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Tunkhannock boys swimming narrowly edges Dallas to win league crown

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Attorney permitted to withdraw from defending homicide suspect

EXETER &#8211; Pittston Area hung on the brink of calamity.The Patriots are not particularly known for a stylish brand of girls basketball &#8212; even coach Kathy Healey would admit that much. Those are the risks that are run with defensive-minded teams.But the fourth quarter &#8211; it was not pretty by any sense of imagination.Fourth-seeded Pittston Area averted a near-monumental fourth quarter collapse in a District 2 Class 5A quarterfinal game. After doubling West Scranton&#8217;s score through a half-hour of play, the Patriots survived with a 31-25 victory over the No. 5 Invaders on Wednesday evening in rival Wyoming Area&#8217;s gymnasium.The Patriots advanced to face top-seeded and defending District 2 champion Abington Heights, which downed Coughlin 56-31 in another Class 5A quarterfinal, on Saturday in the semifinals.&#8220;It showed that we had a week off; the jitters were there,&#8221; Healey said. &#8220;The first half we played really well. In the fourth quarter, we kept giving them the ball and giving them the ball. We were giving a lot of gifts away.&#8221;Pittston Area let a 28-14 lead with 5:56 remaining slip in drastic fashion. The Invaders outscored the Patriots 11-3 over the rest of regulation.West Scranton kicked things off with five points in a matter of 11 seconds. Tatum Repskis drained a 3-pointer, and Nya Johnson stole a pass off of an inbounds play and drew a foul to trim the Invaders&#8217; deficit to single digits. After missing a pair of open lane layups, West Scranton received a confidence boost when Johnson put back a layup from Repskis and yielded a one and-one to make it a two-possession game (28-22) with 2:58 left in the game.Pittston Area coughed up the ball eight times during the fourth quarter. The Patriots repeatedly had difficulties with the inbounds play. Fortunately for them, their bigs stifled any West Scranton attempt to come inside and took care of business off of the glass. Emily O&#8217;Brien had four blocks in the fourth quarter.&#8220;We work on our defense,&#8221; Healey said. &#8220;We pride ourselves on our defense, if you&#8217;ve never seen us play before. There are so many defensive things that we really, really work on that sometimes our offense might take a hit as you could see in the fourth quarter. But our defense usually comes through to us.&#8221;Alexa Noone finally ended the Patriots&#8217; drought with a pair of free throws with 45 seconds remaining. The Invaders responded immediately when Repskis made a college-range 3-pointer while closely guarded to move within five points with 40 seconds on the scoreboard.Pittston Area again gave up possession off of the inbounds play. Cassandra Moraca intercepted the pass, but Johnson missed a layup. After Noone stretched the lead to six with a free throw, O&#8217;Brien blocked a long-range attempt from Moraca to clinch the victory.&#8220;When you get turnovers, you need to turn them into offense,&#8221; West Scranton coach Leo Ciullo said. &#8220;It&#8217;s that simple.&#8221;Noone led the Patriots with 12 points. She sparked a 10-point run in the second quarter that put the Invaders into an early hole. Noone made a pair of pull-up jumpers for three on back-to-back possessions. On the Patriots&#8217; next time with ball, she perfected a pass into the lane for Leah Hodick for a 19-9 lead heading into halftime.Even with the limited scoring, Portia Weidlich finished with six assists &#8211; all in the first half.Crestwood 40, North Pocono 34Julia Makowski scored seven of her game-high 15 points in third quarter as the Comets cracked open a tight battle and advanced to the District 2 Class 5A semifinals for a second straight year.Second-seeded Crestwood will face defending district silver medalist Wyoming Valley West, the tournament&#8217;s No. 6 seed, which upended No. 3 Wallenpaupack 55-49 in another Class 5A quarterfinal game.Crestwood won both meetings with the Spartans this season, on the way to dethroning Valley West as the WVC Division 1 champion.Makowski&#8217;s outburst helped Crestwood extend a one-point halftime edge to 29-21 by the end of the third quarter. Crestwood&#8217;s defense limited North Pocono to single digits in each of the first three quarters and kept the Trojans without a double-digit scorer.Sara Hopkins added nine points in the victory and hit a pair of 3-point goals.Abington Heights 56, Coughlin 31 Cassie Ksiazek scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the first half and defending district champ Abington Heights earned a date with Pittston Area by clubbing Coughlin.Ajalaya Butts led Coughlin with 11 points, while Le&#8217;June Berry finished with nine.District 2 Class 3A QuarterfinalsHoly Redeemer 57, Montrose 36Sam Yencha scored 20 points, Julia Andrejko went for 16 and the Royals opened defense of their District 2 crown by immediately attacking the Meteors.Andrejko scored eight points in the first quarter and Yencha hit for seven as Redeemer opened a 23-10 lead after eight minutes and led 36-18 at halftime.Redeemer, the bracket&#8217;s No. 2 seed, will face No. 3 Holy Cross in a district semifinal game Saturday after Holy Cross claimed a 54-37 victory over Hanover Area.Defending District 2 runnerup Dunmore, the top seed in the bracket, had little trouble dumping Meyers, 56-24 in another quarterfinal game. The Bucks will face Mid Valley, which downed Riverside on Wednesday, in Saturday&#8217;s district semifinals.Holy Cross 54, Hanover Area 37Abby Stempa scored 24 points and the Crusaders cracked the game open during a big second quarter.Abbey Lentowski scored six of her 15 points in the second period as Holy Cross moved from a 17-14 lead into a 33-21 advantage at the break.Genesis Rodriguez scored 12 points, Sara Whitesell had 11 and Victoria Benning finished with 10 for Hanover Area, which finished 10-13.Class 4A QuarterfinalsScranton Prep 47, Tunkhannock 24Rachel Rose scored 23 points as top-seeded Scranton Prep cruised to victory in a game played Tuesday. Elisa Penetar added 10 points in the victory.Jess Ell hit a pair of 3-point field goals and Abby Ritz and Becca Avery also scored six points to lead the Tigers.Prep will face Berwick at 6 p.m. Friday at Scranton High School in a district semifinal rematch of last year&#8217;s Berwick victory.District 2 Class 5A quarterfinalsPittston Area 31, West Scranton 25WEST SCRANTON (25) &#8212; Cassandra Moraca 0 0-0 0, Nadya Brown 0 0-0 0, Nya Johnson 3 3-4 9, Tatum Repskis 4 0-2 11, Neveah Ross 1 0-0 2, Angelina Moraca 0 0-0 0, Olivia Bolsai 0 0-0 0, Raven Rozina 1 1-2 3. Totals 9 4-8 25.PITTSTON AREA (31) &#8212; Mary Silinskie 0 0-1 0, Nicole Zambetti 0 0-0 0, Emily O&#8217;Brien 0 0-0 0, Portia Weidlich 3 0-0 6, Leah Hodick 5 3-3 13, Alexa Noone 3 3-4 12, Andrea Puby 0 0-1 0. Totals 11 6-9 31.West Scranton`6`2`6`11`&#8212;`25Pittston Area`9`10`6`6`&#8212;`31Three-point goals &#8212; WS 3 (Repskis 3); PA 3 (Noone 3).Crestwood 40, North Pocono 34NORTH POCONO (34) &#8212; Jordyn MacDonald 1 0-0 2, Jenna Montana 1 0-0 3, Brianna Ruby 3 2-2 8, Lila Gaughan 1 2-2 4, Carena Colo 4 0-2 9, Izzy Pechicek 4 0-0 8. Totals 14 4-6 34.CRESTWOOD (40) &#8212; Riley Magin 0 1-2 1, Sara Hopkins 3 1-4 9, Bella Termini 1 0-0 2, Julia Makowski 3 8-11 15, Sarah Richards 1 2-3 4, Helena Jardine 0 5-8 5, Andrea Shipton 1 2-2 4. Totals 9 19-30 40.North Pocono`8`6`7`13 &#8212; 34Crestwood`7`8`14`11 &#8212; 40Three-point goals &#8212; NP 2 (Montana, Colo); CRE 3 (Hopkins 2, Makowski).Abington Heights 56, Coughlin 31COUGHLIN (31) &#8212; Arianna Brittingham 2 0-0 4, Ajalaya Butts 5 1-2 11, Le&#8217;June Berry 4 1-2 9, Molly Poray 1 0-0 2, Kira Meager 0 0-0 0, Abigail Kush 0 0-0 0, Abby Cicon 0 0-0 0, Yansel Perez 1 0-0 2, Milady Zabala 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 2-4 31.ABINGTON HEIGHTS (56) &#8212; Rachel McDonald 3 0-0 7, S. Hines 0 0-0 0, Hannah Kowalski 5 2-2 12, Clair Marion 1 0-0 2, Hannah Hughes 1 2-2 5, Maria Tully 0 0-0 0, Sharon Houlihan 2 1-2 6, Cassie Ksiazek 5 6-8 16, Meghan Noone 0 0-0 0, Arla Davis 0 1-2 1, Erin Albright 0 1-2 1, Marla Terroni 3 0-0 6. Totals 20 13-18 56.Coughlin`6`2`9`14 &#8212; 31Abington Heights`16`16`14`10 &#8212; 56Three-point goals &#8212; COU 1 (Zabala); AH 3 (Houlihan, McDonald, Hughes).DISTRICT 2 CLASS 3A QUARTERFINALSHoly Redeemer 57, Montrose 36MONTROSE (36) &#8212; Betsy Warner 0 0-0 0, Lauren Andre 3 0-0 6, Harper Andre 1 0-0 3, Chalice Guyette 0 0-0 0, Annalise Ely 4 1-3 10, Brianna Spence 2 0-0 4, Radvile Vaiciulite 1 0-0 2, McKenzie Newhart 2 0-0 4, Joyce Smith 3 1-2 7. Totals 16 2-5 36.HOLY REDEEMER (57) &#8212; Sarah Kuderka 2 0-0 4, Julia Andrejko 7 2-2 16, Sam Yencha 7 6-7 20, Lauren Wasiakowski 1 4-4 6, Sam Rajza 3 1-2 7, Jordan Cicon 0 0-0 0, Cameron Marcinkowski 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 13-15 57.Montrose`10`8`12`6 &#8212; 36Holy Redeemer`23`13`11`10 &#8212; 57Three-point goals &#8212; MON 2 (H. Andre, Ely).Holy Cross 54, Hanover Area 37HANOVER AREA (37) &#8212; Victoria Benning 4 1-2 10, Genesis Rodriguez 4 4-6 12, Sarah Tuzinski 0 0-0 0, Sara Whitesell 4 0-0 11, Lauren Blazaskie 1 0-0 2, Emilee Bobos 0 0-0 0, Madison Hooper 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 5-8 37.HOLY CROSS (54) &#8212; Mollie Burda 1 1-2 3, Ally McGee 0 0-0 0, Lexi Walsh 2 3-10 7, Haley Bestrycki 2 0-1 5, Abby Sempa 6 9-10 24, Caroline Kranich 0 0-0 0, Gianna Calciano 0 0-0 0, Kalley Kovaleski 0 0-0 0, Emily Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Abbey Lentowski 5 4-5 15. Totals 16 17-28 54.Hanover Area`14`7`9`7 &#8212; 37Holy Cross`17`16`6`15 &#8212; 54Three-point goals &#8212; HAN 4 (Whitesell 3, Benning); HC 5 (Sempa 3, Bestrycki, Lentowski).CLASS 4A QUARTERFINALSScranton Prep 47, Tunkhannock 24TUNKHANNOCK (24) &#8212; Kelly Barber 0 1-2 1, Anna Brown 1 0-0 3, Jess Ell 2 0-0 6, Sam Generotti 1 0-0 2, Abby Ritz 3 0-0 6, Becca Avery 1 4-11 6. Totals 8 5-13 24.SCRANTON PREP (47) &#8212; Cecelia Collins 1 0-0 2, Rachel Rose 6 8-8 23, Maggie Mills 0 0-0 0, Alaina Weston 2 0-0 4, Kathleen Rose 3 0-0 6, Claire Szymanski 0 0-0 0, Olivia Lange 0 0-0 0, Elisa Penetar 5 0-0 10, Maggie Flynn 0 0-0 0, Brooke Wilder 0 0-0 0, Meredith Purcell 0 0-0 0, Holly Daveski 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 8-8 47.Tunkhannock`5`9`4`6 &#8212; 24Scranton Prep`11`8`16`12 &#8212; 47Three-point goals &#8212; TUN 3 (Ell 2, Brown); PREP 3 (Rose 3).<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area&#8217;s Alexa Noone keeps the ball from West Scranton&#8217;s Angelina Maraca during Wednesday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A quarterfinal game at Wyoming Area Secondary Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022218GBBPittstonAreaWestScranton1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pittston Area&#8217;s Alexa Noone keeps the ball from West Scranton&#8217;s Angelina Maraca during Wednesday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A quarterfinal game at Wyoming Area Secondary Center. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022218GBBPittstonAreaWestScranton2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area&#8217;s Andrea Ruby dribbles past West Scranton&#8217;s Tatum Repshis during Wednesday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A quarterfinal game at Wyoming Secondary Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022218GBBPittstonAreaWestScranton2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Pittston Area&#8217;s Andrea Ruby dribbles past West Scranton&#8217;s Tatum Repshis during Wednesday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A quarterfinal game at Wyoming Secondary Center. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jay MonahanFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

D2 girls basketball: Pittston Area stifles West Scranton