China's new virus cases fall again, deaths now exceed 1,100

Red Sox make Roenicke interim manager; 'permanency' on hold

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; After getting a taste of playing in the starting lineup, Bella Hill was a little bummed when she found herself back on the bench for most of this year.
				She never let it stop her from making a difference &mdash; or for that matter, from making shots.
				Hill hit for a team-high 13 points in a reserve role, Nadia Evanosky came off the bench with strong defense and both super subs brought Dallas a shot of energy &mdash; along with the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball championship &mdash; during a 55-47 victory over Hazleton Area in a playoff for the division title on Tuesday at Holy Redeemer High School.
				&ldquo;Oh my God, it feels awesome,&rdquo; Hill said. &ldquo;We definitely deserve it.&rdquo;
				Nobody can argue that, after Dallas finished 13-2 in Division 1 by breaking a regular-season first-place tie and downing 12-3 Hazleton Area for the second time in the span of eight days in a late-season surge to the top.
				Hill had plenty to do with that.
				She finished by joining Lauren Chalrton with a team-high 13 points, and most of them were pivotal.
				Her 3-point field goal near the end of the third quarter sent Dallas into the fourth with some breathing room and a 41-37 lead. And her three-point play with 46.9 seconds to play provided the Mountaineers with a seven-point margin to pretty much ice the game.
				Not a bad impact for a player who spent a few games as part of the starting lineup but most of the season left out of it.
				&ldquo;It really motivated me to do better,&rdquo; Hill said of having her playing time cut. &ldquo;It was challenging. And it made me push harder, made me want to become a better player.&rdquo;
				She&rsquo;s turned into an invaluable one.
				&ldquo;She&rsquo;s had a few starts, but Bella has been coming off the bench all year,&rdquo; Dallas coach Kelly Johnson said. &ldquo;She has incredible speed, great confidence, she&rsquo;s a great defender. You&rsquo;re always getting 110 percent from Bella.
				&ldquo;She&rsquo;s knocked down some big shots.&rdquo;
				Evanosky helped deck Hazleton Area&rsquo;s early gameplan.
				Cougars center and star scorer Marissa Trivelpiece hit nine of her game-high 23 points in the first half and scored three at the start of the second half to put Hazleton Area in a 31-24 lead.
				But Evanosky entered the game and helped neutralize the inside. She drew a fourth foul on Trivelpiece late in the third quarter, then used the opportunity to sink two foul shots that pulled Dallas within 36-35.
				&ldquo;Trivelpiece is a very gifted player,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;Trivelpiece was hurting us in the low block. We put somebody a little bigger on her, she looks to attack the basket. We put someone smaller on her, they post her up down low.
				&ldquo;But Nadia&rsquo;s a fighter and doesn&rsquo;t back down. Nadia has come off the bench and played a key role in some of our games this year. She doesn&rsquo;t have the size, but she workd hard on opposing players. She&rsquo;s tough.&rdquo;
				Suddenly, the tough got going.
				Dallas made all five of its baskets in the third quarter from 3-point range, triggered by Hill&rsquo;s trey late in the first half.
				Charlton made two, Deanna Wallace had two &mdash; including one with 37 seconds to go in the quarter that gave Dallas a 38-36 lead &mdash; and Hill closed with a long shot of her own 30 seconds later that boosted the Mountaineers&rsquo; margin to four points.
				&ldquo;My teammates, they&rsquo;re a huge part of how I&rsquo;m playing,&rdquo; Hill said. &ldquo;Everyone was keeping me up, especially Deanna. My teammates and my coach said, &lsquo;Just keep trying, keep shooting.&rsquo; The shots eventually drained.&rdquo;
				They seemed to drain the life from the Cougars.
				Playing with those four fouls, Trivelpiece had a big finish with five points and five of her team-high eight rebounds in the final quarter. But outside of Kyra Antolick&rsquo;s 3-pointer that tied the game at 46-46, she didn&rsquo;t get an overwhelming amount of help.
				Lauren Charlton&rsquo;s hook shot from outside the foul line snapped the tie, and was followed by a knifing layup by her sister Claire Charlton with 73 seconds remaining that gave Dallas a four-point edge.
				And Hill sealed the deal when she drove the lane for a layup that she converted into a three-point play that sent Dallas into delirium with a 53-46 and 46 seconds on the clock.
				&ldquo;Those types of games really challenge us,&rdquo; Hill said. &ldquo;They really do help us. Our coach has always been talking about us going far this whole season. I definitely believed her.&rdquo;
				Now the Mountaineers (20-3 overall) will head to the WVC playoffs for the overall league title as Division 1&rsquo;s top team against Division 2 runner-up Lake-Lehman on Thursday at Lake-Lehman High School. Hazleton Area, which carries an 18-4 overall record, will face Division 2 champ Holy Redeemer in the other league semifinal, also Thursday at Lake-Lehman.
				&ldquo;It feels amazing,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;We knew we had something special coming back. We told them the entire season they have something special going on. We had the taste of beating Hazleton last week. I think it built our confidence.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so proud of these kids.&rdquo;
				Dallas 55, Hazleton Area 47
				HAZLETON AREA (47) &mdash; Olivia Wolk 0 4-6 4, Brooke Boretski 2 3-3 7, Kyra Antolick 1 0-0 3, Faith Grula 2 3-4 7, Marissa Trivelpiece 8 7-10 23, Julie Mooney 0 0-0 0, Jaya Franek 0 0-0 0, Isabella Colyer 0 0-0 0, Lacie Kringe 0 0-0 0, Carley Krizansky 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 17-23 47.
				DALLAS (55) &mdash; Haley Habrack 2 0-0 4, Morgan MacNeely 2 0-0 5, Deanna Wallace 3 0-1 8, Claire Charlton 3 2-2 8, Lauren Charlton 5 1-1 13, Bella Hill 4 3-5 13, Julia Kocher 0 0-0 0, Nadia Evanosky 1 2-2 4. Totals 20 8-11 55.
				Hazleton Area`9`17`11`10 &mdash; 47
				Dallas`9`15`17`14 &mdash; 55
				Three-point goals &mdash; HAZ 2 (Krizansky, Antolick); DAL 7 (Hill 2, L. Charlton 2, Wallace 2, MacNeely).

124495701_web1_dal_hz4_faa

Super subs Hill, Evanosky spark Dallas to girls basketball division title