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BERWICK &#8212; Coming off a lackluster scoring game, Renny Murphy received some wise advice from her coaching staff.Keep shooting.And because she heeded it, the Bulldogs burned another team on their schedule.Murphy buried four 3-point field goals, on her way to 18 points as Berwick slammed Wyoming Seminary, 56-29, in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivision girls basketball battle between teams trying to win division titles and fighting for a spot in the league&#8217;s first postseason playoff tournament.&#8220;There was a lot of good ball movement,&#8221; said Murphy, a junior guard. &#8220;Sometimes I&#8217;m off. I&#8217;ve got to get on.&#8221;Murphy was on a roll from the start at the Berwick Middle School.She scored on a strong outside jumper in the opening quarter, then caught fire for eight points with a pair of 3-pointers in a big second quarter &#8212; the second of which boosted Berwick&#8217;s lead to 16 points just over three minutes into the period.&#8220;I&#8217;m proud of her,&#8221; Berwick coach Bill Phillips said. &#8220;The last game, she only made one basket. We told her, &#8216;The best way to get out of a slump is (to) keep shooting.&#8217;&#8220;Tonight, she proved that.&#8221;Along with it, the Bulldogs proved they&#8217;re more than ready to make a run at the postseason.Berwick moved to 7-1 in the WVC Division 2 at the midway point of the season and remained tied with Lake-Lehman for best record outside of a division leader and in second place in the division, behind 8-0 Holy Redeemer. That could play important later, since the WVC championship tourney will include the winners of all three division in the league, plus a wild card.Meanwhile, Sem fell to 5-2 in league play with its second consecutive loss to a Division 2 opponent but remained a half-game ahead of 4-2 Northwest in the WVC Divsion 3.&#8220;We knew it was going to be a better game,&#8221; Murphy said. &#8220;We knew we had to play good. I think we did.&#8221;A good start set the tone for the night.A bullish Berwick defense led by paint players Megan Dalo, Katie Starr and Emily Ouimet shut down the inside and held Sem to one point in the first quarter, and Starr rang up three baskets over the first eight minutes as the Bulldogs shot to a 13-1 lead.&#8220;We knew they like to put the ball on the floor,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;Our kids take pride in playing defense in our gym, in front of our fans.&#8221;With that ball-stopping intensity turned up, Sem didn&#8217;t score from the floor until nearly nine minutes into the game &#8212; when Kelsey Reznick came off the bench to drop a 3-pointer 46 seconds into the second quarter.By then, Berwick had built a 15-point lead.That lane-blocking mentality carried through for the rest of the night for Berwick, which allowed Alex Wesneski&#8217;s 3-pointer as the only points of the third period. The Bulldogs built leads of 27-11 at halftime, 44-14 by the end of the third quarter and upped that to 52-14 before making mass substitutions early in the fourth quarter.&#8220;They came in with only one loss in the league,&#8221; Phillips said of the Blue Knights. &#8220;We were a little concerned about them. We jumped on them pretty good that first period.&#8221;Now, the Bulldogs are prepared to jump into the second half of their league schedule, which is filled with opponents that can make or break playoff dreams.&#8220;We&#8217;re doing really well as a team,&#8221; Murphy said. &#8220;We&#8217;re working real well together.&#8221;We&#8217;re hoping to keep it going.&#8221;Pittston Area 49, Coughlin 36The Patriots beat Coughlin behind a balanced attack and good defense.Emily O&#8217;Brien had 12 points to lead Pittston area, including two 3-pointers. Jada Sharp was right behind her with nine points and three 3-pointers.Abby Cicon led the Crusaders with 10 points.Nanticoke Area 54, Hanover Area 27The Trojanettes rolled past Hanover Area.Nanticoke Area&#8217;s defense shut down the Hawks and the Trojanettes rolled past Hanover Area.The Nanticoke Area offense was led by Lauren Casey, who had 12 points.Madison Hooper had nine points to lead Hanover Area.Tunkhannock 46, GAR 41Tunkhannock used a big day from Abby Ritz to get past the Grenadiers.Ritz had 22 points for the Tigers. Rebecca Avery was right behind her with 10 points.Hazleton Area 57, Wyoming Valley West 19The Cougars swarmed the Spartans with a tremendous defensive performance to take a three-game lead over the rest of the WVC Division 1 at the midway point of the season.Hazleton Area&#8217;s relentless press held Valley West under 20 points.Meanwhile, Marissa Trivelpiece and Faith Grula spearheaded the Cougars&#8217; offense with 12 and 11 points, respectively.Lake-Lehman 44, Northwest 25The Black Knights remained tied with Berwick for second place at 7-1 in the WVC Division 2 and tied for the second-best record of all WVC teams not leading a league division by besting the Rangers at home.Savannah Purdy scored 16 points to pace the Black Knights and Madison Borum added 14 in the victory.Meyers 51, Wyoming Area 40The Mohawks used a big 19-point fourth quarter to beat the Warriors.Allycia Harris had a game-high 23 points to lead Meyers.Holy Redeemer 63, MMI Prep 12Julia Andrejko and Sam Yencha combined for 29 points and the WVC Division 2-leading Royals remained the only unbeaten team in WVC play, moving to 8-0 by crushing the Preppers.The Royals outscored under-manned MMI Prep &#8212; which has a roster of only seven players &#8212; 48-2 in the first half.Andrejko finished with 15 points and Yencha was right behind with 14 in the victory.Berwick 56, Wyoming Sem 29WYOMING SEM (29) &#8212; Alex Wesneski 3 2-2 10, Margaret Mihalick 0 0-0 0, Ally Vezendy 0 2-2 2, Mia Raineri 2 1-1 5, Kate Getz 2 1-2 5, Ava Bufalino 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Reznick 2 0-0 5, Abby McDonald 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 6-7 29.BERWICK (56) &#8212; Emily Ouimet 0 0-0 0, Megan Dalo 3 3-4 9, Katie Starr 4 0-0 8, Sierra Miedaner 2 0-0 6, Renny Murphy 7 0-0 18, Abby Burt 0 0-2 0, Jackie Nevel 2 2-3 6, Jadyn Michael 2 0-0 5, Makayla Force 0 2-2 2, Sarina Definnis 0 0-0 0, Peyton Lipsey 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 7-11 56.Wyoming Sem`1`10`3`15 &#8212; 29Berwick`13`14`17`12 &#8212; 56Three-point goals &#8212; SEM 3 (Wesneski 2, Reznick); BER 7 (Murphy 4, Miedaner 2, Michael).Pittston Area 49, Coughlin 36COUGHLIN (36) &#8212; Abby Cicon 5 0-0 10, Arianna Brittingham 2 3-4 8, Ajalaya Butts 3 0-2 7, Milady Zabala 2 0-0 5, Yansel Perez 2 0-0 4, Le&#8217;June Berry 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 3-8 36.PITTSTON AREA (49) &#8212; Emily O&#8217;Brien 5 0-0 12, Jada Sharp 3 0-0 9, Emma Coles 3 2-3 8, Hannah Getz 3 1-4 7, Krista Maurizi 3 0-0 6, Sam Christian 1 0-0 3, Lily Savoy 0 2-2 2, Megan Mihalla 1 0-0 2, Kayleigh Walker 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-10 49.Coughlin`9`11`7`9 &#8212; 36Pittston Area`12`17`13`7 &#8212; 49Three-point goals &#8212; COU 3 (Brittingham, Butts, Zabala); PIT 6 (Sharp 3, O&#8217;Brien 2, Christian).Nanticoke Area 54, Hanover Area 27HANOVER AREA (27) &#8212; Madison Hooper 3 2-4 9, Sarah Whitesell 2 0-0 5, Kyleen McCance 2 0-0 5, Ally Sheridan 1 2-2 4, Sara Tuzinski 2 0-2 4, Emilie Bobos 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 4-8 27.NANTICOKE AREA (54) &#8212; Lauren Casey 5 2-4 12, Amiah Lukowski 3 0-0 9, Riley Baird 3 0-0 9, Jilann Baron 3 2-2 8, Jen Kurkowski 2 0-0 5, Alyssa Lenis 2 0-2 4, Emily Haver 1 0-0 3, Bella Czeck 1 0-0 2, Myla Vnuk 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 4-8 54.Hanover Area`4`9`8`6 &#8212; 27Nanticoke Area`17`15`11`11 &#8212; 54Three-point goals &#8212; HAN 3 (Whitesell, Hooper, McCance); NAN 8 (Lukowski 3, Baird 3, Haver, Kurkowski).Tunkhannock 46, GAR 41GAR (41) &#8212; Gloria Adjayi 6 0-0 12, Olivia Prato 4 0-2 9, Hannah Cook 4 0-0 9, Vanessa Luna 2 0-0 5, Emily Engle 1 0-0 2, Madison Savage 1 0-0 2, Erin Leonard 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 0-2 41.TUNKHANNOCK (46) &#8212; Abby Ritz 7 8-10 22, Rebecca Avery 4 2-5 10, Courtney Yuhas 2 0-2 6, Annaliese Verbeek 2 1-2 6, Hailey Long 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 11-19 46.GAR`10`6`7`18 &#8212; 41Tunkhannock`13`8`12`13 &#8212; 46Three-point goals &#8212; GAR 3 (Prato, Cook, Luna); TUNK 3 (Yuhas 2, Verbeek).Hazleton Area 57, Wyoming Valley West 19HAZLETON AREA (57) &#8212; Marissa Trivelpiece 4 4-6 12, Faith Grula 4 3-4 11, Kyra Antolick 3 0-0 6, Olivia Wolk 3 0-0 6, Megan Fay 2 1-1 5, Alyssa Holodick 2 0-0 5, Brooke Boretski 2 0-0 4, Virginia Yurchak 0 3-4 3, Carley Krizansky 1 1-2 3, Diane Garnett 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 12-17 57.WYOMING VALLEY WEST (19) &#8212; Andi Blaski 3 0-0 8, Nicole Boutanos 1 3-6 5, Toni Amato 1 0-0 2, Jessica Shaver 1 0-0 2, Brandy Varner 1 0-0 2, Kiara Kane 0 0-2 0, Trinity Johnson 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Gruver 0 0-0 0, Karaline Stelma 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 3-8 19.Hazleton Area`13`15`12`17 &#8212; 57Wyoming Valley West`3`10`4`2 &#8212; 19Three-point goals &#8212; HAZ 1 (Holodick); WVW 2 (Blaski 2).Lake-Lehman 44, Northwest 25NORTHWEST (25) &#8212; Brenna Babcock 3 1-2 7, Maddie McLendon 3 0-2 6, Tess Edwards 2 0-0 4, Trista Babcock 1 0-0 3, Reagan Harrison 1 1-2 3, Lindsey Thomas 1 0-0 2, Kendra Saxton 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 2-6 25.LAKE-LEHMAN (44) &#8212; Savannah Purdy 6 4-7 16, Madison Borum 6 2-2 14, Corinna Scoblick 4 0-2 9, Claire Dougherty 0 3-6 3, Sarah Salus 1 0-4 2, Autumn Savitski 0 0-2 0. Totals 17 9-23 44.Northwest`4`4`6`11 &#8212; 25Lake-Lehman`8`7`16`13 &#8212; 44Three-point goals &#8212; NW 1 (Babcock); LL 1 (Scoblick).Meyers 51, Wyoming Area 40MEYERS (51) &#8212; Allycia Harris 8 7-8 23, Ashley Bruno 5 2-2 13, Bella Skaff 4 1-3 9, DaNayia Ballard 2 1-3 5, Alana Germano 0 1-4 1. Totals 17 12-20 51.WYOMING AREA (40) &#8212; Nicole Silinskie 4 3-4 15, Aleah Kranson 4 0-0 8, Mackenzie Nocchi 3 1-2 7, Erika Holweg 2 0-1 5, Lauren Kelly 1 0-0 3, Jessica Davis 0 2-2 2, Nicole Donvito 0 0-2 0, Kaitlyn Slusser 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 6-11 40.Meyers`10`12`10`19 &#8212; 51Wyoming Area`7`12`14`7 &#8212; 40Three-point goals &#8212; MEY 1 (Bruno); WA 6 (Silinskie 4, Holweg, Kelly).Holy Redeemer 63, MMI Prep 12MMI PREP (12) &#8212; Julie Amentler 2 1-2 5, Irene Altmiller 2 0-0 5, Kim Amentler 1 0-2 2, Lindsay Braunstein 0 0-0 0, Dominique Kline 0 0-0 0, Violet O&#8217;Connell 0 0-0 0. Totals 5 1-4 12.HOLY REDEEMER (63) &#8212; Julia Andrejko 7 0-0 15, Sam Yencha 6 2-2 14, Aleia Atherton3 0-0 8, Cameron Marcinkowski 4 0-0 8, Sarah Kuderka 2 0-0 6, Aubrey Curley 2 0-0 4, Karissa Spade 1 0-0 2, Alesha Pekarovsky 1 0-0 2, Faith Sekol 1 0-0 2, Jordan Cicon 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 2-2 63.MMI Prep`2`0`7`3 &#8212; 12Holy Redeemer`23`25`9`6 &#8212; 63Three-point goals &#8212; MMI 1 (Altmiller); HR 5 (Kuderka 2, Atherton 2, Andrejko).<style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Megan Dalo, right, drives to the hoop past Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Kelsey Resnick Monday night in Berwick. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Berwick&#8217;s Megan Dalo, right, drives to the hoop past Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Kelsey Resnick Monday night in Berwick. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Emily Ouimet, left, pressures Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Ally Vezendy in a WVC girls basketball game Monday night in Berwick. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Berwick&#8217;s Emily Ouimet, left, pressures Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Ally Vezendy in a WVC girls basketball game Monday night in Berwick. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Abby Burt, right, passes ahead of Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Ava Bufalino. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Berwick&#8217;s Abby Burt, right, passes ahead of Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Ava Bufalino. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Renny Murphy, left, eyes the basket as Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Kate Getz defends in WVC girls basketball action Monday night in Berwick. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL011519GBB-Sem-Berwick_1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Berwick&#8217;s Renny Murphy, left, eyes the basket as Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Kate Getz defends in WVC girls basketball action Monday night in Berwick. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Murphy bags 18 points as Berwick smokes Sem</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Murphy buries four 3-pointers as Berwick girls basketball team beat Sem