Clair Marion need six.
She got six-teen.
… In the first quarter.
Marion raced past the 1,000-point for her career and Abington Heights stormed into another District 2 championship game Monday night with a 61-31 romp over visiting Crestwood in a Class 5A girls semifinal.
The Abington Heights senior entered the night with 994 career points.
Marion reached 1,000 on a putback with 3:50 left in the first quarter, then scored five more baskets in a 1:15 flurry that was at the heart of an 18-point streak by Abington Heights.
With Anna Scoblick joining in, Marion helped build a 28-4 lead before Crestwood scored the last basket of the first quarter.
Marion had 16 of her game-high 20 points in the first quarter.
Crestwood had 10 turnovers in the first quarter, half of them on steals by Scoblick, who also had four assists, three points and two rebounds in the quarter.
Marion, a four-year starter and two-time, first-team division all-star who is committed to play at Dickinson College, created her own points early.
Abington Heights went ahead to stay, 4-2, when Marion drove, drew a foul and hit both free throws to start an eight-point streak in which she had six of the points.
Marion’s next three baskets were on two breakaways off steals, sandwiched around the milestone basket, which also came from close range.
After grabbing an offensive rebound, Marion went up strong between two defenders and scored her 999th and 1,000th career points.
Her Abington Heights teammates made sure Marion was not done.
The remaining first-quarter points were the result of work by Scoblick and Allison Dammer.
Scoblick twice made back-court steals, then fed Marion for easy baskets.
Dammer followed by twice grabbing offensive rebounds, then passing to Marion. The second came when she saved the ball from going out of bounds and hit Marion, who swished a 12-foot jumper from the left wing.
Those baskets all came during the 18-point streak, which was started by Lauren Lombardo on a 3-pointer off yet another assist by Dammer.
Scoblick finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists. Dammer had 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
Lombardo finished with 11 points.
Helena Jardine had 7 of her team-high 10 points for Crestwood in the second quarter, but Abington Heights still added to its lead, making it 41-17 at halftime.
Crestwood, the fifth seed, is eliminated with an 8-10 record.
Abington Heights, playing outside Lackawanna League Division 1 for the first time, improved to 12-2.
The Lady Comets have played in the District 2 Class 5A championship game in all five years since the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association switched from four to six classifications in basketball and at Mohegan Sun Arena in all six years since it became the host of the championships.
Abington Heights had its streak of four straight District 2 titles overall ended with a loss to West Scranton in last season’s arena final. This year, the Lady Comets will take on Dallas (9-5) in Saturday’s 5:30 final.
Dallas lost to Scranton Prep in the District 2 Class 4A final last season, before moving up in classification.
