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Hundreds welcome Brown as new mayor; council pledges cooperation

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H.S. Girls Basketball: Pittston Area tops Valley West

SALEM TWP. &#8212; As her final free throw bounced back and forth at the top of the rim, Renny Murphy remained calm.So did her coach.Maybe that&#8217;s how the Berwick Bulldogs pulled off their biggest regular-season girls basketball upset in 13 years.Murphy&#8217;s rim-rattling foul shot with 2.7 seconds remaining Monday lifted cool and collected Berwick over disjointed defending Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champion Hazleton Area for the first time since 2007 in a 32-31 thriller dominated by defense at the Berwick Middle School.&#8220;Once it hit the rim, I knew it was going in,&#8221; Murphy said. &#8220;I knew I had two chances. I knew one had to go in.&#8221;The final one nearly didn&#8217;t.Her second attempt on a two-shot foul in the closing moments first kicked off the front of the rim, banged the back of it, then kissed the front of the rim inside the cylinder before falling through the net to break a 31-31 tie.&#8220;I was fairly confident she was going to make that last one,&#8221; Berwick coach Bill Phillips said. &#8220;She had the best free throw percentage in the league.&#8221;Later, though, Murphy admitted she had her heart in her throat waiting for the game&#8217;s last point to fall.&#8220;I was going crazy,&#8221; Murphy smiled.It was what happened before that, though, that really made for some madness.Her winning foul shot stopped a string of three consecutive Berwick misses from the free throw line in the game&#8217;s final 4.5 seconds. But at the end of the second missed opportunity on a two-shot foul, Murphy &#8212; a 5-foot-6 guard &#8212; snaked around everyone to grab the rebound and drew a foul that set up her own two-shot free throw opportunity.&#8220;I knew I needed to (get the rebound),&#8221; Murphy said. &#8220;I was the end of the game, I was going all-out, as hard as I could.&#8221;The Bulldogs made it pretty hard on Hazleton Area from the start.Although the Cougars held a slight lead for nearly 30 minutes, Berwick stayed within striking distance by limiting Hazleton Area&#8217;s opportunities and finding just enough offense to hang around.&#8220;To their credit, they hung in there,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said of the Bulldogs. &#8220;But that&#8217;s what they do. We had good looks, and we didn&#8217;t shoot the ball well. We were up 7-0, got up a couple more times and we didn&#8217;t put them away. You let a team hang in &#8230; they did a nice job. They made plays.&#8221;Despite spotting the Cougars the game&#8217;s first seven points, Berwick had Hazleton Area out of sync.The Bulldogs regularly broke Hazleton Area&#8217;s vaunted press early, and forced four walking calls with their own press during the first quarter.&#8220;We never pressed them before,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know if they were ready for it or not.&#8221;Berwick managed two foul shots early and didn&#8217;t scored a bucket until Morgan Nevel&#8217;s layup midway through the opening quarter &#8212; yet closed within 9-8 by the end of the period on two buckets from Katie Starr.Hazleton Area had a four-point lead at halftime and moved it to seven on Olivia Wolk&#8217;s three-point play early in the second half.But that was the first of only two baskets the Cougars scored after halftime, while going 2-for-12 from the field through the final two quarters. The other conversion came on a 3-pointer by Kyra Antolick, who led Hazleton Area with 10 points. Wolk finished with eight points, but no other Hazleton Area player managed more than four.&#8220;We&#8217;ve been playing with intensity and tenacity before this for three, three-and-a-half quarters,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;Can&#8217;t ask for anything better from our kids tonight.&#8221;Meanwhile, Murphy &#8212; who wound up with a game-high 14 points &#8212; didn&#8217;t score until hitting the team&#8217;s only 3-pointer with 3:18 remaining in the first half.But she came up with a five-point third quarter to keep the game from getting away, then helped the Bulldogs chase down victory.Then Sarah Steeber hit a pair of foul shots with 2:15 to play as Berwick drew even for the first time on the night, 31-31.Both teams lost possession while trying to stall for a final shot in the last two minutes, and Berwick drew a foul going to the hoop with 4.5 seconds to play.The Bulldogs missed both attempts, but Murphy made some magic happen by snatching away the rebound after the second attempt.&#8220;We didn&#8217;t box out, and Murphy comes in and gets the rebound,&#8221; Gavio said. &#8220;Get the rebound, get ready for overtime. We were on our heels. And I don&#8217;t know why.&#8221;Hazleton Area had one last crack, but a long pass attempt didn&#8217;t connect. Murphy took the inbounds pass and cradled the ball as the final tick went off the clock, sending Phillips into a hand-slapping celebration with Berwick assistant Bob Calarco.&#8220;We haven&#8217;t beaten them in awhile,&#8221; a grinning Murphy said. &#8220;It was a good win. It definitely helps our confidence.&#8221;Berwick 32, Hazleton Area 31HAZLETON AREA (31) &#8212; Brooke Boretski 1 0-0 2, Olivia Wolk 2 4-4 8, Kyra Antolick 4 1-2 10, Faith Grula 2 0-0 4, Marissa Trivelpiece 2 0-0 4, Carley Krizansky 0 0-0 0, Julia Mooney 1 1-2 3, Jaya Franek 0 0-0 0, Lacie Kringe 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 6-8 31.BERWICK (32) &#8212; Renny Murphy 4 4-7 14, Morgan Nevel 1 3-10 5, Sarah Steeber 0 2-2 2, Katie Starr 3 3-4 9, Emily Ouimet 1 1-2 3, Abby Burt 0 0-0 0, Jackie Nevel 0 0-0 0, Rachel Whitenight 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 13-25 32.Hazleton Area`9`9`10`3 &#8212; 31Berwick`8`6`8`10 &#8212; 32Three-point goals &#8212; HAZ 1 (Antolick); BER 2 (Murphy 2).<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div>

Murphy’s late free throw lifts Berwick to girls basketball upset of Hazleton