YATESVILLE – Pittston Area coach Kathy Healey came away from a lengthy meeting with her team following Thursday night’s 39-35 home loss to Crestwood in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball opener vowing that the Lady Patriots will take better care of the ball in the future.
Sophomore center Leah Hodick led Pittston Area with 15 points and 8 rebounds in the loss, but Healey said her team forced the ball inside at times while committing 26 turnovers in the loss.
“We just need to get better at taking care of the ball,” Healey said. “ … Credit to Crestwood’s defense, but we’re still throwing the ball into Leah with two people hanging all over her. We have to start making better decisions and that’s my fault.
“We need to do more of that at practice and I own that. We will get better at that.”
Even with seven turnovers in each of the last three quarters, the Lady Patriots were locked into a close game with the Lady Comets.
Andrea Shipton’s game-clinching free throws with 3.7 seconds left marked the first time either team managed to ahead by more than three points.
Pittston Area and Crestwood were tied for 8:01 of the game’s 32 minutes. They were separated by just one point for 15:43, by two points for 5:17 and by three for only 2:55.
Julia Makowski scored 11 of her 18 points in the second half to lead Crestwood to the win.
Alexa Noone had 10 points for Pittston Area, scoring five each in the first and last quarters, but missing time with foul trouble in between. She also had three assists and two steals.
Andrea Ruby matched Hodick’s eight rebounds. Mary Silinskie had four assists.
The loss was the third straight by the Lady Patriots after winning their first two games.
Wyoming Area 61, Northwest 40
Sarah Holweg scored 26 points while Addison Orzel added 14 points and 20 rebounds Thursday night when Wyoming Area opened the Wyoming Valley Conference season with a home-court win the Division 2-3 crossover game.
Holweg had 10 points in the first quarter to get Wyoming Area out to a 12-9 lead. She had 15 points at halftime and added eight more in the third quarter to extend the lead from 27-15 to 47-29.
Orzel scored all 14 of her points in the second half.
The Lady Warriors improved to 5-0 overall.
Abington Heights 42, Pittston Area 39
Sharon Houlihan hit a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, then scored on a key three-point play in overtime to lift Abington Heights over Pittston Area.
Leah Hodick had 22 points and Alexa Noone added 13 for the Lady Patriots.
Wyoming Area 42, Western Wayne 35
Addison Orzel scored 14 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead Wyoming Area in Monday’s win.
Sarah Holweg added 11 points. She had three 3-pointers in the second half, including scoring six of her team’s eight third-quarter points.
Orzel scored early and late. She had eight points in the first quarter for a 12-9 lead, then had six more in the fourth when the Lady Warriors pulled away after leading just 30-29.
Wyoming Area 66, Mountain View 31
Sarah Holweg and Addison Orzel led a second-quarter outburst in Wyoming Area’s Dec. 16 home win.
Holweg had 10 of her 20 points and Orzel had seven of her 16 to key a 22-1, second-quarter advantage.
Orzel, who grabbed 23 rebounds for the game, also had seven points in the first quarter. Holweg added six to help the Lady Warriors to a 14-9 advantage.
By halftime, Holweg had 16 points on four 3-pointers and Orzel had 14 points while going 6-for-6 from the line.
The Lady Warriors built the lead from 36-10 to 55-22 in the third quarter when Aleah Kranson hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 of her 11 points.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Crestwood 49, Pittston Area 31
Crestwood held host Pittston Area to a single field goal each in the third and fourth quarters Friday night to rally for a win in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 opener for both teams.
Pittston Area led, 26-23, at halftime, but managed just five points in the second half.
Crestwood hit 10 shots from 3-point range, including five in the third quarter when it used a 17-2 advantage to take a 40-28 lead.
Sean Murphy led the Comets with 11 points and Kevin Klusewitz added 10.
The Patriots got points from only three players. Matt McGlynn scored 14 points, Brian Miller had nine and Naseem Guillaume had eight.
McGlynn hit a pair of 3-pointers in each of the first two quarters.
Guillaume scored all his points in the first quarter to help Pittston Area to a 14-11 lead.
Miller matched McGlynn with six points in the second.
Wyoming Area 73, Northwest 38
Sam Greenfield scored 29 points to lead Wyoming Area to a road win Thursday night when the WVC season opened.
Greenfield had 11 of his points in the first quarter to get the Warriors out to a 24-11 lead.
Kyre Zielinski added 10 points to help Wyoming Area improve to 5-0 overall.
Wyoming Area 65, Carbondale 34
Sam Greenfield scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the first half Dec. 16 when Wyoming Area rolled over Carbondale.
The Warriors shut out the Chargers in the second quarter to open a 30-7 halftime lead.
Dylan Melberger hit four 3-pointers to add 12 points.
WRESTLING
Scranton Prep 37, Wyoming Area 36
Host Scranton Prep rallied from a 34-point deficit to pull out Thursday’s non-league win.
Wyoming Area won the first six bouts to take a 33-(minus 1) lead with the help of pins by Charlie Banashefski (152) and Jaryn Polit-Moran (170) and a team penalty point deduction against the Cavaliers for unsportsmanlike conduct. Polit-Moran won in 45 seconds.
Ivan Balavage from Avoca won by pin at 220 to start the Scranton Prep comeback. The Cavaliers won the last six bouts and pulled out the win on a one-point decision by Oliver Egan in the final bout at 138.
Wyoming Area 54, Valley View 23
Jaryn Polit-Moran’s 43-second pin in the opening bout at 170 pounds got Wyoming Area started toward the win in Wednesday’s non-league home match.
Corey Mruk and Justin Joseph followed with pins for an 18-0 lead.
Alex Pierce added a pin in the final bout at 160.
Hazleton Area 49, Pittston Area 18
Hazleton Area won six of the first seven bouts Wednesday night on the way to a WVC Division 1 road win.
Anthony Thomas (126), C.J. DeMark (145) and Nathan Ridgley (152) had pins for the Patriots.
MyHouse X-Caliber Tournament
Pittston Area placed 20th out of 23 teams in the tournament Dec. 16-17 at Wilkes University.
Jake Rutkowski was the only Patriot to finish in the top eight in a weight class, placing eighth at 285 pounds.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Pittston Area 100, Meyers 70
Kiersten Grieco (50-yard freestyle) and Juliet Lawler (100 backstroke) each won one individual event and were part of the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays Thursday to help the Lady Patriots improve to 2-0.
Wyoming Valley West 129, Wyoming Area 35
Visiting Wyoming Valley West won Thursday’s WVC meet.
BOYS SWIMMING
Wyoming Valley West 95, Wyoming Area 26
Wyoming Valley West swept every event while winning at Wyoming Area Thursday.
INDOOR TRACK
Jim Mitchell Invitiational
Pittston Area senior Abby Norwillo went higher than any Pennsylvania girls pole vaulter this indoor season Friday night.
Norwillo cleared 12-8 while finishing first out of 38 entries at the Jim Mitchell Invitational The Armory in New York.
Barring a higher vault somewhere else Friday night, Norwillo’s jump is the second highest by any high school pole vaulter in the nation this season. She went eight inches higher than any other entry in the event while clearing her personal best for an indoor competition.
Norwillo, the state outdoor runner-up in Class 3A at May’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships, committed to the University of Pennsylvania earlier this year.
