Cassidy Orzel, Nicole Silinskie and Mackenzie Nocchi provided the scoring down the stretch to make Senior Night a success for the Wyoming Area girls basketball team with a 44-39 victory over visiting Wyoming Seminary Friday.
Orzel, Silinskie, Nocchi and Tinsley Sarnak were honored prior to the game.
Wyoming Area then went out and avenged a loss in its Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 opener by erasing an early deficit.
Orzel, who finished with 19 points and six rebounds, completed the comeback with a 3-pointer with 2:22 left to put the Lady Warriors in front, 39-38.
Wyoming Seminary had held Wyoming Area without a first-quarter field goal to take a 12-4 lead.
The Lady Warriors still trailed by five at halftime before holding the Blue Knights to two third-quarter points while taking a 32-28 lead.
Wyoming Seminary surged back in front with a 10-4 run before Wyoming Area put together the big finish.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes following Orzel’s third 3-pointer of the night.
Silinskie hit both ends of a one-and-one with 24.5 seconds left, then Orzel did the same with 16.7 left to make it 43-38.
Nocchi made the front end of a one-and-one with 7.5 seconds to play.
Alex Wesneski added one of two free throws with 5.2 left to end the scoring.
Nocchi had five rebounds while Silinskie, Maria Amato, Morgan Janeski and Anna Wisnewski had four each to add to a team effort on the glass.
Ava Bufalino led Wyoming Seminary with 12 points.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wyoming Valley West 44, Pittston Area 34
Wyoming Valley West beat a team above it in the WVC Division 1 standings for the third time in the last four games when it won at Pittston Area Friday night.
The loss was the second straight for the Lady Patriots.
Dallas 47, Pittston Area 31
University of Pennsylvania commit Lauren Charlton scored 24 points to lead visiting Dallas to Wednesday’s win.
Jada Sharp hit four 3-pointers while scoring 16 points for Pittston Area.
Sharp had three of her 3s in the first half when she scored all but two of the Lady Patriots’ 13 points.
Pittston Area was within 24-21 going to the fourth quarter.
Holy Redeemer 58, Wyoming Area 47
Wyoming Area led the WVC Division 2 leaders at halftime before Sam Yencha led Holy Redeemer back.
Yencha scored 16 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter when she went 6-for-6 from the line to lead her team to its eighth straight victory.
Cassidy Orzel had 15 of her 18 points in the first half to put the Lady Warriors in front, 24-23.
Morgan Janeski had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Pittston Area 49, Nanticoke 47
Kallie Booth scored 14 points and made four steals as Pittston Area pulled out the win in the first of its three WVC Division 1 home games during the week.
Booth, a freshman, hit two 3-pointers while scoring eight of the team’s 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Jada Sharp scored 10 points and Hannah Getz grabbed 10 rebounds while blocking five shots in the win.
Lily Savoy grabbed nine rebounds and Emma Coles added eight rebounds while scoring eight points.
Wyoming Area 57, MMI Prep 26
Morgan Janeski scored a team-high 13 points and shared the team lead of eight rebounds Monday when Wyoming Area posted its fourth straight WVC Division 2 victory.
Mackenzie Nocchi had 10 points and eight rebounds. Maria Amato had 10 points and seven rebounds. Nicole Silinskie scored 10 points.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Holy Redeemer 79, Wyoming Area 22
Sammy Solomon was the only Warrior with more than two points, scoring 12 during Thursday’s WVC Division 2 loss at Holy Redeemer.
The Royals, coming off their first league loss two days earlier, took a 32-4 lead in the first quarter.
Wyoming Area 58, MMI Prep 44
Sammy Solomon scored 18 points and Jesse Mikoliczyk added 11 Monday when Wyoming Area defeated host MMI Prep in a WVC Division 2 game.
It was the third win in four games for the Warriors.
WRESTLING
Coalcracker Tournament
Freshman Jaden Pepe won four straight times at 106 pounds Friday to remain unbeaten through 32 bouts and reach the semifinals of the tournament at Lehighton.
Pepe started with two straight first-period pins, then added a second-period pin before posting a 12-3 major decision over Carlisle’s Taylor Hebenstreit in the quarterfinals.
Rocco Pizano, at 138, and Connor Wrobleski, at 160, each went 2-1 Friday to reach Saturday’s consolation bracket action.
Wyoming Valley West 43, Pittston Area 26
Wyoming Valley West won the final four bouts, clinching the win in the next-to-last weight class of the WVC Division 1 match between rising teams.
The Patriots finished their division schedule with a 4-3 record and need to wait out results of other matches to find out if they are in the District 2 Class 3A Dual meete Tournament.
Pittston Area rallied from a 17-0 deficit to a 26-23 lead.
The Patriots fell short in the end against the Spartans, but have shown progress with a lineup featuring five freshmen. They won just one WVC match in the last three seasons combined and had four straight losing seasons in the conference.
“Three years ago, when we started, there were eight kids here,” Patriots coach Dave Krantz told the Times Leader. “It’s come a long way. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The program’s getting better and better, but it takes time.”
Jimmy Spindler (145) and John Symons (195) had pins in the loss. A.J. Gorto (170) and Alex Anastasi (170) posted major decisions. C.J. Demark (152) and Adrian Colon (220) also won decisions.
Pittston Area 40, Dallas 33
Jacob Granahan’s 11-0 decision over Sawyer Christman at 126 pounds in the final bout of the night lifted Pittston Area to Wednesday’s WVC Division 1 road vicdtory.
The Patriots trailed by 15 going into the last four bouts.
Keegan Bucci’s 50-second pin at 106 got the comeback started. Joii Phillips added a pin at 113 and a forfeit at 120 led to Granahan’s deciding victory.
James Spinder (145), A.J. Gorto (160) and Adrian Colon (220) had pins for the Patriots earlier.
Hanover Area 40, Wyoming Area 37
Christian Torres won a major decision in the final bout at 145 to lift host Hanover Area to the WVC Division 2 victory.
Vincenzo Giambra (152), Richie Hyzinski (182) and Garret Pocceschi (106) had pins for Wyoming Area. Jaden Pepe had a major decision at 113 and Rocco Pizano also won a decision at 138.
BOYS SWIMMING
Wyoming Valley West 71, Wyoming Area 36
Wyoming Valley West beat visiting Wyoming Area in WVC swimming Tuesday.
Wilkes-Barre Area 81, Pittston Area 42
Wilkes-Barre Area posted the WVC win at Pittston Area Tuesday.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Wilkes-Barre Area 87, Pittston Area 85
Wilkes-Barre Area pulled out the two-point road victory Tuesday in a WVC meet.
Wyoming Valley West 87, Wyoming Area 80
Host Wyoming Valley West edged Wyoming Area in Tuesday’s WVC meet.
