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Oh What a Night! Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons to play Kirby Center

<p>She was on the brink of making the state playoffs as a sophomore.</p><p>She was on the bench when her team reached the PIAA postseason last year.</p><p>At long last, Riley Klepadlo finally gets a chance to play in the state girls basketball tournament.</p><p>And Nanticoke&#8217;s do-it-all leader can hardly wait to make an impact, in what may be her final stretch of competitive basketball games.</p><p>&#8220;I thought about it,&#8221; said Klepadlo, a senior who plans to major in pre med next year at the University of Pittsburgh &#8212; where she said she may or may not try to walk on with the women&#8217;s basketball team. &#8220;If this is (it), there&#8217;s no better way I&#8217;d like to go out.&#8221;</p><p>She plans to go full-force into Nanticoke&#8217;s 6:30 p.m. PIAA Class 4A opening-round battle with West Perry at Wilkes University&#8217;s Marts Center while looking to make up for missed opportunity.</p><p>Klepadlo was the scoring leader on a young Nanticoke team that just missed the PIAA playoffs in 2015, when her sophomore season ended just short of states as the Trojanettes lost a District 2 third-place battle to Scranton Prep.</p><p>Nanticoke made the state tourney last season, but without Klepadlo. She was on the bench watching with a torn ACL she suffered playing girls soccer in the fall of 2014. The Trojanettes fell by four points to Danville.</p><p>&#8220;You just felt bad for the kid,&#8221; Nanticoke coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;She didn&#8217;t get the opportunity to show what she can do in the state tournament. I think she&#8217;s one of the most well-rounded players in the entire state.&#8221;</p><p>Rather than sit around wondering if she could have made a difference in Nanticoke&#8217;s state fortunes last season, Klepadlo simply focused on making a statement this time around.</p><p>&#8220;I think our team did everything it could last year,&#8221; Klepadlo said. &#8220;Sitting and not playing was a lot different. I was really looking forward to next year. It&#8217;s right here. It&#8217;s now.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really excited for it.&#8221;</p><p>The Trojanettes are hoping to continue an exciting season that included their third consecutive Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 title and first District 2 championship in a decade, when their 2006-07 team led by Aly Byorick won 29 straight games before losing by two points to Mount St. Joe&#8217;s in the Class 3A state quarterfinals.</p><p>This season&#8217;s Nanticoke team won its first 16 games, lost to Wyoming Valley West, then rolled off nine straight victories to reach the state field at 25-1 behind a dizzying press defense, the shooting of Kayla Aufiero and Lisa Radziak and the versatility of Klepadlo.</p><p>A 17-point scorer, Klepadlo keys Nanticoke&#8217;s swarming defense by averaging nearly six steals per game, and has a knack for finding open teammates. At 5-foot-9, she&#8217;s also the tallest player on a Trojanettes team that starts five guards and brings three more off the bench.</p><p>But she&#8217;s held her own against taller players, grabbing 11 rebounds against a Holy Redeemer team that features two 6-foot reserves and pulling down a whopping 18 boards against Wyoming Area &#8212; one of the WVC&#8217;s best rebounding teams.</p><p>&#8220;I like the assists the best. And the rebounds &#8212; being smaller and getting rebounds,&#8221; Klepadlo said. &#8220;I just kind of jump, it just kind of happens. At my height, I don&#8217;t have much experience at the center spot, I&#8217;ve always been a guard. Some of the girls I&#8217;m playing against, I know they&#8217;re really good rebounders. But I try to predict where they&#8217;re going, what they&#8217;re going to do and use it to my advantage.&#8221;</p><p>The Trojanettes will need every edge they can get against 18-8 West Perry, the No. 4 team out of District 3 that features 6-foot-3 senior Gracie Stauffer, a 1,000-point scorer who scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in an upset of Wyomissing in the District 3 playoffs.</p><p>She&#8217;s complemented by double-figure scorer Meredith Brown and 3-point ace Haylee Reisinger</p><p>&#8220;They have some size,&#8221; Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;They&#8217;re a skilled team. They&#8217;re going to try to get the ball to the inside. It&#8217;s going to be a challenge for us. We&#8217;re not the biggest team left in the state here.&#8221;</p><p>But one way or another, Klepadlo and the Trojanettes plan to play big.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a great thing about Riley, she does a little of everything for us,&#8221; Yendrzeiwski said, &#8220;whether it&#8217;s rebounding the ball, scoring, making assists, making shots, making steals. We&#8217;re really fortunate to have her.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PIAA Class 4A First Round</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Berwick (16-9) vs.</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Jersey Shore (19-6)</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>5 p.m., Wilkes University</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;">In a battle of two teams nicknamed the Bulldogs, both without much recent postseason success, Berwick will rely on its rock-solid resiliency, along with its mountainous height, to try to make it to extend its season into next week.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Berwick suffered a 19-point loss to Nanticoke in a District 2 title game it trailed through the final 25 minutes, and will have to get over it quickly.</p><p style="text-align: left;">That shouldn&#8217;t be a problem for a Berwick team that shrugged off some tough times throughout the season, including an overtime loss to Wyoming Valley West, a bucket at the buzzer during a defeat to Holy Redeemer and a three-point loss to Nanticoke in the regular season to make its first state playoff appearance since 2006.</p><p style="text-align: left;">&#8220;I think it&#8217;s our determination,&#8221; Berwick coach Bill Phillips said. &#8220;Our kids find ways to make things happen.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: left;">Berwick does it behind 5-11 forward Tori Talanca and 6-1 center Roni Isenberg, with 6-foot post player Megan Dalo coming off the bench.</p><p style="text-align: left;">&#8220;We definitely have a size advantage,&#8221; Phillips said.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Guard Reese Mensinger is leading Berwick&#8217;s scoring charge, but she&#8217;s getting help from Talanca and freshman point guard Abbey Burt &#8212; who both had double-figure games in the District 2 playoffs.</p><p style="text-align: left;">They&#8217;ll be up against a Jersey Shore team that beat Shamokin for the program&#8217;s first playoff win in 11 years and finished as the No. 3 team in District 4. Before that, Jersey Shore managed just three wins from 2010 through 2012 and went 3-19 two seasons ago.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The team&#8217;s turn-around was spurred by second-year coach Darrin Bischof, whose young team has developed a fight-to-the-finish mentality.</p><p style="text-align: left;">At 5-9, sophomore forward Hannah Kauffman is the team&#8217;s leading scorer, while junior guard Averie Hess is a proven clutch foul shooter. Captains and guards Liz Severino and Olivia Edler lead a pestering and pressing defense &#8212; the type that gave Berwick all kinds of trouble against Nanticoke in the District to title game at Mohegan Sun Arena.</p><p style="text-align: left;">&#8220;Our kids took it to heart,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t handle it well at the Arena. Jersey Shore likes to press a lot. They&#8217;re a very scrappy team. We&#8217;ve been working on it. That Kauffman girl, she just finds ways to score. If we can neutralize her, I think we&#8217;ll be OK.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: left;"><ins>For other sports stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/sports" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo makes her state playoff debut in her final high school season when the Trojanettes take on West Perry in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball tournament at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Wilkes University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_na_pi3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo makes her state playoff debut in her final high school season when the Trojanettes take on West Perry in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball tournament at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Wilkes University. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_D2Nan-BerwickGirlsBB_3-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Megan Dalo, left, is pressured by Nanticoke&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena . Both will be trying to help their teams to wins Friday when the PIAA playoffs open at Wilkes University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_D2Nan-BerwickGirlsBB_3-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Berwick&#8217;s Megan Dalo, left, is pressured by Nanticoke&#8217;s Riley Klepadlo in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena . Both will be trying to help their teams to wins Friday when the PIAA playoffs open at Wilkes University. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>VIDEO</strong></p><p>To watch video of Riley Klepadlo scoring against Holy Redeemer defenders during the regular season, visit timesleader.com.</p></factboxMeta></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%;"> ICcPZw-2MmY</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%;"> YOUTUBE</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/ICcPZw-2MmY</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%;"> Klepadlo and Trojanettes stand tall</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>

Nanticoke’s Klepadlo to make PIAA girls basketball tourney debut