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Wilkes-Barre Police seeking wanted man

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Capitol Roundup: Pa. official visits Dallas High to discuss career program

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; It took Abington Heights more than seven minutes to finally score a basket.</p><p>It took less time than that for Maria Tully to change the game.</p><p>Tully scored seven points in the second quarter Saturday, leading Abington Heights to a 10-point lead and ultimately a fourth straight District 2 title with a 33-19 victory over Wyoming Valley West in a Class 5A girls basketball final marked as much by offensive ineptitude as it was defensive dominance at Mohegan Sun Arena.</p><p>&#8220;I said, &#8216;You played good defense,&#8217;&#8221; Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said he told his team. &#8220;I just never expected our offense to fall off the map like that. But it happens.&#8221;</p><p>Valley West connected on just six of its 41 shots from the floor for a woeful shooting percentage of 14.6 percent.</p><p>&#8220;Our defense always picks us up and helps us out,&#8221; Tully said.</p><p>Abington Heights wasn&#8217;t much more impressive, shooting just 26.3 percent by converting 10 of 38 attempts from the field. Both teams also missed 10 foul shots.</p><p>But Tully put one little stretch together while perking up the Comets.</p><p>She produced the first basket for Abington Heights with 55 seconds to play in the opening quarter, sending the Comets into the second quarter with a 4-2 lead.</p><p>Over the first six minutes of the second quarter, Tully tallied seven points &#8212; including five in a row that stretched the Abington Heights lead to 10 points.</p><p>That was just about enough to carry the 20-5 Comets to their third straight District 2 Class 5A title since the PIAA moved to six classes from four three years ago and fourth straight district championship overall.They&#8217;ll face hitting 20-6 Mechanicsburg, the District 3 No. 4 team, in a PIAA opener next Saturday.</p><p>Valley West fell to 16-9 and will enter states as the District 2 runner-up for the second time in three years. The Spartans will meet the No. 2 team from either District 4 or District 11, also next Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s an aggressive team, a good team,&#8221; Ferenchick said of the Comets. &#8220;First half you hold them to 17, you&#8217;ve got to get some offense going. That&#8217;s not us. We were just standing around offensively and weren&#8217;t getting any movement.</p><p>&#8220;Maybe it was the atmosphere or something.&#8221;</p><p>Maybe he&#8217;s onto something.</p><p>&#8220;I just think jitters got to us,&#8221; said Valley West&#8217;s top scorer Toni Amato, who finished with a team-high seven points. &#8220;Not much more to it. Playing in a big arena, that really got in our heads.&#8221;</p><p>Still, Valley West got within five points by the end of the third quarter when Lindsey Gruver came off the bench and tossed in a 3-pointer.</p><p>But that was the only trey the Spartans mustered all night, missing 11 other shots from 3-point range. They finished with just one basket in the fourth quarter, on a Jessica Shaver putback, and scored just three points over the game&#8217;s final nine minutes.</p><p>&#8220;Our defense is a large part of our game,&#8221; Tully, a junior guard, said. &#8220;It helps us with our whole game. It boosts our offense into transition. Our defense was able to trigger that.&#8221;</p><p>Tully scored all nine of her game-high nine points in the first half, but Erin Albright made sure that was enough damage to keep the Spartans from coming all the way back. She hit a game-sealing 3-pointer in the final quarter and pulled down five of her 13 rebounds down the stretch.</p><p>No second chances for Valley West.</p><p>&#8220;She was relentless on the boards,&#8221; Ferenchick, whose team lost the Class 5A title game to Abington Heights for the second time in three years, said, before adding, &#8220;We&#8217;ll be back (to the district championship). We&#8217;re going to get one here at Valley West.&#8221;</p><p>Just not on Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;In the beginning of the game, coach told us to attack the basket,&#8221; Tully said, referring to Abington Heights leader and former Valley West star Deanna Klingman, who was better known as Deanna Kyle when she played for the Spartans in the late 1970s and was the Division III player of the year while leading the University of Scranton to the 1985 Division III national championship. &#8220;That&#8217;s what we did.</p><p>&#8220;At the beginning of the game, I think we all had some nerves,&#8221; Tully continued. &#8220;I think we were just a little chaotic for a little bit, just a little frustrated. Once we hit that first basket, we settled down.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2 Class 5A Championship</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Abington Heights 33, Valley West 19</strong></p><p><strong>VALLEY WEST (19) &#8212;</strong> Nicole Boutanos 1 0-2 2, Trinity Johnson 1 2-6 4, Toni Amato 2 3-4 7, Jessica Shaver 1 1-4 3, Andi Blaski 0 0-0 0, Karaline Stelma 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Gruver 1 0-0 3, Aubrey Boyd 0 0-0 0, Brandy Varner 0 0-0 0, Megan Brody 0 0-0 0, Kara Mackiewicz 0 0-0 0, Karlee Peters 0 0-0 0, Kiara Kane 0 0-0 0, Nicole Morren 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 6 6-16 19.</strong></p><p><strong>ABINGTON HEIGHTS (33) &#8212;</strong> Rachel McDonald 3 0-0 6, Clair Marion 2 1-2 5, Anna Scoblick 0 5-8 5, Maria Tully 4 0-2 9, Erin Albright 1 0-1 3, Arla Davis 0 0-0 0, Mikayla Kohanski 0 0-0 0, Lauren Lombardo 0 3-5 3, Allison Dammer 0 2-2 2, Sadie Henzes 0 0-0 0, Allison Murray 0 0-1 0. <strong>Totals 10 11-21 33.</strong></p><p><strong>Valley West`2`5`9`3 &#8212; 19</strong></p><p><strong>Abington Heights`4`13`4`12 &#8212; 33</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; WVW 1 (Gruver); AH 2 (Tully, Albright).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos tries to pass the ball from her knees as Abington Heights guard Maria Tully defends in the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab2_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos tries to pass the ball from her knees as Abington Heights guard Maria Tully defends in the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Wyoming Valley West forward Jessica Shaver goes between Abington Heights defenders Arla Davis (right) and Maria Tully in the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab3_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Wyoming Valley West forward Jessica Shaver goes between Abington Heights defenders Arla Davis (right) and Maria Tully in the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Abington Heights reserve Lauren Lombardo fights for the ball with Wyoming Valley West guards Aubrey Boyd (5) and Nicole Boutanos during the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball final at Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab4_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Abington Heights reserve Lauren Lombardo fights for the ball with Wyoming Valley West guards Aubrey Boyd (5) and Nicole Boutanos during the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball final at Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab5_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Aubrey Boyd consoles Nicole Boutanos after the Spartans finished as runner-up to Abington Heights in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_wvw_ab5_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>Wyoming Valley West guard Nicole Boutanos regains control of the ball just after it was knocked loose by an Abington Heights player in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game. Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Aubrey Boyd consoles Nicole Boutanos after the Spartans finished as runner-up to Abington Heights in the PIAA District 2 Class 5A girls basketball championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></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 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

H.S. Girls Basketball: Wyoming Valley West offense goes cold in loss