Holy Redeemer’s Jillian DelBalso (23) looks to dribble past Pittston Area’s Maddie Karp at the baseline in Wednesday’s WVC semifinals in Wilkes-Barre. DelBalso scored 19 points in the Royals’ overtime win.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Taylor Baiera (25) scores after bringing down a rebound against Holy Redeemer on Wednesday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Paige Kroptavich (11) looks for an open teammate against the Patriots’ Daniella Ranieli (2).
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area senior Ava Callahan (13) pivots away from the Royals’ Jillian DelBaso (23) to bounce a pass to an open Kallie Booth.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Meghan Albrecht (3) drives past the Patriots’ defense to score on a layup.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Just make a free throw. That’s what Holy Redeemer’s Jillian DelBalso was thinking as she step to the foul line with 18.2 seconds left in overtime.
Well, she missed the first. The second one, though, fell and eventually so did Pittston Area.
DelBalso’s free throw a few seconds after Angelina Corridoni made a block on the other end of the court was the finishing touch on Redeemer’s 63-59 upset of Pittston Area in a Wyoming Valley Conference girls basketball semifinal game.
Redeemer (15-9) will play Lake-Lehman for the championship at 6 p.m. Saturday at Dallas High School. Pittston Area (22-2) will be off until next week when it will be the top seed in the District 2 Class 5A tournament.
Redeemer took a 62-59 lead in overtime on a pair of free throws by Meghan Albrecht with 50.5 seconds left in overtime. Corridoni’s block and an ensuing rebound by Mia Ashton led to DelBalso stepping to the foul line.
DelBalso’s first free throw banged off the rim.
“I was like, ‘I better make the second one now,” DelBalso said.
She did and then tight defense led to a Pittston Area 3-point miss with 9.5 seconds left, securing the win for the Royals.
The game was close throughout, but Pittston Area didn’t take its first lead until a pair of free throws by Daniella Ranieli made it 48-46 with 2:26 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Redeemer took a 54-52 lead with 36.5 seconds left in regulation when Ashton scored inside, only for Ranieli to hit on an underhand layup at 12.1 to force overtime.
Ranieli and her backcourt mate Kallie Booth were Redeemer’s main concerns. They scored 43 points combined.
Booth demonstrated how dangerous either was early in the third when the Royals lost track of her. She drained a 3-pointer from the left corner and followed with two free throws after being fouled on another 3-point attempt. She also had 10 rebounds.
Ranieli slashed her way to the basket several times. The Redeemer defense managed to disrupt things just enough.
“Our girls did just enough to force them into the things they didn’t want to be in at times,” Redeemer coach John Jezorwski said.
Ashton finished with 21 and DelBalso had 19 for Redeemer. Albrecht netted 14.
WVC Semifinals
Holy Redeemer 63, Pittston Area 59 OT
HOLY REDEEMER (63) — Albrecht 3 8-10 14, Kroptavich 0 0-2 0, Racicky 1 0-0 2, Ashton 7 5-5 21, DelBalso 6 6-10 19, Cegelka 1 0-0 3, Corridoni 2 0-0 4, Karnes 0 0-0 0, Chimoch 0 0-0 0, Quinn 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 19-27 63.
PITTSTON AREA (59) — Ranieli 6 6-7 22, Booth 4 12-16 21, Karp 1 3-4 5, A.Callahan 0 0-0 0, Baiera 2 2-2 6, G.Callahan 1 3-3 5, Lazevnick 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 26-32 63.
Holy Redeemer`14`14`12`14`9 — 63
Pittston Area`6`15`17`16`5 — 59
Three-point goals — HR 4 (Ashton 2, DelBalso, Cegelka). PA 3 (Ranieli 2, Booth).
