Defense turned a tie game on the road at halftime into a decisive first victory of the season for the Hazleton Area girls team Monday night.

Hazleton Area’s defense created easy offensive opportunities to begin the third quarter, then shut down Nanticoke in the fourth quarter of the 58-42, non-league victory.

The Lady Cougars improved to 1-1 while the Trojanettes fell to 0-2.

Hazleton Area opened the second half with a 13-2 run, which started with six straight points on three layups off steals in the first 52 seconds.

The first five Hazleton Area baskets of the second half were layups, four off of steals – three of which came in the backcourt – and the other on an offensive rebound at the end of a fastbreak that was ignited by a blocked shot.

Just 4½ minutes after the teams were deadlocked 27-27 at halftime, Hazleton Area was in front, 42-30.

The Lady Cougars carried a 46-37 lead into the fourth quarter, then held the Trojanettes without a field goal in the final eight minutes.

Brooke Boretski scored 18 points to lead the Hazleton Area offense, but got help from Jaya Franek and Lacie Kringe in the third quarter.

Franek finished with 10 points, Kringe 9 and Julia Mrochko 8.

Lauren Casey led Nanticoke with 20 points. Riley Baird hit a 3-pointer in each of the first three quarters to add nine points.

Hazleton Area was unable to contain Casey in the first half when the Nanticoke post player scored 17 points.

Boretski had 10 in the first quarter to give Nanticoke a 14-11 lead.

Casey had 11 in the second quarter to force the halftime tie.

The Lady Cougars held Casey without a second-half field goal by often disrupting the Trojanettes offense before it could get started.

Nanticoke grabbed a defensive rebound, but Boretski stole it right back underneath for the first basket of the third quarter, just 15 seconds in.

Olivia Wolk made a steal and sent it ahead to Franek for the next basket.

Franek followed with another steal before Nanticoke could cross the timeline and took it in for the third straight layup.

Brooklyn Biehl opened the Nanticoke second-half scoring, but the Hazleton Area defense went right back to work.

Franek stole away another Trojanettes defensive rebound for one basket, then scored on her own offensive rebound following a Carley Krizansky blocked shot to make it 37-29.

Following a Casey free throw, Kringe hit a 3-pointer and added the next basket off a Franek midcourt steal to stretch the lead to 42-30.

Franek had eight of her points in the third quarter.

Wolk was scoreless until going 5-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.

In other Monday games:

Lake-Lehman 44, Berwick 33

Claire Dougherty scored 16 points as Lake-Lehman beat a team from the preseason Big School girls portion of the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings for the second straight game.

Lake-Lehman (2-0) had opened the season as one of two other Big Schools that received consideration for the Super Six.

The Lady Knights took a 22-9 lead after a first half in which Dougherty scored 12 of her points and Berwick shot 3-for-26 from the floor.

Berwick improved to 40 percent in the second half to finish 13-for-51 (25.5 percent).

Dougherty hit three 3-pointers in the first half.

Marissa Brdaric scored 8 of her 10 points in the fourth quarter when she made a 3-pointer and went 3-for-4 from the line for Lake-Lehman.

Katie Starr led Berwick with 18 points and 16 rebounds. She had 13 points in the second half.

Starr scored seven points and Renny Murphy hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter when Berwick outscored Lake-Lehman, 18-4, to move in front, 27-26.

With Brdaric leading the way, Lake-Lehman, which also got a fourth-quarter 3-pointer from Chase Purdy, went 6-for-9 from the line down the stretch to produce the win.

Riverside 68, Wyoming Area 20

Kylie Lavelle scored 21 of her 30 points while helping Riverside open a 37-12 lead at halftime.

The Lady Vikes, the top-ranked Small School girls team in the Super Six, also got 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots from Lavelle while improving to 2-0.

Riverside has outscored its first two opponents 77-12 in the first half and 128-22 overall.

Kayla Rose added 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Emily Taylor had 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Riverside held Wyoming Area to one field goal in the first half – four total – and one point in the fourth quarter.

Morgan Janeski led the Lady Warriors, getting all of her points by going 9-for-10 from the line in the first half.

Wilkes-Barre Area 68, Hanover Area 10

Gloria Adjayi scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half while helping the Wolfpack opened its second season with a win.

Wilkes-Barre Area led 49-4 at halftime.

Vanessa Luna scored 8 of her 10 points in the first quarter when the Wolfpack took a 29-4 lead.

Adjayi scored 12 points in the second quarter while Wilkes-Barre Area was shutting out host Hanover Area (0-2).

Hannah Salwoski hit two 3-pointers to lead Hanover Area with six points.

MONDAY’S BOYS COVERAGE

Lake-Lehman/Berwick: https://nepabasketball.prestosports.com/2020-21/articles/LLBerwickBoysGame.

Riverside-Delaware Valley: https://nepabasketball.prestosports.com/2020-21/articles/RiverDVBoys.