H.S. Girls Basketball: Pittston Area defeats Wyoming Valley West in D2-5A semifinals

YATESVILLE — A magical season looked like it had a chance to disappear at halftime Saturday afternoon.

Pittston Area had given up 12 consecutive points to end the second quarter, replacing what was a strong first period.

The Patriots, though, were able to reverse their fortunes to start the third. Freshman Daniella Ranieli sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around one from Ava Callahan and — presto! — they were back on top for good.

The 3-point barrage triggered a strong second half as top-seeded Pittston Area defeated fifth-seeded Wyoming Valley West 47-35 in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal game.

Pittston Area (24-3) will play second-seeded Abington Heights (18-6) for the championship at 6 p.m. Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena. Like the school’s boys team will attempt to do on Friday, the girls will be going for only the second district title in the program’s history. The other came in 2015.

That’s quite a turnaround for a team which was 4-13 last season.

“I never thought this would happen,” said Pittston Area guard Kallie Booth, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “Going from last year, I thought we’d be lucky to get .500. It’s very exciting. It’s like, ‘Guys, we have a chance to win it all.’ ”

Valley West finished its season at 11-12. The Spartans had won seven of their last eight games but once again struggled to score against Pittston Area. Three of their four worst offensive games this season have come against the Patriots.

“I just think our girls play hard defensively because honestly I don’t think we match up with them great,” Pittston Area coach Jeff Gregory said. “We don’t really have a matchup for Trinity (Johnson), but Amanda (Fath) did a great job with her the last two times we played them.”

Johnson, Valley West’s leading scorer, finished with 12 points, as did Mackenzie Perluke.

Pittston Area took an 18-10 lead when Taylor Baiera opened the second quarter with a rebound basket. That was it for the offense, as Valley West outscored the Patriots 10-2 in the period to take a 22-18 halftime lead.

Then Ranieli hit a 3-pointer to start the third-quarter scoring. Callahan struck from deep and Ranieli did again off a Valley West turnover. Booth finished off an 11-0 run with a basket off another turnover for a 29-23 lead.

“It gave is a big energy boost,” Ranieli said, “because in the first half we all just fell apart, especially in the second quarter. After halftime, the three 3-pointers we hit kind of gave us a jumpstart in the second half.”

Valley West moved within 33-31 when Gabby Marsola connected on a 3-pointer for the first points of the fourth quarter. Callahan, though, dropped in her second 3-pointer of the game to spark a 7-0 burst.

The Spartans got within five late in the game and put Pittston Area on the foul line in hopes of making up the gap. Ranieli and Booth each hit two free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

“In the first half, I thought we had some good things going,” Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said. “Of course, we knew they were going to make adjustments and they did. Unfortunately, we had too many defensive breakdowns.”

District 2 Class 5A Semifinals

Pittston Area 47, Wyoming Valley West 35

WVW (35) — Trinity Johnson 6 0-2 12, Gabby Marsola 2 0-0 5, Mackenzie Perluke 5 2-2 12, Haylie Oliphant 1 2-2 4, Claudia Siegfried 1 0-0 2, Kiersten Rinehimer 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 4-6 35.

PITTSTON AREA (47) — Daniella Ranieli 4 4-6 14, Kallie Booth 6 7-10 21, Ava Callahan 2 0-0 6, Amanda Fath 0 0-2 0, Ava Butcher 0 0-0 0, Leah Zambetti 1 0-0 2, Taylor Baiera 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 11-18 47.

Wyo. Valley West`10`12`6`7 — 35

Pittston Area`16`2`15`14 — 47

Three-point goals — WVW 1 (Marsola). PA 6 (Ranieli 2, Booth 2, Fath 2).