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<p>DALLAS &#8212; The full-court inbounds pass was originally supposed to be targeted for someone else.</p><p>But on a night when most of the game was in Kirsten Durling&#8217;s hands, it almost seemed natural the final points would fall there, too.</p><p>Quite fittingly, Durling deposited that long pass for a layup and the last of her season-high 22 points with five seconds to play Monday, punctuating Pittston Area&#8217;s 56-50 victory over relentless Dallas in a battle between two girls basketball teams trying to stay tied for first place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1.</p><p>&#8220;I think we <em>deserve </em>to be one of the best,&#8221; Durling said. &#8220;We work for it.&#8221;</p><p>Nobody&#8217;s worked harder than Durling.</p><p>The junior guard hustled her way into Pittston Area&#8217;s starting lineup just last week, and hasn&#8217;t taken much of a break since.</p><p>Then she went out and broke Dallas&#8217; back.</p><p>Durling scored six of the game&#8217;s first eight points, then added another basket in the opening quarter to give the Patriots a double-digit lead.</p><p>And the Mountaineers never recovered.</p><p>&#8220;Kirsten really is a hidden gem,&#8221; said Pittston Area coach Kathy Healey, whose team improved to 9-3 overall and stayed even with Hazleton Area at 5-1 in Division 1 play. &#8220;She&#8217;s very good. She&#8217;s just starting to break out and is starting to have confidence in herself.&#8221;</p><p>Durling was hardly done shining after a quarter.</p><p>She scored six points in the second quarter, including a bucket that gave the Patriots a 29-15 lead. She scored one of just three Pittston Area baskets in the third quarter to help keep the Mountaineers at arm&#8217;s length.</p><p>Then came a frantic and furious fourth quarter, where Durling hit one layup with under five minutes to play to give the Patriots a seven-point lead, before hitting another to ice the game with five seconds on the clock.</p><p>That last one featured strong-armed Taryn Ashby &#8212; the daughter of former major league pitcher Andy Ashby &#8212; heaving a full-court inbounds pass which hit Durling in stride and led right to the layup that doused Dallas&#8217; remaining comeback hopes.</p><p>&#8220;We spend about 10 minutes every practice working on that play,&#8221; Durling said.</p><p>Only, she&#8217;s rarely the shooter.</p><p>&#8220;Usually Alexa (Noone),&#8221; Durling said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what changed coach&#8217;s mind. But it worked out.&#8221;</p><p>The Patriots didn&#8217;t really decide on who would make the long toss until Ashby volunteered.</p><p>&#8220;Taryn&#8217;s a gamer. She wants to win,&#8221; Healey said. &#8220;She said, &#8216;Give me the ball, I&#8217;ll throw it.&#8217; We thought she (Durling) might be a little bit quicker. We told her she had to fly out of there, and she did. Taryn made a great pass.&#8221;</p><p>That pretty much wrapped up a game the Patriots thought they had in hand a couple times before.</p><p>But Dallas just wouldn&#8217;t go away.</p><p>The Mountaineers cut a 14-point deficit in the second quarter down to eight by halftime, then closed within three points on a 3-point field goal by Courtney Hoats two minutes into the third quarter.</p><p>&#8220;I give the kids a lot of credit for their heart and their hustle and their determination down the stretch,&#8221; said Dallas coach Kelly Johnson, whose team fell to 4-2 and into second place in Division 1. &#8220;We came up a little short.&#8221;</p><p>Not by much.</p><p>Nikki Wren, who finished with a team-high 17 points, brought Dallas within three points with a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter, then consecutive 3-pointers from Sara Lojewski and Olivia Johnson brought Dallas within 50-47 with 44 seconds to play.</p><p>And when Hanna Johnson drilled another trey with 23 seconds to play, the Mountaineers were two points away from tying it.</p><p>&#8220;We knew we were in a three-way tie for first place,&#8221; Kelly Johnson said. &#8220;We knew it would be a battle.&#8221;</p><p>But Pittston Area stayed ahead of the charge, as Megan Cummings canned a couple of foul shots and Durling sewed up the six-point victory with that layup off Ashby&#8217;s long outlet.</p><p>&#8220;I just knew we had to come in here, play hard,&#8221; Durling said. &#8220;I knew they were out to get us. That inspired me to work as hard as I can. We knew we had to step up. I feel like this is the one. It was great.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Pittston Area 56, Dallas 50</strong></p><p><strong>Pittston Area (56) &#8212;</strong> Kirsten Durling 11 0-0 22, Jamie Chisdock 1 0-0 2, Megan Cummings 1 4-4 6, Marley O&#8217;Brien 2 0-0 4, Taryn Ashby 4 5-7 13, Alexa Noone 4 0-0 9, Rachel Ferrance 0 0-0 0, Mary Silinskie 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 23 9-11 56.</strong></p><p><strong>Dallas (50) &#8212;</strong> Kendra Saba 0 1-2 1, Maddie Kelley 5 1-4 12, Sara Lojewski 3 0-0 7, Courtney Hoats 2 0-0 5, Nikki Wren 4 9-13 17, Hanna Johnson 1 0-0 3, Olivia Johnson 2 0-0 5. <strong>Totals 17 11-19 50.</strong></p><p><strong>Pittston Area`21`13`6`16`&#8212;`56</strong></p><p><strong>Dallas`10`16`9`15`&#8212;`50</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; PA 1 (Noone); DAL 5 (Kelley 1, Hoats 1, Lojewski 1, O. Johnson 1, H. Johnson 1).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Courtney Hoats (left), of Dallas, stays clear of Kirsten Durling, of Pittston Area, during their battle for first place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 at Dallas High School on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011916GBBPADal2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Courtney Hoats (left), of Dallas, stays clear of Kirsten Durling, of Pittston Area, during their battle for first place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 at Dallas High School on Monday. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011916GBBPADal1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sara Lojewski (right), of Dallas, moves around Alexa Noone (23) of Pittston Area, during a WVC girls basketball game Monday at Dallas High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011916GBBPADal1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sara Lojewski (right), of Dallas, moves around Alexa Noone (23) of Pittston Area, during a WVC girls basketball game Monday at Dallas High School. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011916GBBPADal3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nikki Wren (24), of Dallas, moves around Megan Cummings, of Pittston Area, during their battle at Dallas High School on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL011916GBBPADal3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Nikki Wren (24), of Dallas, moves around Megan Cummings, of Pittston Area, during their battle at Dallas High School on Monday. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Junior guard scores season-high 22 points to keep Patriots in first place</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>

Kirsten Durling’s 22 points keep Pittston Area in first place with win over Dallas