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The District 3 Champion New Covenant Flames opened the PIAA State Championship Tournament on Saturday afternoon when they hosted Northumberland Christian at Lebanon Junior High School. The Warriors, the third-place team out of District 4, entered the state tournament with a 13-5 record and knew they would have their work cut out if they wanted to add to their win total against an upstart Flames squad that features a strong 1-2 scoring punch that is tough to shut down for an entire game.
The Flames typically start with a slow burn, and this one wasn’t much different.
New Covenant scored 6 points in the 1st quarter, with Qynne Demler (4) and McKenna Kantner (2) accounting for all of them. Northumberland matched the output with six of its own, sending the game to the second tied 6-6.
In the 2nd quarter, Northumberland caught fire and outpaced New Covenant 12-7 to take an 18-13 halftime lead. Demler scored 5 points in the frame and Kantner added 2 as the Flames went to the locker room still within striking distance.
Out of the half, the two teams once again played to a draw, with both sides scoring 7 points in the 3rd. A 3-pointer from Kantner and three made free throws from Laney Zimmerman helped keep the Flames close as New Covenant entered the 4th trailing 25-20.
New Covenant knew it would need a strong finish to keep its postseason run alive, and once the final quarter began, the tone shifted. By the 4:30 mark, the game was tied 28-28, and the Flames kept coming. Demler delivered the biggest stretch of the afternoon, scoring 9 points in the quarter with a pair of buckets, a 3-pointer, and two free throws in the closing moments. Kantner chipped in 4 points before fouling out late, while Zimmerman, Moriah Simniskis, and Akaiyah Hershey also added points during the rally as New Covenant closed out a 38-32 win.
In the victory — New Covenant’s first-ever state playoff win — junior Demler, the school’s all-time leading scorer, rose to the moment with 19 points. Her effort included two 3-pointers and a 7-for-10 performance at the foul line. Freshman Kantner contributed 11 points with a 3-pointer. Both Demler and Kantner scored in all four quarters.
New Covenant (25-3) now moves on to the second round of states, where the Flames will face District 1 champion Delco Christian on Wednesday evening. The time and neutral site for the game had not yet been announced.
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Covenant | 6 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 38 |
| Northumberland | 6 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 32 |
NC Scoring: Q. Demler 19, M. Kantner 11, L. Zimmerman 5, M. Simniskis 2, A. Hershey 1
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