District 2 (Wyoming Valley Conference Girls’ Championship Semi-finals)

Written by: Jon K on February 15, 2025

February 13, 2025

Rivals Set to Collide for WVC Girls’ Championship

Nanticoke, PA – The Wyoming Valley Conference Semi-finals hit the hardwoods at Nanticoke Area high school Thursday night. In the opening tilt, Hazleton Area shook off some turnovers and, at times, some uncharacteristic sloppy basketball, in defeating an inspired and scrappy defensive effort by Holy Redeemer, 75-46. In the second game, Crestwood mounted a pair of impressive comebacks, the second of which gave them a 48-45 win in the closing seconds over Division 2 Champion Lake-Lehman. This year’s WVC Tournament field featured teams that also have their sights set on winning district championship gold in the 3A, 5A, and 6A classifications later in the month. Nanticoke Area, who does a magnificent job running these events, hosted the near-capacity crowd.

Hazleton Area 75, Holy Redeemer 46

Hazleton Area jumped out to a 7-0 lead (and later expanded it to 11-2) as Holy Redeemer could not hold onto the ball and missed several inside opportunities in the opening minutes. Despite their offensive woes, the Royals were playing aggressive, tight defense. Bella Boylan converted a layup as HR climbed to within nine points (15-6) before teams traded triples (Kaitlyn Bindas for the Cougars and Tessa Cegelka for the Royals) as Hazleton Area held a 20-11 lead after the first quarter.

The Lady Cougars got three scores from Sophia Benyo (including a terrific move along the baseline) to jump out to a 31-14 lead midway through the second period. After Sophia Shults expanded the HA advantage to 36-19, Holy Redeemer went on a 6-0 run in the closing minutes including scores by Cegelka and Brooke Kroptavich to trail 36-25 at the break.

Holy Redeemer displayed excellent ball movement and started the second half on a 6-2 run capped off with scores in the paint by Cegelka and Boylan to make it 38-31. A triple by Kayla Lagowy moments later and a Royals’ turnover ignited the Lady Cougars as they added treys by Bindas and Mariah Marolo to grab a 48-31 lead. Their momentum continued but at a more snails-like pace as the rest of the period featured six trips to the charity stripe where HA took a commanding 59-36 lead into the final stanza.

Hazleton Area got rolling as Alexis Reimold scored on a tough inside move followed by Sophia Shults feeding Benyo for a nifty inside score. After the Lady Cougars took a 67-39 lead, HR went on a 6-0 run before Lagowy’s basket with 2:33 remaining sent the clock running as Hazleton Area closed out the 75-46 victory.

Hazleton Area was led by Sophia Benyo with 21 points, Kaitlyn Binas with 20 points, and Mariah Marolo with 10 points. Sophia Shults, Alexis Reimold, Kayla Lagowy, and Evelyn Shults combined for 24 points. The Lady Cougars hit 7 triples and converted 20 of 24 free throw opportunities.

Holy Redeemer was paced by Mckenzie Chimoch with 11 points and Tessa Cegelka with 10 points. Brooke Kroptavich, Bella Boylan, Megan Albrecht, Gillian Parsons, and Kourtney Jezorwski combined for 25 points. The Lady Royals netted 2 triples and made 14 of 22 free throws.

Kaitlyn Bindas scores for Hazleton Area (X link)

Bella Boylan scores for Holy Redeemer (X link)

Crestwood 48, Lake-Lehman 45

In the second game, Delcia Biscotto gave Lake-Lehman a 2-0 lead before Charlie Hiller scored inside to start a 9-0 run for the Lady Comets. Kendall Petrosky’s triple, another score by Hiller and reverse layup by Katie Gallagher made it 9-2. A putback by Ella Wilson and score by Kathryn Morgan cut it to 11-7 before Crestwood got a 5-0 spurt (trey by Katie Gallager and layup by Petrosky) to go ahead 16-7. The Knights responded with their own 7-0 burst as Kinley Purdy fed it into Wilson for a nice “and 1” before Morgan scored to make it 16-14 at the end of the first stanza. So far, this one was exactly what fans expected to see along with exceptional defense by both teams.

Lake-Lehman’s run continued as Crestwood began to play very sloppy and settle for long-range shots that were way off the mark. The result was an 18-0 explosion that put the Knights up 25-16 as Ella Wilson netted 8 points along with a triple by Morgan. After a much-needed timeout, The Lady Comets began to settle down using a combination of driving to the basket and getting a defensive spark from Cameron Vieney as Crestwood rallied for a 26-25 lead. Vieney’s defensive steals in the backcourt and a terrific drive to the hoop by Hiller were part of that 10-0 momentum-reversing run. Wilson scored before the end of the quarter to put the Black Knights back in front, 27-26, at halftime.

The third period was back-and-forth the whole way. Morgan got a putback for LL to go up 29-26 before a jumper by Jackie Gallagher and inside score by Katie Gallagher gave Crestwood a 30-29 edge three minutes into the second half. The Knights then used a 7-0 run to grab a 36-30 lead two minutes later as they got free throws from Purdy, putback by Wilson and a corner trey by Morgan. The Lady Comet’s continued to use their height advantage as they got a pair of putbacks by Hiller wrapped around a pair of free throws to knot things up at 36. Morgan continued to have the hot hand hitting a baseline shot to give Lake-Lehman a 38-36 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

The Knights got a block by Wilson and turned it into a Purdy layup. A minute later, Morgan hit a layup for a 42-36 lead. Petrosky made a key layup off a Knights’ turnover at the 5:35 mark before Olivia Oliver connected on a triple after L-L displayed some excellent ball movement taking a 45-38 lead with 4:46 left in the game. It would, however, be their final points of the game as Crestwood dialed up their defensive pressure and nailed some pressure shots. Jackie Gallagher made a clutch triple at the 4:13 mark. After a miss and turnover by Lake-Lehman, Jordan Andrews scored with a minute remaining to cut it to 45-43. The Lady Comets trimmed it to 45-44 with a free throw by Vieney with 45 ticks left before Crestwood took the lead with a score by Hiller following a missed layup by L-L with 36 seconds left. Andrews added a pair of free throws with 4.7 remaining for the 48-45 victory as the last second triple to tie the game was off-target.

Crestwood was led by Charlie Hiller with 13 points and Katie Gallagher with 10 points. Jackie Gallagher, Kendall Petrosky, Cameron Vieney, and Jordan Andrews combined for 25 points. The Lady Comets hit 3 triples and made 13 of 18 free throws.

Lake-Lehman was paced by Kathryn Morgan with 16 points and Ella Wilson with 15 points. Kinley Purdy, Olivia Oliver, and Delcia Biscotto teamed up for 14 points. The Black Knights made 3 treys and connected on 6 of 9 free throw opportunities.

Hazleton Area (23-0, the Division 1 winner) will battle top rival Crestwood (19-3, the Division 1 runner-up) for the Wyoming Valley Conference Girls’ Championship on Sunday afternoon (4 pm at Wilkes-Barre Area High School).