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Lackawanna County restaurant inspections Jan. 26-27

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Man dressed as Statue of Liberty arrested on warrant

Just in case anyone forgot who is the defending District 2 champion in the Class 4A field, the Pittston Area Patriots gave a little reminder of it Friday night.They were without their most important player, on both sides of the ball, and were about to be run out of the gym Friday by a Hazleton Area team honoring its fine and proud cast of seniors during their final regular season home game on Hazleton Area&#8217;s floor.So the big, late-season battle for first place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 turned into an eight-point lead for Hazleton Area before some fans even settled into their seats, and would have grown to 11 if a 3-point shot by the Cougars hadn&#8217;t rolled off the rim.Guess what?It was Pittston Area that walked into halftime with a 27-25 lead.That was just the latest signal of how dangerous and how determined the Patriots can be, especially when playoff time rolls around next week.&#8220;We&#8217;re extremely proud of our players,&#8221; Pittston Area coach Kathy Healey said, &#8220;stepping up and showing a lot of heart.&#8221;The Patriots didn&#8217;t win the game, and will go another season without winning a regular season title.But what they did win was a lot of respect, especially from a Hazleton Area team that has developed a fierce rivalry with the Patriots over the last few years.&#8220;They had nothing to lose,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said. &#8220;They&#8217;re loosey-goosey. We&#8217;re the ones that were tight.&#8221;The Patriots seem to make a lot of their opponents tense up.They are 14-6 and headed for a second-place finish in Division 1 behind Hazleton Area during a year when nobody expected the Patriots to come anywhere near that close to first place.But they not only survived the graduation of guards Liz Waleski and Allie Barber &#8212; who sparked last season&#8217;s run to the first District 2 Class 4A title in Pittston Area&#8217;s history &#8212; the Patriots are playing their way back into becoming a real threat in the postseason again.&#8220;No one ever picks us,&#8221; Healey laughed. &#8220;A few years ago, we played Dallas for the league title, then Crestwood, then Hazleton. We&#8217;ve been second for a lot of years, knocking on the door.&#8221;They are not going away.The Patriots went into Hazleton Area trying to force their way into a tie for the division lead without junior Taryn Ashby, who spent the weekend grieving the loss of her grandfather last week.&#8220;She needed to be with her family,&#8221; Healey said. &#8220;We&#8217;re a family-oriented team, and it&#8217;s family first.&#8221;Not only is Ashby the first player that comes up in the conversation about the WVC&#8217;s best defenders, she&#8217;s also running the offense from the point guard position this season. For three seasons now, going back to her freshman season at Pittston Area, Ashby has frustrated most of the league&#8217;s top scorers. Even those as explosive as Hazleton Area&#8217;s Mackenzie Yori.But Yori didn&#8217;t find it any easier in Ashby&#8217;s absence, because Kirsten Durling, Mary Silinskie and the rest of the Patriots made her work for all of her 13 points Friday.&#8220;The kids came to play,&#8221; Healey said. &#8220;They wanted to win for Taryn.&#8221;It was a five-point game with 21 seconds to play in the third quarter when a technical foul against Pittston Area changed the game for good, leading to a six-point swing that Hazleton Area rode to a 52-39 victory.It still never felt safe for the Cougars, because Pittston Area made it that way.It starts with the head coach, who has mastered a system of getting a group of high school girls to give up their egos for the beauty of ball-sharing and scoring balance in a true celebration of team play.&#8220;I&#8217;m a competitor,&#8221; Healey said. &#8220;I try to win at every single thing that I do. One of the things our coaching staff preaches to our players is to believe in themselves, and each other, no matter what. You want to be a winner in life. My parents taught me I can do anything I want to. I try to instill that in our teams.&#8220;We believe, any day, we can beat anybody.&#8221;A year ago, the Patriots played themselves into district champions by beating a favored Hazleton Area team that beat them out of a Division 1 title.It looks like Pittston Area plans to be there again.&#8220;A lot of league left, a lot of games before the district title,&#8221; Healey said as the final week of conference play opens. &#8220;Who knows what can happen?&#8221;Bad breakWyoming Area suffered a huge blow 10 days ago when the Warriors lost standout junior forward Katie Wolfgang to a fracture in the area of her wrist.Wolfgang suffered the injury little more than 10 minutes into a battle for first place in Division 2 against Nanticoke Area, which is one reason Nanticoke Area rolled to a 22-point victory that night.Wolfgang left that game and went straight to the hospital, where X-rays showed the break. She hasn&#8217;t played since, and may not have the opportunity to rejoin the Warriors on the court this season.&#8220;She&#8217;s going to be out,&#8221; Wyoming Area coach Chad Lojewski said. &#8220;I think we have to get deep into districts, or even states, for her to have a chance to come back. It was bad.&#8221;Wolfgang, who was also an all-state goalie on the Warriors field hockey team, is still among the top 10 free throw shooters in the WVC and will finish the regular season shooting 66 percent from the foul line.Without her, the Warriors rallied for two victories last week - and were sparked by a 34-point night from Sarah Holweg - who drilled nine 3-point goals in one game to take the WVC lead with 28 treys on the season.Wyoming Area, which could make some noise in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs, is quietly putting together a strong season at 8-3 in Division 2. Its only league losses against unbeaten Division 2 champ Nanticoke Area (twice) and once-beaten Division 3 winner Holy Redeemer last Monday.&#8220;In fact, we&#8217;ve had a couple girls really step up for us,&#8221; said Lojewski, who singled out senior Rachel Solano and Lydia Edwards for filling some of the void caused by Wolfgang&#8217;s injury. &#8220;We&#8217;re pushing forward.&#8221;Something to strive forWith Division 2 champ Nanticoke Area and Division 3 champ Holy Redeemer securing regular season titles last week, the WVC enters its final week of the regular season without much mystery.A couple of games should be interesting, though.Hazleton Area, which clinched at least a share of the WVC Division 1 by taking a two-game lead over Pittston Area with two to play in a victory over the Patriots on Friday, looks to lock up its second straight league title when the Cougars play at winless Coughlin tonight.While that game doesn&#8217;t promise much doubt about the outcome, Nanticoke Area&#8217;s run through the final week may be a little more eventful.The Trojanettes are seeking to end the regular season as the WVC&#8217;s only unbeaten team. They play at their area rival Hanover Area Monday night before returning back home to face a Northwest team that&#8217;s been dangerous at times, so finishing unbeaten is certainly no lock for Nanticoke Area.The Trojanettes are also looking to lock up the top seed in the upcoming District 2 Class 3A playoffs.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">When Pittston Area&#8217;s defensive ace Taryn Ashby (right) wasn&#8217;t available to hound Hazleton Area&#8217;s star scorer Mackenzie Yori (left), Kirsten Durling (back right) helped the Patriots limit Yori&#8217;s effectiveness during Hazleton Area&#8217;s victory when the two met for first place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_pittstonhazleton02-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>When Pittston Area&#8217;s defensive ace Taryn Ashby (right) wasn&#8217;t available to hound Hazleton Area&#8217;s star scorer Mackenzie Yori (left), Kirsten Durling (back right) helped the Patriots limit Yori&#8217;s effectiveness during Hazleton Area&#8217;s victory when the two met for first place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 Friday night. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>Top 10 Scoring Leaders(Based on regular-season games reported to the Times Leader)(Through Sunday)Name`School`Points`Games`Avg.Rebecca Prociak`Holy Redeemer`270`11`24.6Asdone Hooper`Hanover Area`221`10`22.1.Sarah Holweg`Wyoming Area`205`10`20.5Maddie Ritsick`Crestwood`232`12`19.3Mackenzie Yori`Hazleton Area`226`12`18.8Maya Kornfeld`Wyoming Sem`205`11`18.6Marie Skrepenak`GAR`202`11`18.4Gianna Roberts`Nanticoke Area`174`11`15.8Nikki Wren`Dallas`178`12`14.8Kayla Aufiero`Nanticoke Area`155`11`14.1Top 10 3-point shootersName`School`Goals`Games`AverageSarah Holweg`Wyoming Area`28`10`2.8Kayla Aufeiro`Nanticoke Area`25`11`2.3Lindsey Quinn`GAR`23`10`2.3Gianna Skaff`Meyers`21`11`1.9Gabby Smicherko`Valley West`20`12`1.7Molly Storz`Lake-Lehman`19`11`1.7Maddie Morochko`Hazleton Area`19`12`1.6Maddie Ritsick`Crestwood`18`12`1.5Mackenzie Yori`Hazleton Area`18`12`1.5Erin Gibbons`Valley West`17`12`1.4Reese Mensinger`Berwick`17`12`1.4Top 10 Free Throw Percentage(Minimum 40 attempts)Name`School`No. Made`No. Atts.`Pct.Mackenzie Yori`Hazleton Area`40`46`.87Rebecca Prociak`Holy Redeemer`76`93`.82Erin Gibbons`Wyoming Valley West`40`52`.77Maddie Ritsick`Crestwood`67`91`.74Brenna Babcock`Northwest`35`49`.71Nikki Wren`Dallas`69`98`.70Taryn Ashby`Pittston Area`39`56`.69Asdone Hooper`Hanover Area`57`83`.69Katie Wolfgang`Wyoming Area`35`53`.66Sara Lojewski`Dallas`33`50`.66</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Pittston Area playing possum, preparing to strike