Wilson gives Lady Knights fresh start in final
Lake-Lehman runs away early to beat Pittston Area in WVC girls title game.
By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
PLAINS TWP. – Ella Wilson got Lake-Lehman started Saturday night, then effectively finished off Pittston Area in the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament girls championship game.
The freshman went 5-for-6 from 3-point range while scoring 20 points and leading Lake-Lehman’s 45-19 rout at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
The first of Wilson’s 3-pointers came on the game’s opening possession and was the game’s first shot, just 18 seconds in.
“I needed that to get me going,” Wilson said.
The last of her 3-pointers ended the competitive portion of the game, switching it to the running clock of the Mercy Rule by giving Lake-Lehman a 41-9 lead with 4:20 still remaining in the third quarter.
The 20 points in less than 20 minutes came after a scoreless game for Wilson in the WVC semifinals the night before.
“I didn’t let (Friday) night affect me,” said Wilson, who got in some extra shooting practice earlier in the day. “I made sure to shoot the ball how I know how to and I didn’t worry about it.”
Wilson finished 6-for-8 overall from the floor and 3-for-3 from the line while also making five steals, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists. She also led the team in steals and rebounds.
Claire Dougherty added 11 points while Hailey Kline went 3-for-4 to score 8 points.
After Pittston Area scored for the first time when Ava Callahan set up Amanda Fath almost five minutes into the game, Wilson scored the next five points, hitting her second 3-pointer for a 12-2 lead with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
The quarter ended at 12-4, then Kline scored the first five points of the second quarter on a putback on her only miss, followed by a 3-pointer.
Callahan hit Pittston Area’s only first-half 3-pointer and Kallie Booth took a steal the length of the floor for her only basket to make it 19-9.
Lake-Lehman then ended any doubts by scoring the last 12 points of the second quarter and first 10 of the third for the 41-9 lead.
Wilson hit 3-pointers from the right corner 35 seconds apart in the last two minutes of the half. She had a 3-point play less than two minutes into the second half, then added her last 3-pointer.
While Wilson led the offense, she was also part of an active, wide-ranging, 2-3 zone that kept Pittston Area from getting into its attack.
The Lady Patriots did not score more than five points in any quarter until substitutes for each team finished up in the fourth quarter.
“We cover a lot of ground,” Lake-Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said. “We go over those screens up top. We practice them all the time.
“We go over that bump down where overloads can kill you. We executed it completely.”
The win was the second straight for Lake-Lehman in the tournament. Some of Wilson’s older teammates won the title in 2020 before it was canceled last season because of COVID.
Wilson watched the last championship as a junior high student and fan. When she joined the team this season, she set about finding a way to help continue the program’s recent success and started from Day One on a WVC Division 2 championship repeat.
“I tried to be a player they could depend on to make a shot,” Wilson said. “I want to make sure they can trust me with the ball.
“And, be there as a good defensive presence and good offensive presence; just overall help as much as I can.”
