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<p>WRIGHT TWP. &#8212; As her missed free throw bounded off the rim, Maddie Ritsick charged down the lane, leaped high in the air and put back a rebound basket that pretty much put the game away.</p><p>It was just what Ed Stepanski needed to secure his first career girls basketball head coaching victory.</p><p>And it was just like old times for Ritsick.</p><p>Nearly fully recovered from an MCL/ACL tear she suffered at the end of last season, Ritsick returned by rattling off a game-high 22 points Friday while leading Crestwood past pesky Meyers, 42-33 in a high school girls basketball season opener for both.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s good,&#8221; Ritsick said of her recovering knee, which also required some bone reconstruction in the offseason. &#8220;I feel, really, almost back to normal.&#8221;</p><p>Not quite, though.</p><p>Ritsick, a two-time All-Pennsylvania Class 3A selection, felt her speed, defensive positioning and endurance were all lacking during her first game back on a court.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;d rate it medium. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s my best performance,&#8221; said Ritsick, a 6-foot senior who recently gave a verbal commitment to play college basketball at the University of Sciences in Philadelphia next season. &#8220;Overall, I feel I need to work on my defense. I feel by the regular (league) season (which opens in January) I&#8217;ll be back to 100 percent. I didn&#8217;t do anything all summer.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my first game back, I didn&#8217;t expect it to be my best.&#8221;</p><p>Yet, it was good enough to make a statement that Ritsick&#8217;s back on the path to becoming the standout forward who led the Wyoming Valley Conference Division I by averaging over 26 points per game last season.</p><p>And along with it, it made Stepanski a winner in his debut as Crestwood&#8217;s head girls basketball coach.</p><p>&#8220;Oh, this is awesome,&#8221; said Stepanski, who replaced Pat Brogan on Crestwood&#8217;s bench. &#8220;You practice and practice and practice and you really don&#8217;t know what you have until you play that first game.&#8221;</p><p>Crestwood had a 19-10 lead at halftime, thanks to Ritsick&#8217;s 11 points spread over the first two quarters and some aggressive defense on Meyers&#8217; undersized shooters.</p><p>&#8220;I went into that locker room at halftime (and said), &#8216;Girls, we&#8217;re keeping them to 10 points in a half,&#8217; &#8221; Stepanski said. &#8220;Our goal is to keep teams to 10 points a <em>quarter</em>.&#8221;</p><p>The good fortune, and defense, didn&#8217;t last.</p><p>Trailing by 15 points midway through the third quarter, the Mohawks found a spark - and took off on a 15-1 run to end the period.</p><p>Bella Skaff and Giana Skaff both buried 3-point goals in that spurt, Tiffany Muniz added a three-point play, and when Muniz drilled a 3-pointer just 44 seconds before the final quarter, Meyers was suddenly within 26-25.</p><p>&#8220;Gotta hand it to Meyers,&#8221; Stepanski said. &#8220;They&#8217;re a scrappy bunch of girls. They obviously grabbed the momentum in the third quarter and they beat us to the ball. They were playing much harder.&#8221;</p><p>Crestwood never caved, though, thanks in large part to Ritsick.</p><p>Playing on the same Crestwood court where her season came crashing to a halt in the spring during an overtime District 2 Class 3A playoff victory over Lake-Lehman - &#8220;Yeah, the trainer reminded me of it right before the game. I&#8217;m like &#8216;Oh my God,&#8217; &#8221; Ritsick said - she flourished at crunch time.</p><p>Ritsick swished the first basket of the fourth quarter to extend Crestwood&#8217;s lead to three points.</p><p>And she made sure the Comets never lost their lead. They were up by a mere three points with 74 seconds remaining when Ritsick hit the first end of a foul shot, missed the second, then stormed the lane for a rebound bucket that boosted Crestwood&#8217;s advantage to 37-31.</p><p>&#8220;Not bad for a first game back from an ACL injury,&#8221; Stepanski said. &#8220;She&#8217;s getting stronger every day. She&#8217;s a strong player. She&#8217;s confident, she&#8217;s a leader, great kid, hard worker.&#8221;</p><p>The wait, Ritsick said, was harder than anything she&#8217;s endured.</p><p>&#8220;Oh my God, I was so excited, but obviously nervous,&#8221; Ritsick said. &#8220;Once I got out there, it was like normal, another game. I felt like last season, pretty normal.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Crestwood 42, Meyers 33</strong></p><p><strong>MEYERS (33) &#8212;</strong> Amanda Gray 2 0-0 4, Tiffany Muniz 3 3-5 10, Bella Skaff 3 2-4 9, Alaena Lloyd 0 0-0 0, Giana Skaff 3 0-0 7, Cameron Daughtry 0 0-0 0, Erin Morris 1 1-2 3, Sarah Bottger 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 12 6-11 33.</strong></p><p><strong> CRESTWOOD (42) &#8212;</strong> Maddie Ritsick 7 8-11 22, Sara Hopkins 0 2-2 2, Abbie Macko 1 0-0 2, Emily Shiplett 0 0-0 0, Kate Snipas 3 0-0 7, Julia Makowski 2 3-4 7, Marlee Dillon 1 0-0 2, Andrea Shipton 0 0-0 0, Abbey Murphy 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 14 13-17 42.</strong></p><p><strong>Meyers`6`4`15`8`&#8212;`33</strong></p><p><strong>Crestwood`9`10`7`16`&#8212;`42</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; MEY 3 (B. Skaff, G. Skaff, Muniz; CRE 1 (Snipas).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Abbey Murphy, right, reaches for the ball in front of Cameron Daughtry of Meyers as Crestwood&#8217;s Marlee Dillion looks on during Friday&#8217;s WVC high school girls basketball game in Wright Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_crestwoodmeyersbball01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crestwood&#8217;s Abbey Murphy, right, reaches for the ball in front of Cameron Daughtry of Meyers as Crestwood&#8217;s Marlee Dillion looks on during Friday&#8217;s WVC high school girls basketball game in Wright Township. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_crestwoodmeyersbball02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Maddie Ritsick (42) drives the lane to the basket in Friday&#8217;s WVC high school girls basketball opener in Wright Township. Ritsick returned from a torn ACL/MCL suffered in last season&#8217;s district playoffs to score a game-high 22 points. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_crestwoodmeyersbball02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Crestwood&#8217;s Maddie Ritsick (42) drives the lane to the basket in Friday&#8217;s WVC high school girls basketball opener in Wright Township. Ritsick returned from a torn ACL/MCL suffered in last season&#8217;s district playoffs to score a game-high 22 points. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Senior scores 22 in Crestwood&#8217;s season opener</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Crestwood’s Maddie Ritsick’s return sparks Ed Stepanski’s first coaching victory