. “It’s our second year in the league, and to make the final four in the L-L League, as a little single-A school … it’s because of the heart of this team, and the togetherness of this team.”

Ephrata, the Section Two champ, couldn’t overcome 16 turnovers and some streaky shooting. The Mounts trailed 16-5 after the first quarter and were constantly playing uphill.

“It was huge to come out like that and get a quick start,” Waltman said. “It settled some nerves.”

One big bright spot for Ephrata: Brynn Adams popped up off the bench and drilled six 3-pointers, including three fourth-quarter treys when the Mounts made a last-gasp effort. Earlier, Adams’ 3-pointer had cut Country Day’s lead to 28-25 with 1:03 to go in the third quarter.

But Stankiewicz answered with a trey of her own, and the Cougars led 33-25. Meadows, Country Day’s electrifying freshman guard, helped ice it; her wing trey put the Cougars ahead 37-25 with 6:12 to go, and her 3-pointer from the other wing stretched the Cougars’ lead to 42-25.

“We were ice-cold to start the game and then ice-cold in the third quarter, and that’s when they were able to build their lead,” Cerullo said. “We just weren’t able to get anything going. We never really had any momentum going our way.”

With Duncan owning the boards and helping out on defense when Ephrata tried to drive the lane, Country Day held the Mounts’ leading scorers in check; Gabbie Gerola-Hill had 10 points and Jasmine Griffin had just one bucket as Ephrata — other than

Adams making 3’s — never really found its groove.

“We wanted to start out with a bunch of energy, because we knew they were going to bring it with their shooters,” Duncan said. “So we wanted to stick with our matchups and be disciplined and bring everything we had to the court.”

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