WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Scranton Prep continued its run of playoff girls basketball success and once again Maya Jenkins was right in the middle of it.
Jenna Hillebrand and Jenkins, an Old Forge resident, led the way when the Classics turned back a Valley View surge en route to a 62-36 victory in Thursday night’s District 2 Class 4A championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
In the last eight years, Scranton Prep is 104-1 with eight titles in Lackawanna League Division 1, is 20-1 with a one-point championship game loss and seven titles in District 2 Class 4A playoffs, has been to the 2024 state championship game and was undefeated overall in 2020 when COVID halted the playoffs in the state quarterfinals.
The Classics (23-1) were well on their way to winning for a third game this season by 20-plus points over Valley View, which is 20-2 against everyone else, when they took a 26-5 lead on a Jenkins 3-pointer with 3:35 left in the third quarter.
Valley View, however, fought back. The Cougars outscored the Classics 21-8 over the next 11 minutes and were within 34-26 when the third quarter neared its conclusion.
“We knew we had to stay calm and composed and just finish out the game,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins snapped Scranton Prep out of a rare 6:45 scoring drought in which Valley View had scored 12 straight points. Her strong drive in transition produced a three-point play.
Hillebrand scored the next five points, then Jenkins added two more fast-break points for a 10-0 run over the final 20.2 seconds of the third quarter and first 1:29 of the fourth.
“We knew we had to get stops,” Jenkins said. “We had to rebound the ball a little bit better. Some of them were long rebounds. We were able to push in transition and try to get layups.”
Valley View did not get closer than 15 points again.
Jenkins added two more baskets, giving her nine points in the final 8:21 and 15 total. She also shared the team leads in assists (five), steals (two) and blocks (two) in support of Hillebrand’s 21-point effort.
Strong performances at the arena are nothing new to Jenkins. She made all five of her combined 3-point attempts as a sophomore and junior while leading Scranton Prep in scoring both times. She had 12 points in 2023 and 17 points to go along with four steals last year.
