Wyoming Valley West had a 2-0 start and a 17-point lead.
With Olivia Wolk leading the way, Hazleton Area fought back and instead it was the team that emerged as the last unbeaten in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball after its 56-46 overtime victory at Wyoming Valley West Thursday night.
Hazleton Area held Wyoming Valley West without a field goal for the final 4:12 of regulation and the four minutes of overtime while outscoring the Lady Spartans, 17-1, to pull out the win.
Wolk scored six of her 18 points in overtime. She also had eight rebounds and three steals in the game.
Trinity Johnson and Fatikha Tikhtova each had double-doubles in points and rebounds for Wyoming Valley West.
They each scored eight points in the first quarter when the Lady Spartans took a 16-6 lead.
Johnson, who finished with 19 points and 19 rebounds, had her double-double by halftime when Wyoming Valley West led 31-17.
The Lady Spartans added to the lead early in the second half, but Wolk hit two 3-pointers in the third quarter and Brooke Boretski added one to bring the Lady Cougars back within 43-35.
Boretski had 5 of her 10 points in the third quarter.
Johnson scored in the lane for a 45-39 lead with 4:12 remaining, but Hazleton Area dominated from there.
Boretski’s 3-pointer from just to the left of the top of the key with 1:24 remaining ended the scoring in regulation, forcing overtime.
Jaya Franek, Carley Krizansky and Lacie Kringe scored eight points each in the win. Franek also had six rebounds and five steals.
Tikhtova finished with 18 points for Wyoming Valley West.
Wyoming Area 56, Hanover Area 11
Alana Aufiere celebrated Senior Night at Wyoming Area by scoring 16 points and the Lady Warriors held Hanover Area without a field goal in the second half while taking over the WVC Division 2 lead at 3-0.
Aufiere made three 3-pointers while scoring 11 points when the Lady Warriors took a 16-7 lead after one quarter.
Halle Kranson had all eight of her points in the third quarter when they expanded the lead from 23-9 to 44-11.
Mid Valley 40, Carbondale 33
Host Mid Valley rallied from 11 points down at halftime of the Lackawanna League Division 3 game to make Denise Larson a winner in her head coaching debut at Mid Valley.
Grace Goetz finished with 12 points and Katie Glinsky was 6-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter for Mid Valley.
Mid Valley held Carbondale to seven second-half points.
Goetz had six of her points during a 15-5 third quarter that brought the Spartanettes within 31-30.
Larson served as assistant coach last season.
Mia Morrero had nine points, Sarah Tolerico eight and Alyvia Schiavone seven for Carbondale.
The teams tied for last in the division a year ago.
Forest City 34, Blue Ridge 27
Forest City held visiting Blue Ridge scoreless in the fourth quarter to pull out the win in the only Division 4 game played on the first night of Lackawanna League play.
Bella Pleska scored 12 points to lead Forest City
Madeline Shema added nine points, including seven while helping the Lady Foresters to a 25-15 halftime lead.
Pleska had eight points to key a 15-10 advantage in the second quarter.
Lily Bleck scored six of her eight points for Blue Ridge during the third quarter to pull the Lady Raiders within, 29-27.
Similar to the Mid Valley-Carbondale game, both teams brought back experienced groups after tying for last place in the division in 2019-20.
Dunmore 67, Lakeland 25
Dunmore opened a 59-11 halftime lead as it began pursuit of an eighth straight Lackawanna Division 3 title.
Moriah Murray scored 20 points and Ciera Toomey added 18 points in the win.
Anna Talutto came off the bench to pitch in with 14 points.
Colby White had 11 points and Skylar Arendt 10 to lead visiting Lakeland.
Abington Heights 72, Scranton 57
Abington Heights scored 21 of the game’s first 23 points, then cruised from there to win the Lackawanna Division 1 game at home.
The Lady Comets scored the first seven points, led 19-2 after one quarter, then added a Rachel McDonald basket to open the second quarter.
Clair Marion made four 3-pointers while leading Abington Heights with 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists and a blocked shot.
McDonald hit three 3-pointers while scoring 15 points.
Anna Scoblick added 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Lauryn Notari had eight points and six rebounds for Abington Heights, which played without starting center Allison Dammer because of an ankle injury.
Scranton Prep 71, Wallenpaupack 27
Returning all-staters Rachael Rose and Cecelia Collins scored 16 points each as Scranton Prep opened with a Lackawanna Division 1-2 crossover victory.
The Classics, who went unbeaten last season, extended their winning streaks. They have won 28 straight games overall, 42 straight in the Lackawanna League and 43 straight in the regular season.
Rose hit four 3-pointers in the win.
Collins did all of her scoring in the first half when Scranton Prep was building a 47-11 lead.
Maria Belardi added 11 points and Lizzie Neville 10.
Meredith Purcell made six steals.
Western Wayne 49, Valley View 38
Kaeli Romanowski scored 31 points to lead host Western Wayne past Valley View in a Lackawanna Division 1-2 crossover game.
Nanticoke 57, Holy Redeemer 55
Riley Baird hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with six seconds left to lift Nanticoke to the WVC Division 2 victory.
The second straight road loss drops the Lady Royals to 0-2 after entering the season on a 35-game WVC winning streak.
Nanticoke is 2-0 in the division, tied with Lake-Lehman, one-half game behind Wyoming Area.
The 3-pointer was the third of the game for Baird, who finished with 27 points.
Jillian DelBalso hit four 3-pointers while leading Holy Redeemer with 16 points.
Dallas 52, Berwick 50
Dallas went 12-for-14 from the line in the fourth quarter to pull out the WVC Division 1 win at Berwick.
The foul shooting kept Dallas ahead throughout a close fourth quarter.
Bella Hill, who scored 12 points, and Victoria Spaciano, who finished with 11, each went 3-for-4 from the line for Dallas in the fourth quarter.
Spaciano also had a basket during the fourth quarter when she joined Nadia Evanosky, who hit a 3-pointer, in scoring five points each.
Evanosky, Julia Kocher and Elizabeth Viglone each made both of their fourth-quarter free throws and finished with nine points.
Rachel Whitenight had 15 points and 5 steals for Berwick.
Katie Starr had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Wilkes-Barre Area 61, Pittston Area 38
Glorida Adjayi scored 19 points to lead Wilkes-Barre Area to the home-court win in WVC Division 1.
The Wolfpack led 23-6 after one quarter and 35-13 at halftime.
Danayjha Moore scored 11 points and Shelby Ardo Boyko had 10.
Kallie Booth led Pittston Area with 11 points.
Riverside 69, Elk Lake 25
Kylie Lavelle and Kayla Rose led the way as Riverside improved to 6-0 with the road win in the Lackawanna Division 3-4 crossover game that does not count in the division standings.
Lavelle had 24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. Rose had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals.
Emily Taylor gave Riverside a third player in double figures and Alese Karpinski gave it a third player with eight rebounds. Taylor scored 11 points.
MORE: The Old Forge-Holy Cross girls game story can be found at ... https://nepabasketball.com/2020-21/articles/OFHCGGame.
