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Wyoming Area upends rival Pittston Area, 61-55

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<p>NANTICOKE &#8212; Her coach noticed it in the locker room.</p><p>Her teammates observed it from the opening tip.</p><p>And by the end, just about everyone in Nanticoke Area&#8217;s gym became aware of the zone Erin Gibbons was in.</p><p>Gibbons scored a career-high 43 points Monday, the Spartans played the game of their lives and Wyoming Valley West shattered Nanticoke Area&#8217;s dream of an unbeaten season with a commanding 80-71 victory over the Trojanettes at Nanticoke Area High School.</p><p>&#8220;Never in my life,&#8221; Gibbons said of her whopping point total. &#8220;I knew I had to have a good night, because their team is really good.&#8221;</p><p>The victory left Valley West, 12-5 overall, alone in first place in the WVC Division 1 at 8-2 when Pittston Area fell to 7-3 with a loss to rival Wyoming Area.</p><p>It was the first defeat for Nanticoke Area and snapped a 15-game winning streak to start the season, dropping the Trojanettes to 9-1 in the WVC Division 2 and into second place behind 9-0 Holy Redeemer, which defeated Crestwood on Monday.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a learning experience,&#8221; said Nanticoke Area scoring leader Kayla Aufiero, who accepted a dazzling prom proposition that included roses and a sign that greeted her when she walked out of the postgame locker room. &#8220;We&#8217;re definitely going to come back. They played better than we did today. There&#8217;s still a lot of time left.&#8221;</p><p>Along with scoring her lifetime high in points, Gibbons was instrumental in breaking a vaunted Nanticoke Area press defense that&#8217;s given everyone else problems this year.</p><p>&#8220;I thought Erin Gibbons did a great job handling the press with the dribble,&#8221; Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said. &#8220;And when they started to double-team, she found the open girls.&#8221;</p><p>It turns out that slick ballhandling was just an opening act for Gibbons.</p><p>She opened the game by hitting her first five shots &#8212; including her first of three 3-point field goals &#8212; while scoring 11 of Valley West&#8217;s 19 points in the first quarter to give the Spartans an early four-point edge.</p><p>&#8220;Oh, she was locked in right from the beginning,&#8221; Ferenchick said. &#8220;You could tell in the locker room before the game, but whenever she hits those first few shots, she&#8217;s ready to go.&#8221;</p><p>Her teammates were more than willing to give her the ball.</p><p>And why not?</p><p>Gibbons scored the first two baskets of the second quarter, used a three-point play to give Valley West an 11-point lead midway through the period, and finished with 26 points in the first half to send Valley West into intermission with a 41-28 lead.</p><p>&#8220;(It was like that) the whole game, really,&#8221; said Valley West&#8217;s 6-foot center Colleen Cwalina, who scored 11 points and was instrumental in helping break the press when Gibbons got trapped. &#8220;She just does what she does.&#8221;</p><p>Gibbons didn&#8217;t slow down much, burying two 3-pointers and scoring eight points in the third quarter to keep Valley West safe with an 11-point lead after the Trojanettes rallied to within five points.</p><p>&#8220;She had a great game,&#8221; Aufiero said.</p><p>Then came her big finish, as Gibbons &#8212; who nailed her first 10 free throw attempts &#8212; helped secure the upset victory by knocking down nine of her 12 foul shots in the final quarter to stave off Nanticoke Area&#8217;s desperate rally.</p><p>&#8220;My teammates do a real good job of getting me the ball,&#8221; Gibbons shrugged.</p><p>It all added up to a wonderfully wild night for Valley West, which roughed up the Trojanettes on the court as well as on the scoreboard.</p><p>Two Nanticoke Area players left the game after taking hard elbows to the face, and although those injuries didn&#8217;t appear to be serious, the continuous scoring of the Spartans was much more damaging.</p><p>After Gabby Smicherko used a three-point play to give Valley West a 16-point lead early in the second half, Nanticoke Area rallied to within five points on Amiah Lukowski&#8217;s three-point play 88 seconds from the end of the third quarter.</p><p>But Gibbons scored five points in little more than a minute, and the Spartans carried a safe 11-point lead into the final quarter.</p><p>Once there, Smicherko made a pivotal three-point play after rebounding her own miss and two clutch free throws, Andi Blaski and Natalie Gruver hit foul shots, and Nanticoke Area never cut its deficit to fewer than six points over the final eight minutes.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never seen our team play like that before,&#8221; Gibbons said. &#8220;Playing like this shows us, &#8216;Wow, this is what we can do.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Wyomng Valley West 80, Nanticoke Area 71</strong></p><p><strong>WYOMING VALLEY WEST (80) &#8212;</strong> Andi Blaski 1 1-2 3, Erin Gibbons 12 16-19 43, Natalie Gruver 1 3-4 5, Gabby Smicherko 6 4-4 16, Colleen Cwalina 5 1-1 11, Sidney Scarcella 0 0-0 0, Katie Mackiewicz 1 0-0 2. <strong>Totals 26 25-30 80</strong></p><p><strong>NANTICOKE AREA (71) &#8212;</strong> Katie Butczynski 0 1-2 1, Lisa Radziak 6 0-0 15, Alexis Pyzia 2 4-6 10, Kayla Aufiero 1 7-10 10, Riley Klepadlo 9 7-8 26, Alyssa Lewis 1 2-2 4, Amiah Lukowski 2 3-4 7, Bella Czeck 0 0-0 0, Maddy Grilz 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 21 24-32 71.</strong></p><p><strong>Wyoming Valley West`19`22`19`20`&#8212;`80</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area`15`13`21`22`&#8212;`71</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; WVW 3 (Gibbons 3); NAN 5 (Radziak 3, Klepadlo, Aufiero).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Erin Gibbons defends Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo in WVC girls basketball action Monday night in anticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Erin Gibbons defends Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo in WVC girls basketball action Monday night in anticoke. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo tries to get past Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Erin Gibbons in WVC girls basketball action Monday night in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo tries to get past Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Erin Gibbons in WVC girls basketball action Monday night in Nanticoke. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Alyssa Lewis knocks the ball away from Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Natalie Gruver as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak closes in on the play Monday night in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Alyssa Lewis knocks the ball away from Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Natalie Gruver as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak closes in on the play Monday night in Nanticoke. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak gets off a pass as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Erin Gibbons defends on Monday night in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak gets off a pass as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Erin Gibbons defends on Monday night in Nanticoke. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Natalie Gruver dribbles out of traffic against Nanticoke Area Monday night in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Natalie Gruver dribbles out of traffic against Nanticoke Area Monday night in Nanticoke. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gabby Smicherko takes the ball down court for Wyoming Valley West as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski tries to catch up on Monday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_WVW-NanticokeGBB_6.jpg</photo5><caption5>Gabby Smicherko takes the ball down court for Wyoming Valley West as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski tries to catch up on Monday night. </caption5><photoCredit5>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Guard&#8217;s 43 points ends Trojanettes&#8217; unbeaten season</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><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> wx6NQvc6ka4</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;">YOU TUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://youtu.be/wx6NQvc6ka4</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> Erin Gibbons hits a 3</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Paul Sokoloski</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Erin Gibbons scores 43 points in upset of Nanticoke