Nothing was going right for Easton to start Tuesday night’s District 11 6A semifinal against Nazareth.
The Red Rovers registered a season-low three points in the first quarter and just 11 points in the first half, another season-low, as they fell behind No. 4 Nazareth 19-11 at halftime.
“We knew this was going to be a hard game. Games against them are always hard,” sophomore guard Melina Cole said. “[In the] first half, we weren’t too strong. I don’t know what was going on with the scoring, but in the second half, we definitely proved that we can come back.”
A 3-point barrage in the third quarter, led by Cole and senior teammates Nat Amato and Ava Muhammad, sparked a second-half explosion that propelled top-seeded Easton to a fourth consecutive district championship game appearance with a 45-43 comeback win over the Blue Eagles.
Easton coach Dave Lutz’s team will meet No. 3 Emmaus for the second time this season after defeating the Green Hornets 52-40 in the Easton Rotary Championship on Dec. 30.
“Coach [Rich] Bickert does an awesome job with that program. To face him three times, I mean, it’s unbelievable. Any time you can get a win against [Nazareth], you’ve got to be thankful,” Lutz said. “We just talked about playing for another championship – it’s pretty awesome. They’ve done a great job getting here.
“Emmaus is such a good team, and we’re going to have to play really well to beat them.”
In other words, Lutz needs his team to play four quarters the way they played the second half against Nazareth.
Muhammad seemed to lift the lid off the rim immediately after halftime with a 3-pointer from the wing and another mid-range jumper to pull her team within three points in the first few minutes of the third quarter. That sparked Cole’s confidence as well, who buried back-to-back treys before a third consecutive by Amato gave the Red Rovers a 25-21 lead and forced a Nazareth timeout.
Amato, who missed three consecutive wide-open shots from beyond the arc to start the game, remained confident and delivered in big moments throughout the night.
“It was really important, especially after missing a few,” Amato said of making her first perimeter jumper. “We knew we had to just keep on shooting. They’ll fall eventually, and once they did, we all just got a lot of energy and played really well together.”
Amato’s triple capped a 14-2 run to more than double Easton’s first-half output in just over four minutes to begin the third quarter. Nazareth senior Alexa Davis knocked down back-to-back perimeter jumpers of her own to help even the score at 31 heading into the fourth quarter. An early Karly Lesczynski 3-pointer to give the Blue Eagles the lead was all they could muster in the first five minutes of the frame as Easton pulled ahead 41-34 with several trips to the foul line.
Bickert expressed frustration with how the game was officiated after the game as a large foul discrepancy gave the Red Rovers additional chances to win the game at the line.
“At that point, it’s helter skelter. I mean, they had two fouls the whole fourth quarter and we had 12, I think,” Bickert said. “I know we were fouling at the end, but I just questioned some of the [calls].
“I hate to see the kids bust their ass like that and then not get rewarded for it. Some of it is my fault; I’m sure we should’ve adjusted quicker to what they were doing. They made some shots, give them credit. They’re good and when they shoot the ball well, they’re hard to beat.”
Some uncharacteristic struggles at the charity stripe allowed Nazareth to hang around, especially after Carly Brown made a deep 3-pointer in transition and pulled up for another two to make it a 42-39 game with just over a minute remaining. Junior Gabby Wismer split a pair of free throws on multiple occasions and Amato did the same with three seconds remaining that proved to be enough for Easton to survive.
“We’re going to have to shoot better from the foul line,” Lutz said. “We were such a good foul shooting team all year. Hopefully, we got this out of our system.”
The Blue Eagles still have an opportunity to qualify for the PIAA 6A Tournament in Friday night’s consolation matchup with No. 2 Parkland at 6 p.m. at William Allen High School.
A highly anticipated championship matchup between Easton and Emmaus will follow as a successful group of Easton seniors looks to end their District 11 careers on a high note after completing a four-year run of making it to the championship game.
They’ll have the chance to do something that’s never been done in program history in the process: win both the league championship and district championship in the same season.
“It means a lot,” Amato said about going back to the championship game. “Winning both EPCs and districts, that would be amazing.”
Derek Bast is a freelance reporter who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.
Nazareth 43, Easton 45
Nazareth 6 – 13 – 12– 12 — 43
Easton 3 – 8– 20 – 14— 45
NAZARETH (43)
Davis 3 2-2 11, Leszcynski 3 0-0 8, Brown 3 1-2 8, Deily 4 0-0 8, Samsel 1 2-3 4, Spengler 1 0-0 2, Bender 1 0-2, 2, Ott 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-9 43.
EASTON (45)
Wismer 2 8-12 12, M. Cole 3 1-5 10, Amato 2 1-2 7, L. Cole 3 0-0 6, Muhammad 2 0-0 5, Brunetti 2 1-1 5, Jordan 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 11-20 45.
3-pointers: Nazareth (6) Davis 3, Leszcynski 2, Brown. Easton (6) M. Cole 3, Amato 2, Muhammad.
Rebounds: Nazareth 22. Easton 17 (L. Cole 4).
Assists: Nazareth 9. Easton 9.
Turnovers: Nazareth 18, Easton 14.
Officials: Rich Gable, Jim Millets, Ron Frazier.
