All four games on the Thursday night Wyoming Valley Conference girls basketball schedule impacted the division races with three sending contenders against each other.
Hazleton Area, Berwick and Holy Redeemer won those games and Wilkes-Barre Area picked up a road win.
Hazleton Area 54, Wyoming Valley West 42
Olivia Wolk scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half to keep Hazleton Area in control as the first-place Lady Cougars handled a visit by second-place Wyoming Valley West to preserve their Division 1 lead.
Olivia Wolk scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half for the Lady Cougars.
Wolk, who also had seven rebounds and four assists, and Brooke Boretski led the defense with six steals each.
The all-around effort from Wolk is nothing new. She leads the team in scoring, rebounds and steals and ranks second in assists.
Jaya Franek and Julia Mrochko added nine points each.
Boretski, who have five of her seven points in the quarter, and Wolk each hit 3-pointers during the second quarter. Mrochko and Lacie Kringe added three-point plays to help Hazleton Area outscore Wyoming Valley West, 16-8, and take a 24-16 halftime lead.
Kalia Saunders and Makenzie Perluke scored 12 points each for the Lady Spartans.
Hazleton Area improved to 4-1 in the division and 8-4 overall.
Wyoming Valley West is 5-3, all in division play. The Lady Spartans had a three-game winning streak broken.
Berwick 59, Dallas 47
Katie Starr scored 17 points and pulled down 19 rebounds to lead Berwick to the Division 1 road win.
The game matched two of the three teams that entered the night in a tie for third place.
Berwick, along with Wilkes-Barre Area, moved into a second-place tie, percentage points ahead of Wyoming Valley West. The Lady Bulldogs are 4-2 and 5-3.
Defending champion Dallas falls to 3-3.
Renny Murphy made three 3-pointers while matching Starr for the team scoring lead of 17.
Bella Hill led Dallas with 19 points.
Hill and Deanna Wallace, who added 11 points, each made three 3-pointers.
Murphy had six points and Starr five to help Berwick to a 17-11 lead after one quarter.
Hill made two 3s and scored eight points in the second quarter to cut the lead to 26-25 at halftime.
Murphy’s eight points and Starr’s six helped Berwick rebuild the lead and take a 46-37 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Wilkes-Barre Area 45, Pittston Area 34
Wilkes-Barre Area also moved into a share of second place in Division 1 when it won at Pittston Area.
Gloria Adjayi led the way for the Wolfpack (4-2, 8-2) with 18 points.
Wilkes-Barre Area outscored Pittston Area, 32-20, in the middle quarters to break away from a tie game.
Kallie Booth led the Lady Patriots with 12 points.
Holy Redeemer 53, Nanticoke 45
Holy Redeemer was below .500 in Division 2 play when it took the court Wednesday after an extended absence.
Following wins on consecutive nights, the Lady Royals are one of only two teams in the division above .500, putting the defending champions in sole possession of second place with a home game against first-place Lake-Lehman coming up Saturday.
Holy Redeemer raced out to a 21-2 lead after one quarter on its home court, then fought off a comeback that saw Nanticoke close to within six after three quarters and two midway through the fourth quarter.
Nanticoke scored the first basket of the game before Holy Redeemer ran off 21 straight points.
Lynzie Skoronski and Faith Sekol had 12 points each for Holy Redeemer (3-2, 4-3).
Nanticoke (3-4, 4-5) got 17 points from Lauren Casey.
