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PIAA basketball: Wyoming Seminary boys advance; Holy Redeemer beaten at the buzzer

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Czuczman’s late goal lifts WBS Penguins over Grand Rapids

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Based on what they watched all week, the defenders on Nanticoke Area&#8217;s girls basketball team took one look at their opponent and knew something was amiss.</p><p>A couple starters weren&#8217;t on the floor.</p><p>&#8220;We did watch them on film and noticed a senior was missing,&#8221; Nanticoke Area guard Alyssa Lewis said.</p><p>All the more reason to turn up the defensive intensity.</p><p>Lewis scored 18 points, combined with Katie Butczynski to make five steals and Nanticoke Area&#8217;s high-pressure defense forced 21 turnovers Saturday as the Trojanettes staved off depleted Danville 42-31 in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball tournament opener at Wilkes University&#8217;s Marts Center.</p><p>&#8220;The first four minutes, that&#8217;s kind of the group that we saw early in the season,&#8221; Nanticoke Area coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said, &#8220;as far as executing traps, getting teams out of their rhythm.&#8221;</p><p>That gotNanticoke Area (22-5) going to the second round of states for the second straight year. The Trojanettes, who ripped off a 17-game winning streak that carried through the bulk of the season but lost four of seven games entering PIAA play, will face District 1 champ Gwynedd Mercy in a second-round state game Wednesday. Gwynedd Mercy (17-8) carved up Carver E&amp;S 77-21 in another first-round state game Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;The state playoffs is a great time,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;Everyone gets so excited, to hopefully start a great run.&#8221;</p><p>The Trojanettes were off and running from the start.</p><p>Lisa Radziak opened states with a hot hand, hitting a pair of 3-point goals and scoring eight of her 10 points in the first 4:14 as Nanticoke Area shot out to a 10-0 lead.</p><p>That was important against a Danville team that won the District 4 third-place game but lost promising shot-blocking sophomore starter Linea Williams to a torn ACL in the process. And senior guard Bethany Holeman, one of the leading scorers for the Ironmen, was away from the team on a family vacation at the start of states.</p><p>And while Elaina Klinger and Samantha Chillis played well filling in for them, the Ironmen had trouble creating any early offensive flow while trying to deal with Nanticoke Area&#8217;s press.</p><p>Danville committed nine turnovers in the first quarter, and the Trojanettes rode that to a 14-6 lead, then lost the ball five more times in the second quarter.</p><p>&#8220;Our press was working very well,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;It kind of set the tone for the first quarter.&#8221;</p><p>Ironmen coach Steve Moser said afterwards it took his team about 10 minutes to adjust to a trapping press defense that Danville was unfamiliar with facing.</p><p>&#8220;After that, they kind of settled in,&#8221; Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;I just felt we weren&#8217;t making the right choices, just weren&#8217;t making good decisions The game was close throughout.&#8221;</p><p>Danville&#8217;s defense made it that way.</p><p>Clara Coombe, Emily Heath and Chillis closed off the inside, relegating the Trojanettes to a perimeter offensive team and turning the game into a tussle.</p><p>Erin Cope came off the bench with four points in the second quarter to help Danville close within 22-18 by halftime, and Corinna Petrus hit four points in the third quarter as the Ironmen stayed within six.</p><p>But Nanticoke Area still had its press, forcing six more turnovers in the third quarter that helped the Trojanettes overcome a sub-par shooting day where they converted just 18 of 45 (40 percent) shots from the floor &#8212; including 2 of 10 attempts from 3-point range.</p><p>&#8220;Playing in a state playoff game made everyone a little nervous,&#8221; Lewis said. &#8220;They had a lot of big girls in the lane. We started spreading out the floor, passing the ball. We got a couple perfect passes, made some good cuts.&#8221;</p><p>Then Lewis took over.</p><p>She scored six points around a lay-in by Jil Baron to give the Trojanettes an 11-point lead a tick under three minutes into the fourth quarter, then hit a layup and foul shot to score nine of her 18 points over the final eight minutes and nine of the team&#8217;s 11 in the last quarter.</p><p>&#8221;It&#8217;s fun to play in big games like this at bigger arenas,&#8221; Yendrzeiwski said. &#8220;You survive and advance and keep doing it.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Bethlehem Catholic 56, Berwick 25</strong></p><p>A slow start while trying to stay with the defending state champion proved a bad combination for the Bulldogs.</p><p>Meanwhile, Hope Brown scored six of her game-high 13 points in the first quarter and Jaleesa Lanier popped five of her 12 to get the District 11 champion Golden Hawks out to a 15-2 lead in the first quarter as Bethlehem Catholic rolled to victory.</p><p>Both star scorers for Bethlehem Catholic (25-3) had seven points in the third quarter to help extend the lead to 46-17 as the Golden Hawks, bidding for back-to-back PIAA Class 4A championships, moved on to the state&#8217;s second round Wednesday.</p><p>Reese Mensinger led Berwick with 10 points. She had the only two points for the Bulldogs on free throws in the first quarter and scored three of the team&#8217;s five points in the second quarter as Berwick was limited to seven points in the first half.</p><p>Berwick, the No. 3 team from District 2, finished its season at 17-9.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PIAA CLASS 4A</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Nanticoke Area 42, Danville 31</strong></p><p><strong>DANVILLE (31) &#8212;</strong> Elaina Klinger 0 0-1 0, Emily Heath 1 0-0 2, Corinna Petrus 2 4-6 6, Clara Coombe 3 1-3 7, Samantha Chillis 1 6-8 8, Erin Cope 2 2-2 6, Kylee Cush 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Raup 0 0-0 0, Joanna Campbell 0 0-0 0, Olivia Outt 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 9 13-20 31.</strong></p><p><strong>NANTICOKE AREA (42) &#8212;</strong> Alyssa Lewis 8 2-7 18, Maddy Grilz 0 0-0 0, Lisa Radziak 3 2-2 10, Katie Butczynski 3 0-0 6, Jil Baron 4 0-0 8, Amiah Lukowski 0 0-1 0, Lauren Casey 0 0-0 0, Bella Czeck 0 0-1 0. <strong>Totals 18 4-11 42.</strong></p><p><strong>Danville`6`12`7`6 &#8212; 31</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area`14`8`9`11 &#8212; 42</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; NAN 2 (Radziak 2).</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Bethlehem Catholic 56, Berwick 25</strong></p><p><strong>BERWICK (25) &#8212;</strong> Reese Mensinger 3 4-8 10, Renny Murphy 0 0-0 0, Emily Novicki 0 0-0 0, Makayla Force 0 0-0 0, Sierra Miedaner 0 0-0 0, Katie Starr 2 0-0 4, Megan Dalo 1 2-2 4, Haley Owens 0 0-0 0, Mallory Pinterich 2 0-0 4, Roni Isenberg 1 1-4 3. <strong>Totals 9 7-14 25.</strong></p><p><strong>BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC (56) &#8212;</strong> Isabelle Rosario 0 0-0 0, Jaleesa Lanier 1 0-1 2, Natalie Rhine 5 0-0 12, Briana Barnard 3 0-1 6, Kamryn Williamson 0 0-0 0, Solei Rodriguez 1 0-0 2, Morgan Orloski 2 0-0 4, Hope Brown 6 0-0 13, Taliyah Medina 3 2-2 9, Abigail Brown 2 0-0 4, Julia Zambo 1 0-0 2, Alanysse Solomann 1 0-0 2, Perry 0 0-2 0. <strong>Totals 25 2-4 56.</strong></p><p><strong>Berwick`2`5`10`8 &#8212; 25</strong></p><p><strong>Bethlehem Catholic`15`11`20`10 &#8212; 56</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; BC 4 (Rhine 2, Medina, Brown).</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski (42) fights off Danville&#8217;s Samantha Chillis during the first round of the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball tournament at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski (42) fights off Danville&#8217;s Samantha Chillis during the first round of the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball tournament at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Alyssa Lewis (3) runs past Danville&#8217;s Clara Coombe during the first round of the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament at the Marts Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Alyssa Lewis (3) runs past Danville&#8217;s Clara Coombe during the first round of the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament at the Marts Center. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Jil Baron, right, battles with Danville&#8217;s Corinna Petros for possession Saturday at the Marts Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Jil Baron, right, battles with Danville&#8217;s Corinna Petros for possession Saturday at the Marts Center. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski, left, goes for a layup againt Danville&#8217;s Emily Heath during Saturday&#8217;s first round PIAA Class 4A tournament girls basketball game at the Marts Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Katie Butczynski, left, goes for a layup againt Danville&#8217;s Emily Heath during Saturday&#8217;s first round PIAA Class 4A tournament girls basketball game at the Marts Center. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak hustles down the court against Danville during a state playoff game at the Marts Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lisa Radziak hustles down the court against Danville during a state playoff game at the Marts Center. </caption4><photoCredit4>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Maddy Grilz maintains control against Danville&#8217;s Clara Coombe&#8217;s defense at the Marts Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031118GBBDanvilleNanticoke6.jpg</photo5><caption5>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Maddy Grilz maintains control against Danville&#8217;s Clara Coombe&#8217;s defense at the Marts Center. </caption5><photoCredit5>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Swarming defense creates 21 turnovers in first-round PIAA win</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>

PIAA basketball: Nanticoke Area girls press their way to first-round victory