Berwick is not in position to win another Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls title, but the Lady Bulldogs are able to have a say in who does.
Freshman Carly Ochs made one of two free throws with 1.4 seconds left Monday night to lift host Berwick to a 37-36 victory that dealt a severe blow to what are now Hazleton Area’s slim title hopes.
The Lady Cougars entered the fourth quarter with a 33-23 lead, but Sarina DeFinnis, Rae Anna Andrews and Ochs all hit 3-pointers in the comeback by the Lady Bulldogs. They led an 11-1 run to a 34-34 tie with 2:54 left.
Berwick wound up with the ball coming out of a timeout in a 36-36 tie with 11 seconds left.
The Lady Bulldogs got the ball up court for a 3-point attempt, which was off the mark. Ochs got the rebound and had a layup for the potential winning shot when she was fouled.
Instead, Ochs made the first of two free throws for the win.
DeFinnis led Berwick with a career-high 16 points.
Rachel Whitenight had 7 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Sophia Shults had 18 points for Hazleton Area. Kaci Kilker scored seven of her eight in the first half.
Berwick is 4-7 in the division and 7-12 overall.
Hazleton Area slipped to 9-4 and 13-7. The Lady Cougars trail Wilkes-Barre Area (9-1) and Pittston Area (9-2) in the division race but do get a shot at Wilkes-Barre Area in their division finale Wednesday.
Holy Redeemer 45, Wyoming Area 40
Holy Redeemer held visiting Wyoming Area to six first-half points, then went 9-for-12 from the line in a 22-point fourth quarter to finish off the victory and remain within a half-game of first-place Lake-Lehman in WVC Division 2.
Mia Ashton scored 9 of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter when she was 5-for-6. She had 13 of her points in the second half when Jillian DelBalso was scoring all 11 of her points.
The Lady Royals led just 11-6 at the half and 23-20 after three quarters.
Jocelyn Williams led Wyoming Area with 20 points.
Anna Wisnewski added nine, all in the second half.
Pittston Area 39, Wyoming Valley West 32
Kallie Booth scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half to lead Pittston Area past visiting Wyoming Valley West in WVC Division 1.
Pittston Area led just 3-2 after one quarter and 11-10 at halftime before Booth scored seven points to key a 13-9, third-quarter advantage.
Only three players scored for Wyoming Valley West.
Trinity Johnson had 11 of her 15 in the second half.
Mackenzie Perluke added 10 points. Claudia Siegfried scored all seven of her points in the fourth quarter.
Wilkes-Barre Area 45, Crestwood 40
Gloria Adjayi went 8-for-12 from the line while scoring 24 points to lead Wilkes-Barre Area to the WVC Division 1 road win.
Reagan Holden added eight points.
Danayjha Moore scored all seven of her points in the second half when the first-place Wolfpack pulled away from a tie.
Julia Glowacki scored 10 points, all in the first half, for Crestwood.
Dallas 64, Tunkhannock 36
Elizabeth Viglone scored 16 points to lead four Dallas players in double figures during the home-court WVC Division 1 victory.
Victoria Spaciano scored 12 points while Nadia Evanosky and Audrey DelGaudio added 11 each.
Old Forge 62, Carbondale 16
Old Forge routed visiting Carbondale in the meeting of teams that came into the game winless in Lackawanna League Division 3.
Elk Lake 51, Mountain View 20
Elk Lake won on the road in the Lackawanna Division 4 game.
MORE MONDAY GIRLS COVERAGE
Lake-Lehman/Nanticoke game story; Claire Dougherty’s 1000th career point. https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/HSGames/Dougherty1000.
