By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
PLAINS – Nadia Evanosky had a one-on-one shot at individual honors at halftime of the girls game in the Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic.
When her shooting touch abandoned her in the 3-Point Contest, Evanosky took a different approach to coming away with an award.
Evanosky moved closer to the basket – often much closer with the help of her defensive efforts – on the way to being the winning team’s Most Valuable Player when Team Phillips defeated Team Jezorwski, 88-59.
“I had to make up for the 3-Point Contest,” said Evanosky, who lost to Wyoming Valley West’s Trinity Johnson at halftime. “I’m happy for Trinity, but I was a little mad at myself, so I wanted to come out strong and get us the lead.”
Evanosky has 12 points and 4 steals during a 30-15 third quarter that allowed Team Phillips to overcome a three-point halftime deficit. She wound up leading all players in both categories with 21 points and 7 steals.
“We wanted to show that we were here to play and make it a good competition,” Evanosky said.
That was evident in the game for senior players from the Wyoming Valley Conference, with more full-court pressure and double teams in the frontcourt than seen in most local high school all-star games in recent years.
Evanosky had a little added motivation when she missed all 15 of her 3-point attempts at halftime, increasingly firing too strong as frustrations mounted.
“I think I was maybe a little nervous and maybe I got a little adrenaline going because I overshot, which is rare,” she said. “Normally, I undershoot.”
Evanosky put the extra energy to good use in the second half. The Dallas senior made 8 of her last 11 shots, combining layups off steals with strong drives to the basket.
“I just wanted to win as a team and find my teammates up the court, but if my shots are there, I just wanted to take them,” said Evanosky, who was personally responsible for five of the eight second-half turnovers by Team Jezorwski.
The defensive pressure, however, was just one factor in the game turning around and Team Phillips outscoring Team Jezorwski, 56-24, in the second half.
Team Phillips had rebounding advantages of 21-4 in the third quarter, 41-12 in the second half and 85-36 for the game.
Four-time Division 1 all-star Johnson had 14 points and 11 rebounds while two-time WVC Division 2 Player of the Year Claire Dougherty had 8 points and a team-high 16 rebounds.
The inside dominance extended to the team’s third 6-footer, Amanda Fath from Pittston Area, and to Wyoming Area’s Rosalind Tart, who spent much of the game beating taller opponents to rebounds.
Fath went 9-for-14 while scoring 18 points, more than she had in game during her high school career.
“I really loved playing with the girls,” Fath said. “I feel like they all just worked together. Being from different teams, we had a lot of chemistry and made sure everybody scored and everybody got the ball.
“They really looked inside.”
Tart grabbed 15 rebounds and had a game-high 6 assists.
Nanticoke’s Riley Baird, the only player to hit three 3-pointers in the game, was the MVP and top scorer for Team Jezorwski with 15 points.
The game ended on Baird’s 3-pointer from nearly 35 feet.
“There were like two seconds left and I threw it up, not thinking anything of it,” Baird said. “It felt good as soon as it left my hand.”
NOTES: Chase Purdy, who missed the last third of the season with a knee injury after helping put Lake-Lehman in position to repeat its WVC Division 2 title, took the court for the start of the game. Johnson won the tip and Dougherty sent a pass ahead to Purdy for an uncontested layup before she left the game. … Johnson spent most of her season operating closer to the basket and did not have a 3-pointer. But she was one of two finalists after the first stage of the 3-Point Contest at practice, then scored 6 out of a possible 18 points in the contest. She started by hitting 3-for-5 from the right corner and got a bonus point for making her last shot there. Johnson then proceeded to make one of her attempts each from the top of the key and the left corner. … Bill Phillips from Berwick coached the Black Team that had players from his school, Dallas, Wyoming Valley West, Lake-Lehman, Pittston Area, Wyoming Area, Crestwood and Wyoming Seminary. John Jezorwski from Holy Redeemer coached the Yellow Team that had players from his team, Nanticoke, host Wilkes-Barre Area, Hanover Area and Tunkhannock.
STATS: Team Phillips was 7-for-14 (50 percent) from 3-point range while Team Jezorwski was 9-for-48 (18.8 percent). … Pittston Area’s Leah Zambetti had six rebounds while teammates Ava Butcher and Fath had five each to add to the Team Phillips domination on the boards. Wilkes-Barre Area’s Gloria Adjayi had six rebounds and Holy Redeemer’s Aleia Atherton had five for Team Jezorwski. … Four players had three assists each: Audrey DelGaudio from Dallas and Fath for the winners and Reagan Holden from Wilkes-Barre Area and Aubrey Curley from Holy Redeemer for the losers. … Adjayi led Team Jezorwski in steals and blocked shots with three of each. … Evanosky added to her defensive performance as the only Team Phillips player with two blocked shots. … Johnson also did some of her best work after the 3-Point Contest, scoring 11 of her 14 points, getting her only steal and blocked shot and grabbing 5 rebounds in the second half.
