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WB Police searching for teen suspect in multiple shootings; alleged getaway driver arrested

<p>YATESVILLE &#8212; The last time Nanticoke Area ran into Berwick, a lot of shots wouldn&#8217;t fall for the Trojanettes.</p><p>For the first four minutes Tuesday, they couldn&#8217;t miss.</p><p>And that was enough to carry Nanticoke Area into the state playoffs for the fourth straight year.</p><p>Amiah Lukowski scored eight points, Nanticoke Area scored the game&#8217;s first nine points and the Trojanettes tormented Berwick with a collapsing inside defense that produced a 31-20 victory in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball third-place game at Pittston Area High School.</p><p>&#8220;I wanted to do it for my team,&#8221; said Lukowski, a senior who swished her first three shots and finished with a game-high nine points. &#8220;I just knew I had to knock them down. I was pretty confident taking them, they were open.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a really special thing to go back four years in a row.&#8221;</p><p>It might be four straight trips to the PIAA playoffs for the Trojanettes, but it&#8217;s the first for former Nanticoke Area assistant Ed Grant as a head coach. His 19-6 Trojanettes will face the District 4 champion &#8212; the winner of a game between Mifflinburg and Danville or Jersey Shore &#8212; on March 9.</p><p>&#8220;Awesome,&#8221; said Grant, who took over when former head coach Alan Yendrzeiwski stepped away after last year. &#8220;Not many coaches can even say they got to that point. That&#8217;s a credit to our program. That&#8217;s an expectation for us. They (the players) understand that.&#8221;</p><p>What Berwick didn&#8217;t expect was another game of sluggish offense.</p><p>The Bulldogs were stymied in the paint during a 36-26 loss to Lake-Lehman in the district semifinals, then managed just four points in each of the first two quarters and six in each of the final two periods against a Nanticoke Area defense that collapsed the paint and shut down the inside.</p><p>&#8220;Same thing Lake-Lehman did to us,&#8221; said Berwick coach Bill Phillips, whose Bulldogs finished at 19-6. &#8220;It just seemed like a lack of energy. Late in the game, it&#8217;s still within reach. And we&#8217;re not in passing lanes, we&#8217;re not driving. I hate to keep saying it, but we&#8217;re still a little young.&#8221;</p><p>From the start, the Bulldogs seemed a little stunned.</p><p>That&#8217;s because Lukowski hit a bucket and a trey and Jil Baron drove for a basket and two free throws as Nanticoke Area scored the game&#8217;s first nine points.</p><p>&#8220;It was big,&#8221; Lukowski said.</p><p>After Berwick got on the board, Lukowski drilled her second trey, Lauren Casey got loose for a deuce in the lane and Bella Czeck snapped off a 3-pointer to give the Trojanettes a 17-2 lead 56 seconds from the end of the quarter.</p><p>&#8220;The last time we played them, we shot the ball badly,&#8221; Grant said. &#8220;We chased it a little bit. We got to the basket, fixed things up from the last time.&#8221;</p><p>A lot of things changed from that 15-point Berwick victory on Feb. 1.</p><p>&#8220;Momentum. Energy,&#8221; Lukowski believes were the biggest differences between the two games. &#8220;We were all pumped up. We knew this was a big game.&#8221;</p><p>Berwick never really recovered.</p><p>Despite holding Nanticoke Area to a single point in the second quarter and no baskets for 13 minutes, the Bulldogs barely made a dent in their deficit.</p><p>They managed just four points in the second quarter and went into halftime trailing 18-8, then scored just six points in each of the final two quarters.</p><p>&#8220;(Giving up) 10 points off turnovers in the first quarter, that kills you,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;And for how many times they turned it over in the second half, we didn&#8217;t convert. That&#8217;s the game right there.&#8221;</p><p>The Bulldogs tried to make a game of it when Renny Murphy came out of halftime and buried a 3-pointer, cutting Nanticoke Area&#8217;s lead to 18-11.</p><p>By the end of the third quarter though, Nanticoke Area pushed its advantage back to 11 points on a 3-pointer by Emily Hauer and a foul shot by Lukowski.</p><p>&#8220;We knew if we could stop them and get those second-chance points, we could win games,&#8221; Grant said. &#8220;Our defense has always been good.</p><p>&#8220;We were in control.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2 Class 4A Third-Place Game</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Nanticoke Area 31, Berwick 20</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>NANTICOKE AREA (31) &#8212; </strong>Alyssa Lewis 0 3-4 3, Amiah Lukowski 3 1-2 9, Lauren Casey 1 1-2 3, Jil Baron 1 3-4 5, Bella Czeck 2 0-0 5, Emily Haver 1 0-0 3, Jen Kurkoski 0 0-0 0, Riley Baird 0 3-4 3.<strong> <strong>Totals 8 11-16 31.</strong></strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>BERWICK (20) &#8212; </strong>Renny Murphy 2 2-2 7, Abby Burt 0 0-0 0, Katie Starr 1 2-2 4, Magan Dalo 1 1-1 3, Emily Ouimet 3 0-2 6, Emily Novicki 0 0-0 0, Sierra Miedaner 0 0-0 0, Jaydn Michael 0 0-0 0. <strong>Total 7 5-7 20.</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Berwick`4`4`6`6 &#8212; 20</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Nanticoke Area`17`1`9`4 &#8212; 31</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Three-point goals &#8212; </strong>NAN 4 (Lukowski 2, Czeck, Hauer); BER 1 (Murphy).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Berwick forward Emily Novicki and Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Bella Czeck chase after a loose ball in the PIAA District 2 Class 4A third-place game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Berwick forward Emily Novicki and Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Bella Czeck chase after a loose ball in the PIAA District 2 Class 4A third-place game. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Jil Baron has the ball knocked away by a Berwick defender as she tries for a basket Tuesday at Pittston Area High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber4_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Jil Baron has the ball knocked away by a Berwick defender as she tries for a basket Tuesday at Pittston Area High School. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber5_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski breaks away from Berwick guard Renny Murphy, helping the Trojanettes race to a quick lead that carried them into a fourth consecutive state tournament by winning the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball third-place game at Pittston Area High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber5_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski breaks away from Berwick guard Renny Murphy, helping the Trojanettes race to a quick lead that carried them into a fourth consecutive state tournament by winning the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball third-place game at Pittston Area High School. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick guard Emily Ouimet dives after a loose ball as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski (right) tries to grab it while her teammate Emily Hauer looks on in the PIAA District 2 Class 4A third-place game held at Pittston Area High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber2_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>Berwick guard Emily Ouimet dives after a loose ball as Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Amiah Lukowski (right) tries to grab it while her teammate Emily Hauer looks on in the PIAA District 2 Class 4A third-place game held at Pittston Area High School. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lauren Casey works her way past Berwick&#8217;s Megan Dalo on a move to the basket during the District 2 Class 4A third-place game at Pittston Area High School in Yatesville. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_nan_ber3_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Lauren Casey works her way past Berwick&#8217;s Megan Dalo on a move to the basket during the District 2 Class 4A third-place game at Pittston Area High School in Yatesville. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Nanticoke Area stings Berwick early to win girls third-place game</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>

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H.S. Girls Basketball: Amiah Lukowski leads early surge that carries Nanticoke Area to PIAA playoffs