GIRLS ROUNDUP: Western Wayne, Dunmore clinch ties

Posted: Feb 26, 2021

Western Wayne needed to get through a significant challenge in order to move within a step of its first girls divisional title as a Lackawanna League member.

The Lady Wildcats rallied from behind on the road against North Pocono, the defending champion and second-place team that seemed to be building momentum heading into Tuesday night’s game.

Kaeli Romanowski scored 22 points and Jaque Morris added 14 to lead Western Wayne to the 57-51 Lackawanna Division 2 victory that assured the Lady Wildcats of no worse than a tie for first place in the division.

Kathy Shepherd chipped in with nine points and Emily Romanowski had seven.

Western Wayne prevented North Pocono from forcing a tie for the division lead and instead moved two games in front with two to play.

The Lady Wildcats completed a season sweep of the defending champions, ending a six-game North Pocono winning streak.

Western Wayne won its seventh straight league game to improve to 9-2 in the league and 10-5 overall.

Carena Colo had 18 points to lead North Pocono, which is 7-4 and 8-5. Alicia Goldenzeil added 15.

North Pocono appeared in control for much of the first half.

Jenna Beach scored six of her eight points to lead the Lady Trojans to a 14-8 lead after one quarter.

North Pocono stretched the lead to 20-10 a little more than two minutes into the second quarter.

Western Wayne came right back down the floor and Emily Romanowski hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 5:44 left in the half to start a stretch of 21 minutes in which the Lady Wildcats dominated, 47-26.

The Lady Wildcats outscored the Lady Trojans, 13-6 the rest of the half, 15-8 in the third quarter and 19-12 through most of the fourth quarter.

Morris and Kaeli Romanowski followed Emily Romanowski to make it three 3-pointers for a 9-2 run in 2:17.

Kaeli Romanowski converted an offensive rebound just before the halftime buzzer to cut North Pocono’s lead to 26-23. She had six more points and Morris added five in the third quarter when Western Wayne took the lead.

The Lady Wildcats carried a four-point lead into the fourth quarter, then remained in control while hitting all nine of their free throws down the stretch. The Romanowski sisters, Shepherd and Morris each made two. Skylar Long made one while completing a three-point play.

Morris had six points in the fourth quarter and 11 total in the second half.

Kylie Mastillo had six points and Colo had five for North Pocono in the fourth, but it was not enough to overcome Western Wayne’s free throw shooting.

Elsewhere Tuesday:

Dunmore 60, Holy Cross 32

Dunmore began separating itself from visiting Holy Cross late in the half, then ran away to a 60-32 victory to clinch at least a share of an eighth straight Lackawanna Division 3 title.

Moriah Murray led the way with 20 points.

The Lady Bucks took a 28-15 lead at halftime after the game remained close well into the second quarter.

Berwick 40, Hazleton Area 38

Renny Murphy converted an offensive rebound with less than a half-second remaining to lift Berwick to the victory at Hazleton Area and into the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls lead.

Katie Starr scored 8 of her game-high 19 points during Berwick’s fourth-quarter comeback. She also grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked 7 shots.

Murphy finished with 13 points, including 6 in the fourth quarter.

Gabby Starr led the defense with six steals.

Jaya Franek led Hazleton Area with 10 points. Brooke Boretski added eight and three teammates had six.

Montrose 42, Blue Ridge 19

The unbeaten Montrose girls stretched their lead to a full game in Lackawanna Division 4 with a 42-19 win at Blue Ridge.

Sisters Tangi and Aspen Smith led the way with 15 and 13 points.

Holy Redeemer 54, Wyoming Area 39

Jillian DelBalso led the way with 14 points as Holy Redeemer won the afternoon game at Wyoming Area to hold on to the WVC Division 2 lead.

Aubrey Curley added 11 points in the win.

Morgan Janeski led Wyoming Area with 18 points.

Lake-Lehman 46, Hanover Area 13

Lake-Lehman remained even in the loss column and a half-game back of Holy Redeemer in WVC Division 2 by winning at Hanover Area, 46-13.

Delaware Valley 55, Wallenpaupack 40

Brooke Acoveno scored 14 of her 24 points when host Delaware Valley raced out to a 25-4 lead after one quarter in the Lackawanna League Division 2 game.

Erin Hartley added two 3-pointers during the fast start.

Mackenzie Olsommer had 17 points in the win.

Erika Badner made four 3-pointers while scoring 14 points for Wallenpaupack.

Old Forge 59, Lakeland 40

Olivia Ciullo continued her recent scoring tear with 37 points in the Lackawanna Division 3 road victory.

Ciullo had 36 points against Mid Valley in her previous outing.

Mountain View 44, Forest City 15

Regan Cameron scored 27 points, burying five 3-pointers as Mountain View rolled to a comfortable Lackawanna Division 4 road win.

Abington Heights 72, West Scranton 24

Clair Marion scored 28 points to lead Abington Heights, which ran out to a 24-2 lead after one quarter of the Lackawanna Division 1 game.

Riverside 69, Carbondale 28

Kayla Rose scored 24 points and Kylie Lavelle added 19 as Riverside rolled in the Lackawanna Division 3 game.