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Allentown mayor convicted, must step down

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Ex-Penn State star to hold ‘Huddle at the Hope Center’ this weekend

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; With a sprint and a surge, Alyssa Lewis charged down the lane and straight to the basket, depositing a scoop-shot layup to cap a six-point run that started the second half and gave Nanticoke Area the lead.</p><p>It didn&#8217;t last long, and neither did the Trojanettes&#8217; hopes of repeating as district champions.</p><p>Elisa Penetar scored 19 points and pulled down 20 rebounds Thursday, a double-double that was as deadly to the Trojanettes as a frigid shooting night. Scranton Prep dethroned Nanticoke Area as District 2 Class 4A girls basketball champion with a 45-29 victory in the district title game at Mohegan Sun Arena.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not really sure why shots weren&#8217;t falling,&#8221; said Lewis, who led the Trojanettes with 12 points. &#8220;We were trying to get shots for Lisa (Radziak). It just ended up shots were not falling.&#8221;</p><p>They were for a couple stretches.</p><p>The Trojanettes answered Prep&#8217;s game-opening six point run by scoring eight consecutive points to take the lead, as Lewis converted a three-point play, Maddy Grilz tied it with a 3-point shot and Lauren Casey&#8217;s layup put Nanticoke Area ahead.</p><p>The Trojanettes took a 12-10 lead into the second quarter, but Penetar kept showing up in the paint.</p><p>And before long, she had eight points by halftime, Rachel Rose had six and the Classics had a 17-14 edge at the break.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been saying all year, the better she (Penetar) got, the more special we would become,&#8221; said Scranton Prep coach Bob Beviglia, whose Prep team defeated Nanticoke Area in a District 2 playoff game for the third time in four years. &#8220;She&#8217;s very athletic. She won some fistfight rebounds tonight.&#8221;</p><p>Nanticoke Area wasn&#8217;t surrendering, though.</p><p>Jil Baron hit a bucket and Lewis made two more &#8212; the second being her dashing drive to the basket for a layup that gave the Trojanettes a six-point spree and a 20-17 lead 3:07 into the second half.</p><p>&#8220;Started getting the momentum going in the second half,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;We felt really good about it. Our press was working. It just ended up getting away from us.&#8221;</p><p>More like Penetar snatched it away.</p><p>The 5-foot-11 junior forward pulled down 13 rebounds in the second half. And while Nanticoke Area gambled on controlling Prep&#8217;s guard play, Penetar escaped inside to polish off district gold for the Classics by scoring her final 11 points over the last two quarters. That performance included four layups in the fourth that put the game of Nanticoke Area&#8217;s reach.</p><p>&#8220;Hats off to them, they took advantage,&#8221; Nanticoke Area coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Trojanettes never did find their edge for very long.</p><p>Their leading scorer, Radziak &#8212; battling Prep&#8217;s box-and-one defense &#8212; was held scoreless while Nanticoke Area&#8217;s strong perimeter offense continually watched 3-point attempts miss the target. The Trojanettes made just two treys, and managed only 17 points through the final three quarters after scoring 12 in the first. Scranton Prep scored 16 points in the third quarter alone.</p><p>&#8220;We just couldn&#8217;t knock them down today. I have no idea (why),&#8221; Yendrzeiwski shrugged. &#8220;Just one of those days. We got some looks. We made a couple rallies, then we kind of got cold. In the second half, we were ice cold.&#8221;</p><p>But it didn&#8217;t put Nanticoke Area&#8217;s season in a deep freeze.</p><p>While 24-1 Prep will face the District 3 No. 4 team in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs next Saturday, the 21-5 Trojanettes will be the District 2 runner-up and face the third seed out of District 4 &#8212; the winner of Sunday&#8217;s game between Danville and Shamokin &#8212; in another state opener next Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re really excited for states,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;We really want to make a run in states. We want to forget about this game, focus on the next one and hopefully, get a win.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2 Class 4A Championship</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Scranton Prep 45, Nanticoke Area 29</strong></p><p><strong>NANTICOKE AREA (29) &#8212;</strong> Alyssa Lewis 5 1-1 12, Maddy Grilz 2 0-0 5, Lisa Radziak 0 0-2 0, Katie Butczynski 1 0-0 2, Jil Baron 2 0-0 4, Lauren Casey 2 0-2 4, Amiah Lukowski 0 0-2 0, Bella Czeck 1 0-0 2. <strong>Totals 13 1-7 29.</strong></p><p><strong>SCRANTON PREP (45) &#8212;</strong> Rachel Rose 3 2-2 8, Alaina Weston 0 0-0 0, Kathleen Rose 3 1-2 8, Elisa Penetar 9 1-3 19, Holly Daveski 4 2-2 10, Claire Szymanski 0 0-0 0, Cecelia Collins 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 19 6-9 45.</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area`12`2`8`7 &#8212; 29</strong></p><p><strong>Scranton Prep`10`7`16`12 &#8212; 45</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; NAN 2 (Grilz, Lewis); PREP 1 (Rose).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski, left, guards Scranton Prep&#8217;s Rachel Rose in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski, left, guards Scranton Prep&#8217;s Rachel Rose in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Alyssa Lewis goes in for two points against Scranton Prep&#8217;s Elisa Penetar in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Alyssa Lewis goes in for two points against Scranton Prep&#8217;s Elisa Penetar in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski puts up a shot as Scranton Prep&#8217;s Kathleen Rose defends in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski puts up a shot as Scranton Prep&#8217;s Kathleen Rose defends in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship game. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area's Maddy Grilz puts up a three-point shot against the Scranton Prep defense in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_4-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Nanticoke Area's Maddy Grilz puts up a three-point shot against the Scranton Prep defense in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski (left) Lisa Radziak (center) and Maddy Grilz stand with their silver medals after falling to Scranton Prep 45-29 in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_5-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski (left) Lisa Radziak (center) and Maddy Grilz stand with their silver medals after falling to Scranton Prep 45-29 in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_8.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Maddy Grilz puts up a three-point shot against the Scranton Prep defense on Thursday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL030218Nanticoke-PrepGBB_8.jpg</photo5><caption5>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Maddy Grilz puts up a three-point shot against the Scranton Prep defense on Thursday. </caption5><photoCredit5>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></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 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

D2 girls hoops: Cold-shooting night freezes out Nanticoke in 4A title game