York impresses in win over Lake Park

Senior guard Sara Krissinger felt her team was ready for a tough challenge from visiting Lake Park, she just didn't know just how ready they were.

After a great night on both sides of the ball, the Lady Dukes knocked off the Lancers 57-34, a margin that came as somewhat of a surprise even though this year's York squad has now already topped the victory total of last year's 18-13 team.

"It was clicking a lot tonight. I was ready for a tough game and once we put it on it was way easier (than I thought)," said Krissinger, who had 18 points and 5 rebounds as York improved to 19-5 on the year. "It was awesome. We were executing really well."

York's defense limited Darrione Rogers to just two field goals and 12 points, well below what the Lancers' star puts up most nights. Sydney Molis and Amaya Rufus each did stellar jobs playing Rogers tough and the Lady Dukes also combined some man-to-man looks with some changing zones to keep Lake Park off guard.

"Our defense really gets us started," said York's Megan Juneman, who tallied a career-high 18 points in the win. "We're a really close team and we've been playing together a while. Everyone kind of knows where you'll be which is nice. It was a big game and we really stepped up. It was a nice way to play."

York led 14-6 after one quarter, 30-18 at the half and then continued to put on a clinic of great ball movement on offense and relentless effort on defense. Rogers went 8-for-8 from the foul line to score 12 points and lead Lake Park (15-7), but the visitors looked a little winded while making just nine shots from the floor for the game.

Lake Park coach Brian Rupp said his team looked like you might expect a team to look after an exhausting week. Going back to last Friday, the Lancers played five games and went 2-3. But Rupp also was impressed with York's game.

"It's been a struggle this week getting the ball in the basket. This whole week has been a struggle and this is our fifth game in seven days," he said. "Not to use it as an excuse but we're tired. You could tell by the way we were playing.

"Obviously York is a great team. Credit them for just, they just weaned us out. They kept working on us and working on us and they eventually broke us."

On one end, York's defense was solid. But on offense, the ball movement led to several layups including numerous backdoor cuts and multiple quick scores off inbounds passes under the basket.

"A lot of that (offense) came from our defense starting it," York coach Brandon Collings said. "But we moved the ball well. We passed it well. This was one of our higher games in terms of assists, but also we finished strong tonight."