web1_Mike-McGinley-Updated.cmyk-1-2-.jpg

Around town: Celebrity bartenders bring out crowd to FSA fundraiser

web1_ttl021019nepasings-3-1-.jpg

Taking their shot at glory: Dozens audition for NEPA Sings

<p>EXETER &#8212; In the most critical game of their season so far, Claire Dougherty and the Lake-Lehman Black Knights found themselves in an unfamiliar position.</p><p>They were missing their go-to girl Madison Borum.</p><p>And Dougherty had to fill her spot.</p><p>No problem either way.</p><p>Dougherty poured in 26 points while sliding over to play center Saturday, Corinna Scoblick and Savannah Purdy each hit double figures and the Black Knights most certainly earned the Wyoming Valley Conference&#8217;s final league championship playoff spot by dominating Wyoming Area, 63-36, in the regular season finale for both at Wyoming Area High School.</p><p>&#8220;We definitely felt like we were playing for a spot,&#8221; Dougherty said. &#8220;It means a lot to us, since this was our last conference game. We had a good season.&#8221;</p><p>It may get even better.</p><p>Berwick entered the day with little more than one-hundredth of a percentage point lead over Lake-Lehman, .696427 to .695086, in the WVC&#8217;s power ratings system. That formula, which rewards points for wins and takes into account the record of opponents, will determine which team winds up with the best winning percentage outside of a division champion and will join the division winners Hazleton Area, Holy Redeemer and Wyoming Seminary as a wild card team in this week&#8217;s WVC championship playoffs.</p><p>Berwick finished its season Friday night with a victory and an 18-4 overall record, passing Lehman for the slight wild card lead before the Black Knights closed with Saturday&#8217;s win and a 17-5 overall mark. Both teams finished 14-3 and tied for second place in the WVC Division 2.</p><p>Lehman likely will pick up enough points for the playoffs after beating a Wyoming Area team that was led by Nicole Silinskie&#8217;s 17 points, but finished 6-16 overall and 4-13 in the WVC Division 2.</p><p>&#8220;This was really important to get the power ratings to where we needed to be,&#8221; Dougherty said.</p><p>It was also an crucial recovery day for Lehman, playing for the fourth time in six days.</p><p>About 17 hours prior to Saturday&#8217;s 1 p.m. start, Lehman suffered a heart0breaking 48-47 defeat to unbeaten Division 2 champ Holy Redeemer in a game that wasn&#8217;t decided until the game&#8217;s final play.</p><p>&#8220;Pretty decent game, especially after the battle we were in (Friday) night,&#8221; Lake-Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said. &#8220;Usually after a game like that, you see teams have a big letdown. I didn&#8217;t expect us to be 100 percent today. But we played well for the most part.&#8221;</p><p>It started with Dougherty playing a new spot.</p><p>That&#8217;s because Lehman&#8217;s 6-foot-2 center Borum &#8212; a senior force who Holy Redeemer coach John Jezorwski called the second-best center in the district and best in the WVC &#8212; recently lost her grandfather and spent Saturday attending his funeral.</p><p>&#8220;Certainly, we miss her,&#8221; Lavan said.</p><p>In her absence, the 6-foot Dougherty didn&#8217;t miss much.</p><p>Shifting over from her usual spot as a starting forward into Borum&#8217;s center position, freshman Dougherty was every bit as dominant in the middle as Lehman&#8217;s regular reliable leader.</p><p>Dougherty got started by rattling off 11 points in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Lehman&#8217;s zone defense was its usual point-stopping self as the Black Knights roared to an 18-3 lead.</p><p>&#8220;Our freshman Dougherty had a heck of a game,&#8221; Lavan said. &#8220;Did a heck of a job.&#8221;</p><p>That advantage moved to 34-14 by halftime, as Dougherty popped four more points and Scoblick hit four of her 13.</p><p>And by the end of the third quarter, Lehman&#8217;s lead shot to 30 points, behind 11 more points from Dougherty and five apiece from Scoblick and Purdy, who wound up with 10. None of them played in the fourth quarter.</p><p>&#8220;We really play as a team,&#8221; Dougherty said. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t ask for better teammates. It&#8217;s been fun.&#8221;</p><p>The fun may only be starting.</p><p>&#8220;This should push us ahead of Berwick, into conference playoffs and then on to districts,&#8221; Lavan said. &#8220;We had a lot of basketball this week. I was pleased with the effort.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Holy Redeemer 60, Wyoming Seminary 42</strong></p><p>The WVC Division 2 champion Royals outscored Division 3 champ Seminary 20-8 in the final quarter to pull away for a victory, moving to 16-0 in league play and one game shy of completing a perfect WVC season.</p><p>Sam Yencha scored eight of her 17 points in the fourth. Julia Andrejko led Redeemer with 20 points.</p><p>Ally Vezendy led Seminary with 14 points. Alex Wesneski and Margaret Mihalick added 10 apiece.</p><p>Redeemer will try for a 17-0 finish when it hosts Tunkhannock in a makeup game scheduled for 7:15 p.m Tuesday.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lake-Lehman 63, Wyoming Area 36</strong></p><p><strong>LAKE-LEHMAN (63) &#8212;</strong> Claire Doughety 11 1-1 26, Sarah Salus 1 0-0 2, Corinna Scoblick 6 0-0 13, Jessica Spencer 0 0-0 0, Savannah Purdy 3 2-2 10, Jodie Salansky 2 0-0 4, Chase Purdy 2 2-2 6, Madison Brdaric 1 0-0 2, Jessica Salus 0 0-0 0, Hunter Kline 0 0-0 0, Autumn Savitski 0 0-0 0, Halle Jones 0 0-0 0, Krista Scoblick 0 0-0 0, Melanie Selner 0 0-0 0, Madison Park 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 26 5-5 63.</strong></p><p><strong>WYOMING AREA (36) &#8212;</strong> Kaitlyn Slusser 0 0-0 0, Nicole Silinskie 6 1-3 17, Aleah Kranson 3 2-4 8, Erika Holweg 2 0-0 6, Jessica Davis 1 2-2 4, Alana Aufiere 0 0-0 0, Rosalind Tart 0 1-2 1, Ashley Songaila 0 0-0 0, Nicole Donvito 0 0-0 0, Roberta Papa 0 0-0 0, Kangsai Sarayaphon 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 12 6-11 36.</strong></p><p><strong>Lake-Lehman`18`16`23`6 &#8212; 63</strong></p><p><strong>Wyoming Area`3`14`10`9 &#8212; 36</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; LL 6 (Dougherty 3, S. Purdy 2, C. Scoblick); WA 6 (Silinskie 4, Holweg 2).</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Holy Redeemer 60, Wyoming Seminary 42</strong></p><p><strong>HOLY REDEEMER (60) &#8212;</strong> Karissa Spade 0 1-2 1, Lynzie Skoronski 0 1-2 1, Sarah Kudurka 1 0-0 2, Julia Andrejko 7 4-6 20, Sam Yencha 7 3-4 17, Aubrey Curley 0 0-0 0, Aleia Atherton 1 0-0 3, Jordan Cicon 2 2-2 8, Cameron Marcinkowski 3 1-1 8. <strong>Totals 21 12-17 60.</strong></p><p><strong>WYO. SEMINARY (42) &#8212;</strong> Maaike Retsma 0 2-4 2, Ava Bufalino 0 0-0 , Alex Wesneski 4 1-1 10, Margaret Mihalick 2 4-4 10, Emily Matthews 0 0-0 0, Ally Vezendy 5 1-2 14, Kelsey Reznick 0 1-2 1, Mia Raineri 2 0-0 4, Kate Getz 0 1-2 1. <strong>Totals 13 10-15 42.</strong></p><p><strong>Holy Redeemer`6`17`17`20 &#8212; 60</strong></p><p><strong>Wyo. Seminary`13`9`12`8 &#8212; 42</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals &#8212;</strong> HR 5 (Andrejko, Atherton, Cicon 2, Marcinkowski). WS 6 (Wesneski, Mihalick 2, Vezendy 3).</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_LL-WA-GBB-2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Playing center in star Madison Borum&#8217;s absence, Lake-Lehman freshman Claire Dougherty (13) hits an easy lauyup as part of her game high 26 points Saturday in a victory over Wyoming Area in Exeter. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_LL-WA-GBB-2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Playing center in star Madison Borum&#8217;s absence, Lake-Lehman freshman Claire Dougherty (13) hits an easy lauyup as part of her game high 26 points Saturday in a victory over Wyoming Area in Exeter. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_LL-WA-GBB-3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Savannah Purdy, of Lake-Lehman, (left), gets fouled as she drives the lane against Wyoming Area&#8217;s Rosalind Tart (35). Purdy scored 10-pts. in a 63-36 victory over the Warriors. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_LL-WA-GBB-3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Savannah Purdy, of Lake-Lehman, (left), gets fouled as she drives the lane against Wyoming Area&#8217;s Rosalind Tart (35). Purdy scored 10-pts. in a 63-36 victory over the Warriors. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_LL-WA-GBB-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Sarah Salus (14) passes off to teammate Corinna Scoblick (24) as Wyoming Area&#8217;s Aleah Krason (middle) defends at Wyoming Area on Saturday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_LL-WA-GBB-1-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Sarah Salus (14) passes off to teammate Corinna Scoblick (24) as Wyoming Area&#8217;s Aleah Krason (middle) defends at Wyoming Area on Saturday afternoon. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Lake-Lehman wins season finale, likely earns WVC playoff spot</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>

WVC girls basketball: Lake-Lehman routs Wyoming Area, secures likely wild card berth