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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — The first two wins just brought satisfaction. The third brought that and something more — a district championship Friday night.

Wilkes-Barre Area completed its trifecta against Hazleton Area, using a speedy transition offense for its third victory of the season over the Cougars. This one — by a 47-33 score at Mohegan Sun Arena — gave the Wolfpack the District 2 Class 6A girls basketball championship and a state playoff berth.

Both accomplishments are firsts for the second-year program, which is a combination of players from Wilkes-Barre city schools Coughlin, GAR and Meyers. Next year, students will all be under the same roof at a new high school in Plains Township.

“I think it was all about the hype,” WBA senior guard Hannah Cook said. “It was the first time we were ever here. Everyone was doubting us and saying we were never going to make it, and here we are. We made it and we won.”

Up next for WBA (13-5) is a game at District 3 champion Cumberland Valley (20-1) on March 19 in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs. Hazleton Area lost 54-21 to Cumberland Valley on Jan. 30. Cumberland Valley is also the only team to defeat D2-4A champion Scranton Prep this season.

“We came in here and (WBA coach Mary Mushock-Namey) said, ‘It’s hard to beat a team three times. You guys need to work. They’re going to want it,’ ” said WBA senior guard Vanessa Luna, who scored many of her game-high 21 points in transition. “If (the Cougars won a fourth straight district title), they were going to break a record. Scranton did it, Scranton Prep did it.”

Hazleton Area didn’t and ended its season at 13-8.

“They had our number three times. That’s hard to do,” Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said. “They give us issues — the two bigs inside; the guards are quick. And we didn’t shoot the ball well here. No one really does.”

WBA won the regular-season matchups 62-58 and 53-51. Although the Wolfpack led wire-to-wire, Friday night’s game had the making of another close contest. Their lead was 21-16 at halftime and Hazleton Area had scored the final four points of the second quarter.

Then came the third quarter where WBA’s quickness was evident. The Wolfpack scored 11 consecutive points, with Luna getting three fastbreak layups and Shelby Ardo Boyko scoring inside in transition. They outscored Hazleton Area 16-2 in the period to take a 37-18 lead.

Hazleton Area was able to survive shaky shooting in the first half, going 6-of-28 (21 percent), but an 0-for-10 performance in the third quarter doomed the Cougars. Their first basket of the second half was a 3-pointer by Brooke Boretski at 7:46 of the fourth quarter.

A lack of size was also a problem. Hazleton Area had no one who could match up with WBA center Gloria Adjayi and Ardo Boyko at forward. Adjayi grabbed 11 rebounds and Ardo Boyko had nine boards. Hazleton Area as a team had 19 rebounds.

Adjayi missed a double-double by a point and Ardo Boyko missed a double-double by a rebound.

District 2 Class 6A Championship

Wilkes-Barre Area 47, Hazleton Area 33

WBA (47) — Hannah Cook 0 4-7 4, Vanessa Luna 9 3-4 21, Reagen Holden 0 0-0 0, Shelby Ardo Boyko 4 3-4 11, Gloria Adjayi 4 1-4 9, Danayjha Moore 1 0-0 2, Emily Engle 0 0-0 0, Erin Leonard 0 0-0 0, Emma Krawczeniuk 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Evans 0 0-0 0, Katherin Brito 0 0-0 0, Natalia Credle 0 0-0 0, Jetta Mager. Totals 18 10-19 47.

HAZLETON AREA (33) — Carley Krizansky 3 2-2 8, Lacie Kringe 0 0-0 0, Olivia Wolk 1 0-0 2, Julia Mrochko 2 3-5 7, Jaya Franek 2 0-0 4, Brooke Boretski 3 0-0 8, Paige Kuehn 1 0-0 2, Taylor Kilker 0 0-0 0, Shastyn Tihansky 0 0-0 0, Brianna Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Drasher 1 0-0 2, Kyli Kilker 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 5-7 33.

Wilkes-Barre Area`7`14`16`10 — 47

Hazleton Area`6`10`2`15 — 33

Three-point goals: HA 2 (Boretski).

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H.S. Girls Basketball: Wilkes-Barre Area defeat Hazleton Area again, this time for D2-6A championship