Wilson comes up just short in heartbreaker against Central Dauphin
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The Wilson Bulldogs kept clawing back and had a one-point lead with 1:05 remaining before Olivia Green’s putback with 5.2 seconds left handed them a crushing 42-41 defeat against Central Dauphin in a District 3 Class 6A girls semifinal Monday in West Lawn.
The third-seeded Rams (24-2) advance to face No. 4 Dallastown, a 40-34 winner over top-seeded Lebanon, in the championship game Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center. The second-seeded Bulldogs (24-3) travel to Lebanon Wednesday in the third-place game to determine seeding for the PIAA Tournament.
Wilson sophomore point guard Laila Jones was hounded all night by Central Dauphin 6-foot senior defensive stopper Alexis Ferguson. She held the Bulldogs’ leading scorer to three first-half points and contributed to the fatigue that resulted in unnecessary fouls early.
The defensive effort and Central Dauphin senior guard Lauren Cavoli’s eight first-half points had the Rams ahead 21-12 and with a double-digit lead early in the second half.
“I was proud of the effort,” Wilson head coach Chris Gallo said. “I knew we weren’t going to give up in the second half. Unfortunately we made too many mistakes in the first half, including some careless fouls and things we typically don’t do. That cost us in the end.”
Ferguson’s bucket early in the third quarter put the Rams up 11. Jones, an All-Berks pick, picked up her fourth foul with 5:41 left. Central Dauphin went up by nine on the ensuing foul shots.
It looked bleak for the Bulldogs, who switched out of their man-to-man defense into zone to protect Jones. They had to find someone to pick up the slack with her either on the bench or being less aggressive offensively because of fouls.
“I didn’t want to (switch to zone) because I thought we were actually guarding well in man (defense),” Gallo said. “But I had to hide her a little bit with four fouls and Violet (Houck) had three. I didn’t have much of a choice.
(Joe Mays photo)
“I said to the girls: ‘This isn’t going to make much sense because (Cavoli) is hitting everything, but we have to go to it. Just know where she’s at.’ ”
Cavoli drilled four of her six 3’s and scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, but the switch to the 2-3 zone gave the Rams issues everywhere else.
“Their zone is really active,” Central Dauphin head coach Randy Gambelunghe said. “They started finding Lauren and made it hard to make big plays. They packed it in real good and have some bigs that can bother you. They made it very difficult in the second half and the whole game, really.”
There’s a reason Gallo hasn’t found value in speaking about the Bulldogs’ youth all season. Wilson freshman Kailani Hardy and sophomore Laura Crocona picked up the offensive slack and Jones and Houck successfully managed foul trouble as the Bulldogs came storming back.
Gambelunghe decided to put Ferguson on Hardy whenever Jones was taken out of the game and the freshman delivered with seven of her team-high 11 points in the second half.
“They get great shots out of their flex offense,” Gambelunghe said. “Jones is just phenomenal and I have to give a shoutout to (Hardy). She is a player. (Chris) does a great job with them. They’re going to be a force for years.”
Jones picked her spots and scored seven of her 10 points in the second half and had multiple precision passes to Houck, who had six of her eight points, three blocks, and tons of physical rebounds in the second half.
Crocona packed all seven of her points into the third quarter and the Bulldogs cut the lead to 34-30 headed to the fourth.
Cavoli’s sixth and final 3-pointer pushed the lead to 37-32 a minute into the fourth, the largest lead the Rams had the rest of the game.
Jones hit Houck on a long assist for an easy layup to cut the lead to three and Hardy’s steal-and-score made it a one-point game with 6:32 left, forcing Gambelunghe to use a timeout.
Houck blocked a shot at the rim on the ensuing possession and Hardy got the rebound before assisting to Houck at the other end to give Wilson a 38-37 lead with 5:44 left. It was the Bulldogs’ first lead since Cavoli’s 3 with 2:11 in the first quarter broke the Bulldogs’ 5-4 lead.
Ferguson made a free throw to tie the game with 3:12 left and Hardy answered with a tough drive as Wilson regained the lead 40-38 with 2:44 remaining. Ferguson scored again to tie it with 2:12 left before each team committed a turnover.
Jones made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Bulldogs a 41-40 lead with 1:05 left. Each team again committed a turnover and the Rams gained possession with 19 seconds left.
Kayla Fletcher put up a left-handed layup with about 10 seconds left that bounced off the rim. Green eventually corralled the rebound and banked in a soft right-handed hook from the block.
Wilson’s last-gasp effort fell short as time expired.
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wilson | 8 | 4 | 18 | 11 | 41 |
| Central Dauphin | 9 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 42 |
| Bulldogs (24-3) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Jones | 4-12 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| Houck | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 9 | 8 |
| Hardy | 4-10 | 3-6 | 0-3 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Crocona | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Moncada | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Williams | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Tisdale | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Leaman | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-41 | 4-8 | 3-11 | 9 | 20/26 | 41 |
| Rams (24-2) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Ferguson | 2-6 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Green | 2-4 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 11 | 6 |
| Cavoli | 7-16 | 0-0 | 6-12 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| Fletcher | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Matthews | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| McGarvey | 1-6 | 2-2 | 1-6 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Sembrot | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 14-40 | 7-10 | 7-22 | 7 | 23/26 | 42 |
Turnovers: Central Dauphin 17, Wilson 15. Team rebounds: Central Dauphin 3, Wilson 6.
