Pittston Area returns, from left, seniors Grace Callahan, Daniella Ranieli and Maddie Karp to its girls basketball starting lineup.
Tom Robinson | For Sunday Dispatch
SCRANTON — Two-time, all-state selection Daniella Ranieli is back to lead Pittston Area into the girls basketball season.
Ranieli, who recently committed to play National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II basketball on a scholarship from Millersville University, is looking to be a first-team Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 all-star for the fourth time. Last season, division coaches selected her as their Player of the Year.
“Obviously with Daniella’s ability, we’re going to revolve most of the things we do around her,” Lady Patriots coach Jeff Gregory said. “It would not be smart not to.
“We’re going to utilize her as much as we can and hope we get some help from her teammates. We do know that our success is going to be based on what kind of help we can provide her.”
Ranieli was the division’s second-leading scorer last season with 18.3 points per game. She added to her established ability to drive to the basket, showing her shooting skill by leading the division in 3-pointers with 60 and free throw percentage at 82.9.
“You can never be good enough,” Ranieli said. “I just keep working on shooting and driving to the basket.”
Fellow seniors Maddie Karp and Grace Callahan, who joined her at Coaches vs. Cancer Media Day at Riverfront Sports Nov. 4, are the best candidates to provide scoring support for Ranieli.
“Grace has improved greatly offensively,” Gregory said. “And, as a leader, she’s been doing a great job.
“We’re going to need something from Grace and something from Maddie. We’re going to need them to be seniors basically.”
Karp returns in the backcourt and was the team’s third-leading scorer last season.
“I think our offense could be better from last year,” Karp said. “We’ve always been a good defensive team, but now that we’ve been connecting with each other in different ways, I think we’ll be a better offensive team.”
Callahan was among the players who started in the frontcourt last season and at 5-foot-7 will continue to battle there as part of an undersized team that still plays tough on defense and the boards.
“I’m definitely going to look to score more, but I’m more of a defensive player,” Callahan said. “I get rebounds. I guard people that are much bigger than I am, so I just have to box them out and take a lot of charges.”
Giuliana Latona is another experienced forward. Sophomore Julia Long or seniors Carlena Lizzi and Haley Pointek are others who could play there.
Bella Dessoye, who got a bit of experience last season as a freshman, is another guard.
“Our staple is going to have to be our defense keeping us in games and playing a little more up-tempo at times to get some easy baskets and nullify the size disadvantages we’ll have on some of the nights in the league,” Gregory said.
Pittston Area went 5-9 in the division and 12-11 overall last season in what Ranieli described as a “rebuilding year” because of graduation losses from a champion team the year before.
Mason Gross, a former all-star on the Pittston Area boys team, has been added to the coaching staff, working with the seventh-grade team.
