Pittston Area’s breakthrough girls basketball season ended in a pair of close playoff losses.
The Lady Patriots went from four wins in the 2021 season to a 24-5 season, with three of the losses coming in playoffs in the last five games.
Riding a stingy defense and high-scoring backcourt combination, Pittston Area won its first Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title and played in the WVC Tournament championship game.
A loss there was followed up by two straight District 2 Class 5A playoff victories before the season concluded with losses in the March 5 district final and Wednesday’s PIAA state tournament opener.
“For our kids, the experience of what we went through can only help us moving forward,” second-year Lady Patriots coach Jeff Gregory said. “You can talk about state playoff games and district final games at the arena until you’re blue in the face, but unless your kids actually play in one – and that includes the kids on the bench, who maybe don’t even get in, but go through the experience – and until you see it and what it takes to play in that game …
“There’s no better experience than being there. That is a major step for us moving forward.”
Abington Heights 38, Pittston Area 31
WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Allison Dammer scored 18 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, blocked seven shots and made three steals to lead Abington Heights past Pittston Area in the March 5 district championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
“She was a force in there,” Pittston Area coach Jeff Gregory said. “There’s no question that she bothered us in there.”
Even with Dammer dominating in the middle, Pittston Area led 20-16 late in the third quarter and was tied going into the fourth quarter.
Dammer and Anna Scoblick, seniors each playing in their fourth and final title game at the arena, handled all the scoring in a 10-0 run that put Abington Heights ahead to stay.
“You’re talking about two seniors who have been in those positions before, that know how to play in a game like that,” Gregory said.
Pittston Area had outscored Abington Heights, 14-3, for a span of more than 13 minutes to take that lead into the last 80 seconds of the third quarter.
“I kept telling them, ‘the ball will fall’,” Abington Heights coach Deanna Klingman said. “As soon as we get started scoring, we’ll be OK.”
While Abington Heights heated up, Pittston Area cooled off.
The Lady Patriots went 7:39 without scoring before Kallie Booth connected on a drive.
Daniella Ranieli led Pittston Area with 19 points.
Scoblick added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists for Abington Heights, which has played in all seven years of finals at the arena, winning six times.
Bangor 40, Pittston Area 39
Pittston Area shook off slow starts in each half on the road in the state playoff opener, but rallied each time only to fall one point short against Bangor.
“I thought our kids played hard as they always do,” Lady Patriots coach Jeff Gregory said. “I thought they had another great defensive effort. We just came up short.”
Kaylee Holland, who led the Slaters with 15 points, hit two free throws with 5.5 seconds left.
The Lady Patriots rushed up floor, but scored a two-pointer just before the final buzzer, coming up a point short.
Daniella Ranieli led Pittston Area with 15 points. Kallie Booth added 11 and Taylor Baiera had seven.
“We fell behind early,” Gregory said. “We didn’t have a great start. I thought we fought our way back into the game in the second quarter.
“Then, we didn’t have a great start in the third quarter, but we fought our way back to where we took the lead late.”
Ranieli’s long 3-pointer gave Pittston Area its only lead, 35-34, with 1:05 remaining.
