Taking down the defending champion is never easy, but that’s just what the Wreckers did.

Pleasant Valley welcomed three-seeded Weatherly and two-seeded Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg on Wednesday for the 1A girls semifinals. With a date to the district championship on the line, the Wreckers orchestrated a dominant second quarter to pull ahead and secure a 32-19 victory over the reigning 1A champion Spartans.

The game-plan was simple for Weatherly: key in on ND’s standout senior, Olivia Protheroe, who averages nearly 19 points per game. This strategy worked to perfection, as the Wreckers managed to hold Protheroe to 4-for-29 from the field for 11 points, six of which came in the first quarter.

“We watched some film on her, and I knew she could light it up from the outside,” Weatherly head coach Jason Kane said. “That was our key to faceguard her (and) kind of get into her head a little bit. I knew if we could limit her to what we held her to tonight, we’d have success.”

Offensively, the Wreckers got contributions from freshman Maci Kane with four points, and a triple from Abby Weston to take an 8-6 lead after one. Weston also finished with four assists.

Weatherly then caught fire in the second, outscoring the Spartans 11-2 for a 19-8 halftime lead. Kelly Reiner racked up the first seven points of the frame, while Kane tallied the other four. Kane, in particular, was a major X-factor for the Wreckers putting up a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The lead swelled to 24-8 early in the third with another bucket from Kane, and a trey from freshman Alexia Kehler before Notre Dame finally began to push back. An 11-4 Spartan run that included Prothere’s other five points, and four from Gabby Rios (plus 10 rebounds overall) cut the deficit down to single digits in the fourth.

However, the Weatherly defense was too much to overcome, as it kept ND off the scoreboard the remainder of the way, sending the team to the district championship.

“It means a lot because we worked so hard throughout the season to make it to playoffs, and it’s just amazing (to win),” said Kane.

Reiner, who has been the backbone of this Wrecker squad, led all scorers with 14 points while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Now the senior has helped lead her team to a place that she’s been hoping to get to for years.

“I’ve waited so long for this moment, since freshman year,” an emotional Reiner said. “I feel like it’s finally a full-circle moment; finally getting to the championship game, going to states again. I can’t believe it; I’m so excited.”

ONE MORE HILL TO CLIMB ... Weatherly will take on Bethlehem Christian in the District 11 1A championship game on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Easton Middle School. The Panthers defeated Salem Christian 43-26 in their semifinal matchup to reach the final. The two teams met in the district semifinals last year in which Bethlehem Christian came out on top with a 47-21 win.

WEATHERLY

Kane 5-0-4-10, Kehler 1-2-2-5, Way-Heffner 0-0-0-0, Reiner 5-3-6-14, Weston 1-0-0-3, Snyder 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-5-12-32.

NOTRE DAME-ES

Vitaletti 0-0-0-0, Mizhirumbay 0-0-0-0, Assegid 0-0-0-0, Romanowska 0-0-0-0, Blain 0-0-0-0, Rios 3-0-2-6, Collao 1-0-2-2, Protherue 4-2-6-11. TOTALS: 8-2-10-19.

Weatherly 8 11 7 6 - 32

Notre Dame-ES 6 2 8 3 - 19

Three-pointers: Weatherly - Kehler 1, Reiner 1, Weston 1; Notre Dame-ES - Protherue 1.

Records: Weatherly (8-15); Notre Dame-ES (7-16).