Cassidy Orzel scored 16 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, made eight steals and provided the winning points Friday night when Wyoming Area edged visiting Tunkhannock, 35-32, in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 girls basketball game.
The teams went to the fourth quarter tied, 26-26, and were tied again, 30-30, midway through.
Orzel’s basket with 3:08 left put the Lady Warriors ahead to stay. She then made one of two free throws with 40.9 seconds left for a three-point lead.
Wyoming Area was otherwise just 2-for-10 on free throws in the fourth quarter, but Nicole Silinskie made both her attempts with 12 seconds left to lock up the win.
Courtney Yuhas scored the game’s final points for Tunkhannock with 1.3 seconds left.
Silinskie finished with nine points. Morgan Janeski grabbed six rebounds.
Tunkhannock was led by Alaina Ritz with 14 points and Lexi Corby with 13.
The win was the third straight for the Lady Warriors, lifting them to the .500 level at 3-3 in the division and 7-7 overall.
The Lady Warriors now occupy the eighth spot in the 11-team race for eight District 2 Class 4A playoff berths. They can also clinch a playoff spot by finishing at .500 or better because the district will expand the field beyond eight teams for any addition teams with .500 or better records.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wyoming Area 56
Hanover Area 37
Nicole Silinskie hit four 3-pointers and Maria Amato had a double-double for Wyoming Area during Thursday’s road victory.
Wyoming Area went ahead to stay early in the second quarter and help Hanover Area to two points in the quarter while beginning to expand its lead.
Silinskie finished with 16 points.
Cassidy Orzel had 13 points and nine rebounds while Amato had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Morgan Janeski joined their effort on the boards with seven rebounds.
Pittston Area 46
Crestwood 25
Emma Coles and Jada Sharp led a second-half offensive surge that allowed Pittston Area to run away with Thursday’s WVC Division 1 game at Crestwood.
The Lady Patriots led just 14-10 at halftime before Coles made three of her four 3-pointers and scored 13 of her game-high 16 points.
Sharp had two of her three 3-pointers and 10 of her 13 points after halftime.
Pittston Area is third in a seven-team seeding race for positioning in the District 2 Class 4A tournament. The Lady Patriots are 3-3 in the division and 8-5 overall.
Pittston Area 55, Wilkes-Barre Area 48
Jada Sharp scored nine points in the fourth quarter when Pittston Area overcame a 34-32 deficit to pull out Tuesday’s home-court win.
Sharp wound up with 16 points and four steals.
Emma Coles hit a 3-pointer and went 4-for-4 from the line, providing seven of the points during the team’s 23-point fourth quarter. She finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Lily Savoy had 13 points and seven rebounds while Hannah Getz provided 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Berwick 30, Pittston Area 27
Kallie Booth and Amanda Fath scored 10 points each for Pittston Area, which was unable to overcome being held to two points in the first quarter by visiting Berwick.
Wyoming Area 47
Northwest 30
Nicole Silinskie and Halle Kranson each made three 3-pointers for Wyoming Area during Monday’s win over visiting Northwest.
Silinskie finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
Kranson had nine points.
Morgan Janeski added eight points and eight rebounds.
Wyoming Area led 14-2 after one quarter with the help of 3-pointers by Silinskie, Kranson and Cassidy Orzel. Silinskie also had another basket during the quarter.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hanover Area 67
Wyoming Area 52
Asad Whitehead scored 25 points to lead Hanover Area to Thursday’s WVC Division 2 victory at Wyoming Area.
Cole Coolbaugh led the Warriors with 15 points and Sammy Solomon had 14.
Wyoming Area is 2-4 in the division and 5-9 overall to rank seventh of eight teams in the race for seeding position in District 2 Class 4A.
Wyoming Area 61
Northwest 56
Jake Greenfield went 11-for-12 from the line while scoring 28 points in Tuesday’s win.
The Warriors trailed until outscoring the Rangers, 21-8, in the fourth quarter.
Greenfield had just two points at halftime before scoring 10 in the third quarter and 16 in the fourth-quarter comeback.
Wyoming Area overcame a 30-point effort by Northwest’s Walker Yaple.
Sammy Solomon added 14 points and Cole Coolbaugh had 12 in the win.
Wyoming Area 59
Lake-Lehman 55
Cole Coolbaugh and Jake Greenfield each made four 3-pointers to lead Wyoming Area past visiting Lake-Lehman Jan. 11.
Coolbaugh scored 18 points to lead four players who scored in double figures.
Jesse Mikoliczyk (14), Greenfield (12) and Sammy Solomon (11) were the others.
WRESTLING
Pittston Area 45
Nanticoke 27
Pittston Area outscored Nanticoke, 39-0, in the eight lightest weight classes at home Wednesday on the way to improving to 3-2 in WVC Division 1 and 6-8 overall.
Keegan Bucci, Jose Ortiz, Jacob Granahan and Kevin Robey had pins from 106 through 126 and Nico Solano and James Spindler added two more at 138 and 145. John Symons had the team’s other pin at 220.
Eric Paxson added a decision at 152.
Tunkhannock 54
Wyoming Area 18
Wyoming Area fell to 4-10 overall when it dropped its WVC Division 2 opener Wednesday at Tunkhannock.
Garret Pocceschi had Wyoming Area’s only pin at 113.
Connor Wrobleski (160), Nasir Condry (220), Jaden Pepe (106) and Adam Signan (126) all won decisions.
Line Mountain Duals
Pittston Area went 0-5 during the Jan. 11 event with a series of tough losses.
The Patriots fell to Wyalusing (40-36), Hanover Area (40-33), Pocono Mountain West (45-32), Shikellamy (50-30) and Tamaqua (40-39).
A.J. Gorto and C.J. Demark each went 5-0 for the day.
Matness at the MACC
Wyoming Area placed sixth out of 11 teams in the tournament, which was won by Wyoming Valley West at Montgomery Jan. 11.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Holy Redeemer 125
Pittston Area 48
Pittston Area fell to 1-4 in the WVC by losing at unbeaten Holy Redeemer Thursday.
Hazleton Area 108
Pittston Area 81
Hazleton Area defeated host Pittston Area Tuesday.
Dallas 148
Wyoming Area 32
Dallas remained unbeaten and host Wyoming Area remained winless with Tuesday’s meet.
BOYS SWIMMING
Holy Redeemer 109
Pittston Area 27
Holy Redeemer remained unbeaten and kept Pittston Area winless with Thursday’s home win.
Hazleton Area 112
Pittston Area 33
Pittston Area dropped the home meet Tuesday.
Dallas 134
Wyoming Area 20
Unbeaten Dallas routed host Wyoming Area Tuesday to keep the Warriors winless.
