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H.S. Girls Basketball: Berwick’s Reese Mensigner scores her 1,000th point in win

<p>NANTICOKE &#8212; The star power at Nanticoke Area, along with the heart and soul of three league championship teams, is all gone.</p><p>That punishing press defense, along with the points it produces, is not.</p><p>Using a similar, swarming style that stormed to the last three Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 titles, Alyssa Lewis, Lisa Radziak and the rest of the Nanticoke Area girls basketball team pestered Pittston Area into 20 turnovers Thursday and punished the Patriots by taking an early 18-point lead before cruising to a 57-41 victory at Syl Bozinski Gym.</p><p>&#8220;Our team is really fast,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;Everyone plays hard, plays fast. We know what our goal is. We fly to the ball on defense. We just play hard.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s not hard to see where this may be heading.</p><p>Halfway through the WVC season, Nanticoke Area improved to 7-0 in Division 2, right in back of 8-0 Holy Redeemer.</p><p>And the Trojanettes are doing it without their top playmakers who graduated &#8212; Kayla Aufiero and Riley Klepadlo after last season and Gianna Roberts left following the 2015-16 season. They&#8217;ll all be invited back to watch, free of charge &#8212; along with everyone who played or coached girls basketball at Nanticoke Area &#8212; when the school celebrates 50 years of girls basketball next Thursday against Crestwood at Bozinski Gym.</p><p>But for now, Lewis, Radziak and the run-and-gun Trojanettes are having a celebration of their own.</p><p>Lewis made three steals and scored six of Nanticoke Area&#8217;s first 10 points within the game&#8217;s first two minutes, as the Trojanettes answered Pittston Area&#8217;s opening 3-pointer with a 10-0 run.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to get off to a great start,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;Pittston has a great team. We wanted to play our usual style, fast and focused.&#8221;</p><p>The Trojanettes flew right past Pittston Area, which fell to 3-4 and remained two games off the WVC Division 1 lead.</p><p>Lewis led the charge, finishing with five steals and helping Nanticoke Area force 12 turnovers in the first quarter.</p><p>Looks like she was making up for some lost time.</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s just getting back from an ankle injury,&#8221; Nanticoke Area coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;She&#8217;s back now. Once she starts hitting that mid-range jumper to go along with it, she&#8217;s going to take the next step.&#8221;</p><p>Her steps were fast and furious Thursday, as Lewis finished with 11 points after helping the Trojanettes power to a 28-10 lead by the end of the opening quarter.</p><p>&#8220;I got an injury in the Hanover game &#8212; sprained ankle,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;So I was out for a couple games. It&#8217;s feeling good, close to 100 percent. The press was working really good. I got a couple good steals right in the beginning.&#8221;</p><p>Then Radziak started burying shots.</p><p>She got going with two 3-pointers to start her team-high 15-point night, taking off on a 10-point scoring spree over the final 5:52 of the opening quarter.</p><p>&#8220;We saw today, teams that played that box-and-one or triangle-and-two on Kayla (Aufiero) last year, now it&#8217;s on Lisa,&#8221; Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;She&#8217;s had to step up. She really stretches zone defenses out and is doing a great job handling the ball at point guard for us.&#8221;</p><p>Radziak was one of four Trojanettes to score in double figures, as Bella Czeck came off the bench to beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer for a 42-19 halftime lead while ending up with 10 points and Maddy Grilz used three 3-pointers to also hit for 10.</p><p>Nanticoke Area entered the final quarter with a 53-27 lead, and spent the final eight minutes shooting sparingly.</p><p>&#8220;That was the key,&#8221; Yendrzeiwski said, &#8220;to get up early on them like we did in the first half. At the end of the day, our girls have a lot of fun playing this way. They enjoy it.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area 57, Pittston Area 41</strong></p><p><strong>PITTSTON AREA (41) &#8212;</strong> Mary Silinskie 0 0-0 0, Alexa Noone 3 4-6 11, Andrea Ruby 1 0-0 2, Emily O&#8217;Brien 2 1-1 5, Leah Hodick 7 3-3 17, Nicole Zambetti 1 0-0 2, Emma Coles 0 2-2 2, Lily Savoy 1 0-0 2. <strong>Totals 15 10-12 41.</strong></p><p><strong>NANTICOKE AREA (57) &#8212;</strong> Alyssa Lewis 5 1-4 11, Jil Baron 0 2-2 2, Lisa Radziak 6 0-0 15, Maddy Grilz 3 1-2 10, Kaite Butczynski 2 3-4 7, Bella Czeck 2 5-6 10, Amiah Lukowski 1 0-0 2. <strong>Totals 19 12-18 57.</strong></p><p><strong>Pittston Area`10`9`8`14`&#8212;`41</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area`28`14`11`4`&#8212;`57</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; PA 1 (Noone); NAN 7 (Grilz 3, Radziak 3, Czeck).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Maddy Grilz, right, pressures the inbounds pass of Pittston Area&#8217;s Emily O&#8217;Brien in WVC girls basketball action Thursday night in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL011918GBBPA-Nanticoke_3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Maddy Grilz, right, pressures the inbounds pass of Pittston Area&#8217;s Emily O&#8217;Brien in WVC girls basketball action Thursday night in Nanticoke. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader  </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL011918GBBPA-Nanticoke_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak passess ahead of Pittston Area&#8217;s Alexa Noone in WVC girls basketball action Thursday night in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL011918GBBPA-Nanticoke_1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak passess ahead of Pittston Area&#8217;s Alexa Noone in WVC girls basketball action Thursday 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/2018/01/web1_TTL011918GBBPA-Nanticoke_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Bella Czeck attempts a layup as Pittston Area&#8217;s Alexa Noone defends during Thursday&#8217;s WVC girls basketball game in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL011918GBBPA-Nanticoke_2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Bella Czeck attempts a layup as Pittston Area&#8217;s Alexa Noone defends during Thursday&#8217;s WVC girls basketball game in Nanticoke. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader  </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s defensive pressure cracks Pittston Area</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>

Nanticoke Area’s pressure defense cracks Pittston Area in girls basketball