EAST STROUDSBURG — Daniella Ranieli is the youngest player on the two-time defending Hoop Group Showcase League champion NEPA Elite Clark 17U girls AAU basketball team, but that did not stop her from playing a big role when the team found itself in overtime with a title on the line June 12.
Ranieli scored all six of the team’s overtime points in a 65-60 victory over the Staten Island Bulldogs 2023 HGSL team to pull out the title of the 2023 Stroudsburg Division Pool C at the three-day Hoop Group Girls Pennsylvania Jam Fest.
Staten Island was 2-0 and NEPA Elite 1-1 in the four-team pool going into the final game. The Bulldogs built leads of 19 points in the first half and 15 in the second half before NEPA Elite rallied for the win.
The teams headed to overtime tied at 59-59.
Ranieli hit the clinching layup after going 4-for-4 from the foul line in the Elam Ending, an untimed overtime format in which the first team to score at least five points wins.
The Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 all-star point guard recently completed her freshman year at Pittston Area. The rising sophomore plays on a team otherwise made up of players who will be seniors and juniors in the 2022-23 school year.
Ranieli capped a 26-7, second-half run to a 59-55 lead with less than two minutes left in regulation when she hit an elbow jumper.
After her foul shots put NEPA Elite in front, Ranieli spotted an opportunity to take off on a fastbreak and receive a lead pass from Emily Romanowski, who had tracked down a loose rebound. Ranieli went in uncontested for the winning points.
“I knew they were going to take a lot of chances,” said Ranieli, who had 16 points and three steals in the game. “And, as soon as Emily got it, I knew she was going to throw it up the floor.”
NEPA Elite fell to the New York Royals 2023 HGSL team, 74-60, in the semifinals of the Stroudsburg Division for the event’s top-level teams.
Ranieli made her last two 3-point attempts to finish with nine points in the semifinal.
In four games at the event, Ranieli was the team’s second-leading scorer with 42 points and led the team with 11 assists. She also contributed 13 rebounds and seven steals.
Ranieli was 14-for-38 from the floor and 7-for-19 on 3-pointers while making all seven of her free throws.
