Dock shuts down Delco Christian, heads to District 1-2A Final

TOWAMENCIN >> Dock’s defense put the squeeze on Delaware County Christian early.
“We had to stop their point guard, Monica (Lebaudy). Basically, everything goes through her,” Pioneers coach Ryan Rush said after their district semifinal contest Thursday night. “As long as we focused on her, everthing else would come together.”
Lebaudy had her moments for the third-seeded Knights, but second-seeded Dock limited the versatile senior to 13 points and made it tough for her to find open space or passing lanes.
Dock’s defense authored a 46-26 victory over Delco, sending the Pioneers onto the District 1-2A Final against either Sacred Heart or Bristol, Saturday at Harriton at 1:30 p.m.
“We worked really hard as a team to get to this point. We knew they like to shoot from the outside so we were trying to get out there and block the shots,” said Dock senior guard/forward Kate Strickland. “Our guards did a real good job trying to get out there.”
Dock jumped out to leads of 9-2 and 11-4 and held Delco to just five field goals in the first half. Offensively, the Pioneers were led by Strickland’s 14 points and got 12 points from Brooke Bozarth off the bench.
“We have great freshmen, a lot of young girls, and we have some great leaders from our senior class as well,” Rush said. “It was a balanced effort and everybody played together.”
A layup by Bozarth put Dock up 28-14 in the third quarter and the Pioneers stayed ahead by 12 heading into the final eight minutes. A three by Melissa Moyer made it a 15-point cushion midway through the fourth.
“We had a tough season so it’s great for the girls to get that win,” Rush said, “especially for the seniors — it’s their last season, last game on the home court. So it was pretty great.
“One game from states but we gotta stay focused on the next one. Whoever we play in the district championship, it’s gonna be a tough one, but we should have a pretty good shot.”
Strickland and Audrey Schweizerhof paced the Pioneer offense in the early going.
In the second quarter, Bozarth’s play off the bench was key. Bozarth provided defense, finished off a fast break, and also hit from deep, her three pointer giving the Pioneers their biggest lead to that point at 26-12.
“She came in in the second quarter and really helped pick up our offense,” Strickland said.
Bozarth had eight first-half points for Dock, with Strickland leading the way with nine. Schweizerhof added six points and Jocelyn Pfleiger hit a three.
Lebaudy came up with a steal and took it all the way in for two for Delco. She also created another takeaway and set up Janae Johns for a basket that brought the Knights within 13-9.
But then Dock made its run to go into the half up by 14.
“Everybody played great help defense and we just played together,” Rush said.