Lancers shut down Warriors

By Jeremy Tepper

MVI Sports

With six minutes left in the third quarter, Elizabeth Forward’s Zach Boyd shot a corner three that spun around the rim twice and rimmed out. 

On the next possession, the Warriors missed a makeable layup and two solid tip-in attempts afterwards.

It was just one of those nights for the Warriors, and it couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time. 

In the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs against No. 10 Deer Lakes, the seventh-seeded Warriors saw a nightmare, worst case scenario play out, falling 53-21 to the Lancers in first-round play. 

For a team that lost four times during the regular season and was only blown out once, it was a shocking result, something Warriors’ coach Matt Loftis didn’t see coming.

“Definitely a tough pill to swallow because I thought we were capable of a little bit more regardless of our situation,” Loftis said. “It just came down to the ball wasn’t falling for us tonight. We just didn’t shoot the ball well. You’re not gonna win many basketball games when you shoot as poorly as we did.”

For much of the game, Elizabeth Forward worked itself into good shots that didn’t go in at an inordinate rate. For the other parts when the Warriors let their guard down, Deer Lakes capitalized. The end result was a mercy rule blowout, with the Lancers sparking a running clock toward the end of the third quarter when it went up by 30 points. One of the Warriors leading scorers, Vernon Settles, was held to two points.

The Warriors entered the game having undergone an unideal set of circumstances. COVID protocols forced the Warriors to shut down toward the end of last month.

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