Julia Mrochko scored 15 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and made 5 steals Friday night to lead first-place Hazleton Area to a 62-49, home-court victory over defending champion Dallas, in a rematch of the playoff to decide last season’s Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title.

Olivia Wolk and Brooke Boretski added 12 points each for the Lady Cougars. Jaya Franek had 10 points and 3 assists.

Lacie Kringe dished out five assists while Carley Krizansky contributed six rebounds and three assists.

Hazleton Area’s balance was evident in the third quarter when it got points from seven different players to outscore Dallas 16-6 and extend its lead to 50-35.

Julia Kocher scored 12 points to lead Dallas and Bella Hill had 10.

Elsewhere Friday:

Wilkes-Barre Area 41, Crestwood 39

Crestwood played from behind most of the game, but made things interesting late before falling short against visiting Wilkes-Barre Area in the WVC Division 1 game.

The Wolfpack stayed within a game of first-place Hazleton Area and took over sole possession of second place from idle Berwick. Wilkes-Barre Area is 5-2 in the division and 9-2 overall.

Gloria Adjayi scored 8 of her 12 points and Vanessa Luna had 9 of her 11 for Wilkes-Barre Area in the second half.

Helena Jardine had a game-high 21 points for Crestwood.

Riverside 60, Old Forge 28

Riverside’s defense dominated in the Lackawanna League Division 3 game between the top two Small School teams in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.

The top-ranked Lady Vikes led 29-7 at halftime against the host Lady Devils.

Scranton Prep 65, Scranton 26

Cecelia Collins scored 21 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to help visiting Scranton Prep remain unbeaten overall with the Lackawanna Division 1 victory.

Lizzie Neville added 17 points and 7 steals.

Rachael Rose scored 10 points.

Western Wayne 63, West Scranton 29

Lackawanna Division 2 leader Western Wayne scored the first 14 points in its home-court win.

Wallenpaupack 46, Honesdale 40

Wallenpaupack hit its season-high for points while winning the Lackawanna Division 2 game over rival Honesdale on the first day of a back-to-back, home-and-home series between the two teams.

Lakeland 42, Mid Valley 39

Lakeland held off a late comeback by visiting Mid Valley for the Lackawanna Division 3 win.

Holy Cross 66, Carbondale 32

Holy Cross shut out Carbondale in the first quarter, taking an 18-0 lead on the way to winning easily on the road in Lackawanna Division 3.

Elk Lake 53, Mountain View 26

Elk Lake moved into a tie for the Lackawanna Division 4 lead with Montrose by winning on the road.

Susquehanna 45, Forest City 25

Meghan Kiernan scored 21 points and Makenzie Decker grabbed 14 defensive rebounds in Susquehanna’s Lackawanna Division 4 win.

Lexi Iveson added 16 points.

The Lady Sabers shut out the Lady Foresters in the second quarter for a 20-8 halftime lead.

Kim Graham hit a pair of 3-pointers while scoring all eight of her points in the second half.

Dunmore 68, Blue Ridge 18

Dunmore opened leads of 20-2 after one quarter and 36-6 at halftime of the non-league win over visiting Blue Ridge.

ABINGTON HEIGHTS-VALLEY VIEW GAME: https://nepabasketball.com/2020-21/articles/AHVVGGame.