Ryan Leaman's Big Fourth Quarter Lifts Wilson Past Top-Seeded Red Lion, Into District 3 Class 6A Final
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An early first-quarter deficit on the home court of top-seeded Red Lion didn't deter fourth-seeded Wilson. Very little has this season.
The Bulldogs ended the game on a 13-5 run and defeated the Lions 50-42 Monday night in a District 3 Class 6A semifinal in Red Lion to clinch a spot in the championship Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against No. 3 Dallastown at Manheim Township High School.
Dallastown defeated No. 2 Central Dauphin 42-38 Monday.
The Bulldogs (26-2) built a 29-22 lead with 4:11 left in the third quarter, but a run from the Lions (23-3) on their home court was inevitable.
Army West Point-bound senior Julia Sedora stuffed 12 of her game-high 21 points in that third quarter and the Lions tied the game 37-37 with 5:10 left in the game.
“I think we knew we all had each other’s backs and we were all going into this game together,” said Wilson junior guard Ryan Leaman, who finished with a team- and season-high 17 points. “Knowing that you have some of your best friends behind you definitely helps.”
Leaman, a North Carolina lacrosse commit, then drilled a momentum-shifting corner 3-pointer to regain the lead for the Bulldogs and set them on the path to their first district championship appearance since 2014.
“I knew it was open,” Leaman said. “Once it went in, it was exciting. Everyone was yelling, and it was just so much fun."
“I just took the shots when they were open and they were going in,” she added. “So I kept shooting, and my teammates kept supporting me.”
Following Leaman's 3, Violet Houck stole a pass out of a full-court press at midcourt and found Laura Crocona, who finished with 12 points, for a breakaway layup.
Leaman, who scored eight points in the fourth, then drove past her defender and hit a floater to push the Bulldogs' lead back to seven with 3:14 remaining.
Kailani Hardy, the recently crowned Berks Player of the Year, then made a free throw to give Wilson its largest lead of the game at 45-37 with 2:31 left and the Bulldogs could feel it.
The Berks champion Bulldogs struggled from the foul line down the stretch, but played exceptional defense to close out the victory.
Wilson entered the game averaging 58.0 points per game offensively while Red Lion allowed only 28.4.
The Bulldogs handled the Lions' 2-1-2 halfcourt zone and 2-2-1 full-court press with poise for most of the game. Defensively, they sent a gauntlet of Houck, Crocona, Hardy, and Jade Lee at the Sedora sisters.
“Our key to the game was to guard them as a team," Wilson head coach Matt Raquet said. "I think Kailani and Jade and Laura, who were matched up on the two of them mostly, did a great job. But altogether, we did a really good job on the two.”
The elder Julia Sedora (11.9 ppg) got hers in the third quarter, but didn't score in the fourth. Bekah Sedora, a sophomore who entered the game averaging a team-high 14.6 ppg with 47 3s, was held to seven points, including her only 3 with 11 seconds left.
Wilson senior guard Laila Jones, who was named All-Berks for the third time Monday, scored nine points on three 3s in the first half and was a calming presence with her ball handling and playmaking. She racked up four assists and consistently broke the vaunted Red Lion press.
“We have a team with a lot of experience that’s played in a lot of these games," Raquet said. "We have a lot of capable shooters, which is really nice, because you can’t guard everybody sometimes.”
The Bulldogs also dominated the boards — many times to the chagrin of Red Lion's 625-win head coach Don Dimoff — to the tune of a 37-21 advantage.
Houck secured nine rebounds, Lee six, and Hardy and Leaman each had five.
The Lions held a 10-9 lead after the first quarter.
Jones' 3 and Houck's putback early in the second quarter gave the Bulldogs the lead. Shortly after, Hardy picked up her second foul and was relegated to the bench until the second half.
Raquet then put in sophomore Jade Lee, who guarded Bekah Sedora in the Bulldogs' man-to-man defense, which they only briefly switched out to zone in the fourth quarter.
“It’s really nice to be able to bring Jade off the bench and fill that spot for [Kailani]," Raquet said. "She’s so athletic, she can guard one through five, so she did a great job on them.”
Julia Sedora hit a 3 to cut the lead to one before Jones, Red Lion's Olivia Miller, and Crocona each exchanged 3s to leave Wilson with a 20-19 lead at the half.
Bekah Sedora's steal and dish to her sister for a bucket gave Red Lion the lead back early in the third. Julia Sedora scored all 12 of the Lions' points in the quarter.
Leaman (five points), Crocona (four), Hardy (two), Houck (two), and Lee (two) each scored for the Bulldogs in the third quarter to give them a 35-31 lead.
Leaman and Crocona (five points) closed it out in the fourth for the Bulldogs, who clamped down defensively and on the glass.
Dallastown and Wilson have played each other in the regular season in recent years with the Wildcats winning 49-38 this season and the Bulldogs winning 52-46 last year. The Wildcats knocked the Bulldogs out of the district quarterfinals last season 40-29.
Red Lion and Central Dauphin will play Thursday at 5 p.m. at Red Lion in the third-place game with the state playoffs looming March 6.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Wilson | 9 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 50 |
Red Lion | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 42 |
Bulldogs (26-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
Jones | 3-9 | 0-0 | 3-8 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
Hardy | 2-5 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
Crocona | 3-5 | 4-6 | 2-3 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
Leaman | 7-14 | 1-7 | 2-6 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
Houck | 2-6 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 9 | 5 |
Lee | 1-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
Osumanu | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Totals | 18-45 | 7-21 | 7-20 | 11 | 33/37 | 50 |
Lions (23-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
B. Sedora | 3-11 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
J. Sedora | 7-14 | 5-6 | 2-7 | 1 | 5 | 21 |
Williams | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Miller | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Young | 2-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Sechrist | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Harris | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Berg | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Davis | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 15-38 | 8-12 | 4-14 | 8 | 19/21 | 42 |
Turnovers: Wilson 16, Red Lion 13. Team Rebounds: Wilson 4, Red Lion 2.