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Addison Orzel, Sarah Holweg fuel Wyoming Area’s District 2 Class 3A win over Valley View

H.S. Swimming: Logan Fluegel leads Spartans past Lake-Lehman

NANTICOKE &#8212; The first shot of the playoffs was a lightning-quick 3-point field goal that glided from the hands of Kayla Aufiero and barely tickled the net on its way through the hoop.And although the rest of the night never seemed to go as smoothly as those first points, top-seeded Nanticoke Area Trojanettes did manage to send a strong message during its postseason debut.It could be dangerous to bog down on Nanticoke Area&#8217;s big girls.Aufiero proved it Wednesday, drilling 16 points on the strength of four 3-pointers as the Trojanettes clobbered Coughlin, 65-19 in a Districct 2 Class 3A girls basketball opener and their final home game of the season at Nanticoke Area High School.&#8220;I thought we shot well,&#8221; said Aufiero, whose sharp shooting helped 21-2 Nanticoke Area advance to Friday&#8217;s district quarterfinal round against Crestwood at a neutral site and time to be determined. &#8220;Once our outside shooters made a basket, then we got it on the inside. I felt it was going back and forth between inside and outside.&#8221;The game itself was hardly a back-and-forth affair as the Trojanettes won their 15th consecutive game &#8212; and haven&#8217;t lost since honoring the school&#8217;s 30-0 state championship team of 1989-90 prior a Dec. 23 defeat to North Schuylkill, 55-45, at the Syl Bozinski Gym.Against an overmatched Coughlin team, the Trojanettes ripped off a 10-point run to open the district playoffs and extended it to 14-3 after a quarter when 5-foot-11 senior forwards Gianna Roberts and Chaquanna Zendarski combined for 11 points in the opening eight minutes.&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t difficult,&#8221; Aufiero said. &#8220;We just focused on getting off to a great start and playing our game.&#8221;Nanticoke Area did stumble a bit afterwards, though.The Trojanettes missed 18 of their 29 shots in the first half while missing open teammates with passes and failing to corral rebounds they positioned themselves to pull down.The spree of sloppiness didn&#8217;t stop Nanticoke Area from taking an insurmountable 31-10 lead into halftime against a 16th-seeded Coughlin team that finished the season 2-21. But the mistakes did forge a sense of frustration among the WVC Division 2 champion Trojanettes.&#8220;We jumped out, then we kind of got a little sluggish,&#8221; Nanticoke Area coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve talked about it all year, not to take anything for granted. I think our girls responded.&#8221;The Trojanettes found most of their answers on defense.They held Coughlin without a basket through the first 14 minutes of the second half, and when Claire Curtis finally put a shot through the hoop for the Crusaders with 3:38 to play, Nanticoke Area was rolling with a 60-12 lead.Aufiero scored her final six points on a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter &#8212; the only shots she took in the second half. Reserve guard Lisa Radziak connected on three more treys in the second half and guard Katie Butczynski hit another one as warning shots for future opponents. In the paint, Roberts wound up with a game-high 18 points while Zendarski finished with 15 by hitting all five of her free throws and five of her six field goal tries.&#8220;That&#8217;s the key, to have balance,&#8221; Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;We have two good inside players. Our guards have to step up. I think Kayla did a nice job with that.&#8221;Nanticoke Area 65, Coughlin 19COUGHLIN (19) &#8212; Savanna Robinson 2 3-7 8, Emily Cicon 0 0-0 0, Claire Curtis 4 0-0 9, Kira Meager 0 0-0 0, Molly Poray 1 0-0 2, Amanda Barberio 0 0-0 0, Casey Salinos 0 0-0 0, Kendra Ryan 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 3-7 19.NANTICOKE AREA (65) &#8212; Katie Butczynski 1 0-0 3, Kayla Aufiero 5 2-2 16, Amber Grohowski 0 0-0 0, Chaquanna Zendarski 5 5-5 15, Gianna Roberts 8 2-2 18, Lisa Radziak 3 0-0 9, Miranda Dunn 0 0-0 0, Alexis Pyzia 1 0-0 2, Taylor Zabrenski 0 0-0 0, Cody Hornlein 1 0-0 2, Alyssa Lewis 0 0-0 0, Maddy Grilz 0 0-0 0.Totals 24 9-9 65.Coughlin`3`7`2`7`&#8212;`19Nanticoke Area`14`17`22`12`&#8212;`65Three-point goals &#8212; COU 2 (Robinson, Curtis); NAN 8 (Aufiero 4, Radziak 3, Butczynski).<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Top-seeded Nanticoke Area cruises past Coughlin and into District 2 Class 3A girls basketball quarterfinals