Manor Whips Bears

	Democrat Photo by Rob Potter TWO MORE POINTS: Livingston Manor’s Megan Roser scores a lay-up as Tri-Valley’s Heather Krom (left) and Julie Donovan defend on the play.

By Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR —February 18, 2000 -- The second quarter and senior center Dorthel Seibles.
Those were the keys to victory for the Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats as they blitzed visiting Tri-Valley 61-37 Tuesday night.
In the second quarter, Manor turned what had been a 20-13 advantage following eight minutes of play into a commanding 38-16 lead at the half.
The Lady Wildcats began the second period with a 10-2 run in the first three minutes of the stanza. Seibles made two shots in the lane in the first 45 seconds of the period. Guard Rachelle “Rocky” Irwin then scored three baskets in the next minute. Following a driving shot off the glass, she stole the ball from a Lady Bear and scored a lay-up, then repeated the steal and lay-up sequence seconds later.
The Lady Wildcats then held a lead that hovered between 20 and 30 points throughout the third and fourth quarters.
T-V had no answer for Seibles, who racked up 14 points in the first quarter and eight in the second. Many of her shots came after she established position in the low post and received the ball from a teammate or snagged a rebound and immediately put the ball back up and in. She finished the game with 28 points and 17 rebounds.
The Lady Bear comeback efforts were also hampered by the loss of leading scorer April Nash. With about a minute left in the opening quarter, Nash fell to the floor clutching her right ankle. She then spent the rest of the game watching from the bench before going to Community General Hospital in Harris to have the ankle examined.
“She said she stepped wrong on it,” T-V coach Karen Furman said.
Unfortunately, the examination at CGH revealed that Nash had suffered torn ligaments in the ankle. She is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Nash — a senior who holds school records in career points scored (913) and 3-point shots made (117) — had made all three of her shots in that first quarter. She made one three-pointer and finished with seven points.
Following the loss, the Lady Bears needed to win one of their two remaining Western Sullivan League games to qualify for sectional play. Without Nash, who was averaging 15.8 points per game, those games will be more difficult.
“We’ve got Roscoe and J-Y left to play,” Furman commented. “It’s a tough task. We’ll just see what we can do.”
(The Lady Bears were scheduled to host league-champion Roscoe last night, too late for inclusion in this issue. T-V is slated to host Jeffersonville-Youngsville on Tuesday evening.)
“We played a good game, but I’m sure the game would have been different if that had not happened,” said Manor coach Gail Whaley, referring to Nash’s injury. “We came out and played a game like we had to after last week.”
Last week, the Lady Wildcats lost to Eldred on Tuesday night and then were defeated by Roscoe Thursday night.
Irwin netted 12 points and dished out eight assists for the Lady Wildcats, while teammate Bridget Ellison added 11 points and five assists.
The Lady Bears were led by forward Rachel Altbach, who netted 11 points. Junior center Megan Sheeley added seven points.
Whaley enjoyed her team’s performance and expects the Lady Wildcats to continue playing well.
“We’re preparing for the rest of our season,” she said. “We have games against Narrowsburg and Eldred left (in the regular season.) We are going to play those games as if they were sectional games. Everybody is going to be ready to play.”