Notebook: Moyer's hot start gives Red Raiders a lift

Mar. 24—HERSHEY — Paityn Moyer drilled four 3-pointers in Friday's Class A state championship game, ultimately shooting Union out of its preferred 3-2 zone defense.

The Lourdes Regional junior scored the game's opening bucket from the left corner, and several minutes later hit another with a quick trigger as a defender raced to defend her. Before long she buried a third, and Union coach Rob Nogay was clamoring for his players to find No. 14 lurking in the corners.

"It felt good," said Moyer, who finished with a team-high 12 points. "I knew after I made the first one ... I get the confidence inside me, so I just shot almost every time I was open. They were falling today."

Moyer's fourth triple early in the second half made it a 28-24 game. The Scotties put her in a box-and-one late in the third quarter after a Chloe Rishel trey kept Red Raiders within four (31-27). A little more than a minute into the fourth, however, Union went ahead by 11 and switched back to the zone to finish the game.

"We knew (Moyer) was going to hurt us a little bit, because she's a good shooter. So we went box-and-one for a little bit," said Union sophomore Mia Preuhs. "We did play the box a lot in the WPIAL (championship) game that we won, and that was a key part in that. I feel like in this game we were up more so we didn't have to take (Moyer) out as much. We just needed to play team defense in (3-2 zone)."

Keeping pace

Union shot 35.7% from the floor in the title game (15-of-42), but Lourdes Regional had the better percentage in each of the first three quarters — albeit on fewer attempts.

The Red Raiders topped 36% in both the first and second periods, and they were 4-of-8 in the third. The Scotties' best stanza was a 4-of-9 third quarter (44.4%).

Lourdes was also close in 3-point shooting, hitting 6 of 14 from long distance (42.9%) compared to Union's 7-of-16 clip (43.8%).

"Their shooting was fantastic," said Red Raiders junior Leah Kosmer.

Union actually went 0-for-8 from inside the arc but 4-for-6 from 3-point range in the second quarter, dispelling the Giant Center's reputation for being a tough place to shoot given the arena's cavernous backdrop.

"It was a little bit of an adjustment," said Scotties sophomore Kylie Fruehstorfer, who was 5-of-7 from distance for a game-high 19 points. "We played at Pitt, so obviously I was kind of used to it. I just kind of tried not to think about it too much and just keep shooting."

Fruehstorfer was the last player off the floor following warmups, pouring in a 3-pointer from the top-right side of the arc with her last shot.

By the numbers

Lourdes dropped to 1-4 all-time in Class A state finals, losing for the third time in eight seasons.

The Red Raiders won their lone state championship in 1994, avenging a loss to Bishop Guilfoyle in the previous season's title game with a 41-32 win behind Carolyn Bull's 14 points and 11 from Danelle Schroyer.

Mike Klembara finished his 41st season over two stints as Lourdes coach at 748-321. He is 779-365 in 44 seasons overall, going 31-44 at Hazleton from 1978-81.

Stepping forward

Union lost senior Elise Booker to a knee injury in the first scrimmage of the season — the second such injury Booker has suffered in less than year.

That injury put Kylie Fruehstorfer in a much larger role for Rob Nogay than he originally intended.

"Kylie kind of got forced into a role when Elise got hurt. I had to push her Kylie into that position before I wanted to," Nogay said.

On a run

The Union fans wore T-shirts outside the Giant Center waiting for the Scotties to come out to their bus that said "Great time to be a Union fan."

It's something the Nogay said after the game as well, and the Scotties have every right to be proud.

Though the girls basketball team is the only one to win a state championship, Union has won WPIAL championships in softball, baseball, football and girls basketball since the spring of 2022. Their football team advanced to the Class A state title game before falling to Steelton-Highspire, 22-8.

Meanwhile, the boys basketball team finished second to Imani Christian in the WPIAL this season, and then lost to the Saints in the semifinals on Monday night.