By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
WILKES-BARRE – Bill Phillips and Joe Gavio had no trouble settling on a starting five for Friday night’s girls opener of the Wyoming Valley Conference Senior All-Star doubleheader.
Katie Starr, the sixth of their eight available players did not arrive until after the lineups were introduced, slipping into a courtside seat moments before the game started.
Starr, NEPABasketball.com’s choice as WVC Division 1 Player of the Year, joined the action 3:28 into the game and immediately became its dominant force.
When Holy Redeemer’s Lynzie Skoronski and Hazleton Area’s Olivia Wolk also arrived from afternoon softball games in time to play in the second half, the Blue team had a deeper attack, which it used to defeat the Red, 60-51.
Starr led all players in the game in points (23), rebounds (17) and blocked shots (3) while sharing the lead in steals (3).
The Bloomsburg University commit led Team Phillips/Gavio (Blue) past Team Hopkins/Mushock (Red) in the game at GAR High School.
Player availability become an issue when the annual Moses All-Star Games were canceled earlier in the week and volunteer Shawn Walker joined forces with WVC coaches to put on the games at a new site and, in the case of the girls, on a different date and with an earlier start time.
Red, coached by Crestwood’s Don Hopkins and Wilkes-Barre Area’s Mary Mushock-Namey, drew players from their teams as well as Dallas, Pittston Area and Wyoming Area. It had 11 players from the start.
Blue, coached by Berwick’s Bill Phillips and Hazleton Area’s Joe Gavio, pulled players from their teams, Nanticoke and Holy Redeemer. Because of a busy day on the WVC softball schedule only five of their eight players were available even with the 6:15 p.m. start pushed back a few extra minutes.
Starr, who entered the game with Red leading 6-0, scored her team’s first four points.
Wolk and Skoronski joined in for the second half, entering the mix with the Red in front, 30-21, after the Blue had faced a deficit of as many as 12 points in the second quarter. They combined to go 5-for-10 from the floor while chipping in 12 points.
Blue was 0-for-15 on 3-pointers before Skoronski and Wolk hit the team’s last two attempts from beyond the arc to help add to a four-point lead in the game’s final three minutes.
Starr freed herself up to arrive just before tipoff by hitting a home run to help Berwick build an 8-2 lead in softball. She left in the sixth inning of the home-field win over Crestwood after all the game’s scoring was done.
“I told my coach I’m going to do my best to get ahead,” said Starr, who was committed to staying longer if the game remained closer.
After providing the long ball on the softball diamond, Starr’s basketball performance was all about getting herself into position to be effective from close range. Mixing in an occasional drive or cut with a series of strong post moves and four putbacks, Starr went 11-for-16 from the floor.
Starr grabbed nine offensive rebounds, including retrieving three of her five misses.
With a starting lineup featuring three teammates who joined Starr in Berwick’s WVC Division 1 championship run, the Blue was able to remain within striking distance until more help arrived.
“When I got here, I was still the only sub at that point,” Starr said. “Later on, more subs came, but I knew our girls were good enough to push through it.”
Wolk did all her scoring in the fourth quarter to match Nanticoke’s Lauren Casey for second-most on the team with seven points.
Casey also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots. She supported Starr in building a 39-32 rebounding advantage and giving Blue control of the paint.
Hazleton Area’s Carley Krizansky and Berwick’s Emily Ouimet each had five assists.
Krizansky also had six points.
Berwick’s Renny Muprhy, Jackie Nevel and Ouimet scored four points each.
The game turned on a 20-3 run to end the third quarter and begin the fourth, putting Blue ahead, 43-35, with 5:52 left. Starr had six points while Krizansky and Casey added four each in the run, which combined the offensive rebounding of Starr and Casey, who spent their most time together on the court during the decisive stretch, with steals by Wolk, Krizansky and Ouimet that also led to baskets.
Brianna Wickiser from Crestwood had six points in the first quarter and Bella Hill from Dallas had eight in the first half to help the Red build a lead.
Hill finished with a team-high 13 points. Helena Jardine from Crestwood, the only player in the game with more than one 3-pointer, made both her attempts from long range while adding 11 points.
Wickiser finished with nine points while matching Julia Kocher from Dallas for the team lead of six rebounds and Vanessa Luna from Wilkes-Barre Area for the team high of three steals.
Luna added seven points.
Julia Johnson from Crestwood led the team with three assists.
The rest of the Red lineup included Kaitlyn Slusser and Maria Amato from Wyoming Area, Jaden Weiss from Crestwood, Hannah Cook from Wilkes-Barre Area and Kendall Tigue from Pittston Area.
