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Around Town: Keeping your heart happy all month long

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Sokoloski: Former PSU star McGloin can’t wait to get into the XFL game

WRIGHT TWP. &mdash; Without its steady leader and with title hopes suddenly slipping away, Hazleton Area appeared ready to fall.
				That&rsquo;s when Brooke Boretski steadied the ship.
				Boretski, more of a passer than a scorer, took the reins Saturday during a last-minute surge that helped Hazleton Area hold off hard-charging rival Crestwood, 50-45 and remain in contention for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title.
				&ldquo;I definitely felt comfortable,&rdquo; said Boretski, who scored five of her eight points in the fourth quarter. &ldquo;I knew I had to lift my team.&rdquo;
				She lifted the Cougars out of a rut at Crestwood High School and right into a playoff for the division championship.
				Boretski scored three points in the final 58 seconds to take boost a one-point lead to four and help the Cougars survive a major scare in the WVC regular season finale.
				That allowed Hazleton Area to finish at 12-2 in league play and tied with Dallas, which downed Wyoming Valley West on Saturday night. Dallas and Hazleton Area will play off for the Division 1 title Tuesday at a time and site to be determined, before both head into the semifinals of the WVC&rsquo;s overall league championship Thursday.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;re excited to play them again,&rdquo; Boretski said of the Mountaineers, who dropped their last battle with Dallas last week. &ldquo;We want them bad. And it&rsquo;s always fun when we play them.&rdquo;
				The Cougars would be wise to be careful what they wish for.
				Because during Saturday&rsquo;s rematch, they looked little like the team that crushed Crestwood, 63-17 when the the teams squared off Jan. 20.
				But a Comets team that finished 0-14 in Division 1 had the game tied at 42-42 with 2:43 to play, pulled within two points with 35 seconds to play and had a chance to tie while trailing by three with under 15 seconds left before missing a layup attempt.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s scary,&rdquo; Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said. &ldquo;They (the Comets) didn&rsquo;t win a league game, we&rsquo;re going to be playing for the championship.
				&ldquo;This is why we play the game.&rdquo;
				For the most part, the Comets played step for step with Hazleton Area, right to the very end.
				Helena Jardine scored nine of her game-high 14 points in the opening quarter to keep Crestwood within 16-13 after a quarter.
				And when the Cougars started pulling away with a 12-point halftime lead, thanks to nine points from Olivia Wolk and eight more from Kyra Antolick over the first two quaters, Crestwood refused to cave.
				Instead, the Comets came right back with an aggressive matchup defense that limited Hazleton Area to three baskets during the first 11 minutes of the second half.
				Meanwhile, Julia Johnson and Isabella Caporuscio hit back-to-back 3-point field goals and Brianna Wickiser added a layup in an eight-point run that closed the gap to 34-30 by the end of the third quarter.
				The Comets, who committed eight turnovers during the first quarter and 16 for the game, sliced through Hazleton Area&rsquo;s vaunted press with quick, heady passing and limited their turnover total to four during the second half while using a gambling defense to cause the Cougars havoc over the final 16 minutes.
				Crestwood finally caught up when Johnson drove the lane for two of her 10 points while knotting the score at 37-37 with 5:33 remaining and knotted the game three more times &mdash; on Johnson&rsquo;t two foul shots with 4:-01 to play; on a free throw by Jardine with 3:34 to go; and when Jill Taleroski made both ends of a one-and-one with 2:43 on the clock.
				&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve definitely gotten so much better,&rdquo; Boretski said.
				Gavio tried to tell his team that, pulling out some scores of Crestwood losses beforehand.
				&ldquo;I said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got numbers for you.&rsquo; Pittston by nine, Valley West by six, Berwick by six, Dallas by eight,&rdquo; Gavio said. &ldquo;It was 63-17 last game (against Crestwood). It&rsquo;s hard to get that out of their heads. They&rsquo;re kids.&rdquo;
				Deep in a dogfight, the Cougars found a Crestwood team that finished 3-19 overall but looks eager to open the District 2 Class 5A quarterfinals against North Pocono in two weeks wasn&rsquo;t kidding around.
				And things grew pretty tense for Hazleton Area when they lost backup center Carley Krizansky to an apparent ankle injury midway through the fourth quarter and leading scorer Marissa Trivelpiece to fouls with 2:43 to play.
				&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s getting tight,&rdquo; Gavio said, &ldquo;you could see it.&rdquo;
				That&rsquo;s when Boretski, who came in averaging 5.2 points, loosened things up.
				Her foul shot with 58 seconds remaining gave the Cougars a two-point margin, and she followed that with a driving layup that set Hazleton Area up with a 47-43 lead 41 seconds from the final horn.
				&ldquo;My mindset was, &lsquo;I need to drive,&rsquo; &rdquo; Boretski said. &ldquo;We gave it our best shot. They just put up a very good fight.&rdquo;
				The fight was pretty much over when Olivia Wolk used a layup for the last two of her 12 points, setting the final score with 10 seconds left and leaving the Cougars breathing a collective sigh of relief.
				&ldquo;Tough one,&rdquo; Gavio whistled. &ldquo;The big thing was shots at the end. Brookie got us a big one, Faith (Grula) sucked it up.
				&ldquo;The bottom line is, you have to make plays.&rdquo;
				Hazleton Area 50, Crestwood 45
				HAZLETON AREA (50) &mdash; Brooke Boretski 3 1-3 8, Olivia Wolk 4 2-4 12, Kyra Antolick 4 0-2 8, Faith Grula 1 6-8 8, Marissa Trivelpiece 4 2-4 10, Isabella Colyer 0 0-0 0, Jaya Franek 0 0-0 0, Carley Krizansky 2 0-0 4, Lacie Kringe 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 11-21 50.
				CRESTWOOD (45) &mdash; Julia Johnson 3 2-2 10, Jaden Weiss 1 2-4 4, Helena Jardine 5 3-9 14, Jill Taleroski 2 2-2 6, Brianna Wickiser 4 0-4 8, Isabella Caporuscio 1 0-0 3, Julia Glowacki 0 0-0 0, Candence Hiller 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-21 45.
				Hazleton Area`16`14`4`16 &mdash; 50
				Crestwood`13`5`12`15 &mdash; 45
				Three-point goals &mdash; HAZ 3 (Wolk 2, Boretski); CRE 4 (Johnson 2, Jardine, Caporuscio).

Boretski, Hazleton Area survive girls basketball scare, beat Crestwood