Pittston Area responded well to its first defeat.
The Lady Patriots won three straight games, all in the division, in a six-day span to regain sole possession of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball lead while remaining on top of the race for the No. 1 seed in the District 2 Class 5A tournament.
Pittston Area pulled out two close games during the stretch and won the first two without head coach Jeff Gregory, who was serving a suspension from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association for his interactions with game officials following a freshman contest a week earlier. Gregory returned to the sideline in time for Thursday’s home game with Hazleton Area.
Pittston Area 49, Hazleton Area 47
Kallie Booth put Pittston Area ahead twice in the final 45 seconds as the Lady Patriots fought off a fourth-quarter comeback by Hazleton Area in Thursday’s win.
Booth hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left for a 47-45 lead and the fourth and final lead change of the last three minutes of a game that Pittston Area led by 11 early in the fourth quarter. She made the second of two free throws with 20.5 seconds left to break the last tie and put the Lady Patriots ahead, 48-47.
Daniella Ranieli, who scored a game-high 22 points, added one of two free throws with less than two seconds remaining. Ranieli cleared a defensive rebound with less than five seconds left and dribbled toward the corner before Hazleton Area could catch and foul her.
Pittston Area led 39-28 with less than seven minutes remaining before Hazleton Area went on a 15-3 run to take the lead.
Sophia Shults had eight of her 14 points for Hazleton Area in the fourth quarter, scoring a three-point play and hitting a 3-point shot 33 seconds apart for the first six of nine straight points to give the Lady Cougars the lead.
Booth was 3-for-4 and Pittston Area was 6-for-11 as a team from the foul line in the fourth quarter. She finished with 12 points.
Ranieli had scored 12 points in the third quarter when Pittston Area outscored Hazleton Area, 15-6, for a 38-28 lead.
The Lady Patriots finished the week 9-1 in the division for a one-game lead over Wilkes-Barre Area and 17-1 overall for a comfortable lead in the district Class 5A race.
Pittston Area 56, Crestwood 31
Pittston Area used a 35-point first half to roll at Crestwood Tuesday in the last of three straight games with assistant coach Natalie Winters running the team.
Daniella Ranieli scored 17 of her 23 points in the first half to lead the win.
Ranieli scored 10 in the second quarter when the Lady Patriots extended their lead from 16-4 to 35-18.
Kallie Booth took it from there with 8 of her 15 points in the third quarter.
Taylor Baiera went 6-for-6 from the line while scoring all eight of her points in the first half.
Pittston Area 32, Berwick 27
Pittston Area held host Berwick to one third-quarter point while taking the lead on the way to the Jan. 21 victory.
Ava Callahan had 3-pointers in each of the first three quarters while scoring a team-high 11 points.
The Lady Patriots turned an 18-15 halftime deficit into a 23-19 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Kallie Booth, who was 3-for-4 from the line in the third quarter, and Maddie Karp had six points each.
