There have been years when Greater Pittston teams have produced more championships.
In 2016, it was the epic performances in pursuit of championships that stood out most.
Wyoming Area’s Sarah Holweg and Bree Bednarski turned in huge individual postseason performances to lead the girls basketball and track and field teams into championship contention.
The Wyoming Area football team produced one of its most impressive efforts in years, ultimately leading the Warriors into district title contention as a top seed.
Pittston Area’s Taylor Baloga led a resurgence by the school’s softball team with a perfect game and no-hitter a week apart late in the season, building the momentum that carried a team, more than a decade removed from its last previous winning season, all the way to the district championship game.
The individual performances of Holweg, Bednarski and Baloga and the team effort of the Wyoming Area football game on a regular-season road trip to Berwick stand out as some of the highlights of the last year in sports for Greater Pittston high school teams.
Holweg’s effort also erased a decade of disappointment.
Wyoming Area had not played in a girls basketball semifinal in that long before Holweg set a school scoring record in a 67-48 victory over Dallas in the District 2 Class 3A quarterfinals.
The 44-point effort gave the Warriors two shots at producing a win that would put them in the state tournament with a top-three district finish.
Holweg came up with 41 points in an 80-73 double-overtime loss to Nanticoke in the third-place game with the state berth at stake.
The sophomore guard did not need overtime to reach her record. The Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 Co-Player of the Year fired in 32 points in the first half on seven 3-pointers, making three of them in an 11-point streak that erased an early 9-0 deficit.
Holweg’s 44 points broke the girls school record of 42 set by Nikki Conway while leading a triple-overtime win over Lake-Lehman in January of 2002. It was most ever by a Wyoming Area basketball player, surpassing the boys school record of 43 set by 2015 graduate Jeremy Zezza.
After starting strong against Dallas, Holweg finished strong against Nanticoke, scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter and overtimes combined.
Bednarski was the top individual performer at the District 2 Track and Field Championships – boy or girl, Class 3A or Class 2A. She sprinted to titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and as part of the 400-meter relay while also surpassing the state qualifying standard while finishing second in a strong field of javelin throwers.
The effort kept Wyoming Area in title contention for much of the day before settling for third place out of 19 teams, just ahead of rival Pittston Area and behind team champion Abington Heights and Dallas.
Baloga’s most dominant games in the pitching circle came right before the playoffs, but she remained strong when the postseason began. After throwing a Senior Day perfect game, Baloga had another no-hitter a week later.
The senior, who was also one of the team’s offensive leaders, started the District 2 Class 3A tournament with consecutive shutouts, helping Pittston Area reach the final before losing to eventual state semifinalist Abington Heights.
Berwick’s defense had not allowed a touchdown in 20 regular-season quarters when Wyoming Area got a 1-yard touchdown run from P.J. Angeli midway through the second quarter of a third week encounter at Crispin Field.
That was just the start as the Warriors pounded the Bulldogs, 34-20.
Wyoming Area outscored Berwick, 20-7, in the second half and outrushed the Bulldogs, 268-76, for the game.
Brian Miles carried 25 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
One week before being lost for the season with an injury, fullback Dylan Kostak ran 10 times for 78 yards, including the two fourth-quarter touchdowns that turned a tie game into a 14-point victory.
The win was the biggest difference in making Wyoming Area the top WVC Class 4A Division team in the regular season and setting it up as the top seed in the eight-team playoff field where it ultimately lost a home rematch to the Bulldogs in the semifinals.
