Ryan Leaman-Wilson

Lacrosse is Ryan Leaman’s favorite sport, but she’s not too shabby at basketball. The 5’9 sophomore is Wilson’s starting point guard. She’s also the top 3-point shooter for the Bulldogs. Leaman hit a key triple in front of her bench as the third quarter came to a close. “I saw her hand down a little so I just shot it and it went in…We were all excited,” said Leaman. Wilson defeated tenth-seeded Cedar Crest 48-39 in the first round of the District 3-6A playoffs. The (17-8) Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinals on Thursday night at second-seeded Dallastown. They also qualified for the state tournament. Leaman got off to a great start. She scored half of her 14 points in the opening quarter. “I know that if I’m open I should shoot. Sometimes I hold back a little. It was fun,” replied Leaman. Kailani Hardy finished with a game-high 18 points. The 5’9 sophomore was 8-for-8 from the free throw line. “We’ve been playing together as long as I can remember,” noted Leaman. Hardy was voted to the All-County team on Sunday. Juniors Violet Houck and Laura Crocona were both All-Division selections. They had important defensive assignments on Monday in West Lawn. Houck, who was injured when Wilson beat Cedar Crest 48-43 on December 21st, guarded Colgate commit Kaila Francis. Crocona covered promising freshman Elli Malinoski. Francis, a 6’2 junior center, and Malinoski were scoreless in the first half. “Once we shut them down, it opened up shots for us on the other end,” explained Leaman. First-year head coach Matt Raquet also utilized a 1-2-1-1 full court press that created turnovers and sped up the tempo. The Falcons turned the ball over ten times in the first 16 minutes. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs were in front 13-9 after a quarter and 23-13 at halftime. Cedar Crest didn’t score in the first three minutes of the game. The Falcons were blanked for nearly three minutes in the second quarter and fell behind 19-9. Lilyanna Thomas sank a 3-pointer from the left wing with 40 seconds remaining in the third period. The 5’11 senior pulled Cedar Crest within 35-29, however, Leaman answered with a trey of her own before the buzzer. Wilson increased its margin to 13 points before Thomas splashed a triple from the top of the key with 4:15 to go to make it 44-34. The Falcons never threatened the Bulldogs though as Hardy made all six of her foul shots in the final quarter. Crocona chipped in with eight points and Janai Tisdale added five off the bench. The Bulldogs bounced back from a tough 60-56 loss to rival Gov. Mifflin in the BCIAA semifinals. Cedar Crest hadn’t played since February 5th when the Falcons outlasted Gov. Mifflin 51-47 in overtime. Malinoski poured in 21 points against the Mustangs. The 6’ guard was limited to eight points by Crocona and company. Thomas led Cedar Crest with 13 points. She entered the night averaging 4.6 ppg. Francis ended up with ten points. The Falcons finish (13-10) in Ashli Shay’s second year at the helm. She scored 2,169 career points while at ELCO and went on to play for Penn State. Shay served as the Raiders’ head coach for twelve seasons before stepping down in 2022. Cedar Crest outscored Wilson 26-25 in the second half. The Falcons were 8-of-10 from the stripe and made three 3-pointers. The Bulldogs went 13-of-18 from the foul line and only connected once from beyond the arc. Wilson forced 18 turnovers including seven in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs and Falcons have combined for ten District 3 championships with Wilson winning six titles. Both of these programs have bright futures. Of the ten starters on the court, only two were seniors. The Bulldogs reached the District 3 semifinals a season ago. They’ll have to upset Dallastown on Thursday at 7pm to return to the Final Four.