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SALEM TWP. &mdash; It seems losing the league championship on a last-minute shot did more than fire up the Hazleton Area Cougars.
				It started an inferno.
				Hazleton Area drilled its first seven 3-point field goal attempts Friday, Olivia Wolk scored 18 points and the Cougars recovered quickly from last Saturday&rsquo;s Wyoming Valley Conference title loss to Lake-Lehman by smoking Scranton, 65-47 in a District 2/4 Class 6A semifinal girls basketball game at Berwick Middle School.
				&ldquo;We really came out with some spark in us today,&rdquo; Wolk said. &ldquo;We wanted to get (someone) back for the Lake-Lehman game. We wanted to show everyone we still belong here.&rdquo;
				The 20-5 Cougars will try to defend their District 2/4 title against 8-15 Williamsport, which upset Wilkes-Barre 51-49 in the other semifinal, at 6 p.m. next Friday in the District 2/4 title game at Mohegan Sun Arena.
				Hazleton Area can relate to such heartbreak.
				The Cougars held a two-point lead down the stretch and into the final minute in the WVC overall championship game, only to watch Lehman hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds to play and follow it with a free throw six seconds later last Saturday as the Black Knights celebrated a 35-33 victory. That came shortly after Hazleton Area lost the WVC Division 1 title to Dallas, 55-47, in a title game playoff that was tied at 47-47 with 3:08 to go.
				The Cougars didn&rsquo;t stay heartbroken for long.
				Hazleton Area&rsquo;s swarming press defense forced seven turnovers in a first period and the outcome was decided shortly after the game started.
				Marissa Trivelpiece hit a 3-pointer with Hazleton Area&rsquo;s first shot, Brooke Boretski nailed another trey with the team&rsquo;s second attempt and Wolk followed with a 3 of her own with the Cougars&rsquo; third try from the floor.
				In 90 seconds, it was 9-2, Hazleton Area.
				&ldquo;We came out with fire in us today,&rdquo; Wolk said. &ldquo;But after we had those three 3&rsquo;s in a row, we just kind of caught fire.&rdquo;
				It was the start of a wildfire.
				By the end of the first quarter, Wolk and Boretski each had a pair of 3-pointers and Kyra Antolick and Faith Grula both had one as the Cougars converted their first seven attempts behind the 3-point arc while storming to a 27-6 lead.
				&ldquo;Are you kidding me?&rdquo; a jubilant Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said. &ldquo;Is this the same court where we were 1-for-13 (in 3-point attempts)? Is this the same floor where we lost to Berwick (during the league season)? Those first five minutes, we were motivated, with something to prove. Our press was relentless. That&rsquo;s probably as good as we&rsquo;ve played.
				&ldquo;We lit it up.&rdquo;
				For the game, the Cougars finished 9-for-13 from 3-point range &mdash; a conversion rate of over 69 percent &mdash; as Antolick added her second trey of the night in the third quarter and Trivelpiece hit her second in the fourth period.
				Grula finished with 11 points and Boretski tossed in 10, helping Hazleton Area to an 18-point halftime lead and a 55-30 margin by the end of the third quarter. Scranton, led by 22 points from 6-foot-1 center Colette Mulderig, never got closer than within 17 points over the final eight minutes.
				&ldquo;They were fired up,&rdquo; Gavio said of his Cougars. &ldquo;What a difference a week makes.&rdquo;
				Looks like Hazleton Area wants at least one title out of this season.
				&ldquo;It was pretty tough,&rdquo; Wolk said of the past week. &ldquo;It was our last chance (for an overall league crown) with our seniors. We kind of just shook it off.
				&ldquo;We wanted to get back in the district championship game.&rdquo;
				District 2/4 Class 6A Semifinals
				Hazleton Area 65, Scranton 47
				SCRANTON (47) &mdash; Lanee Olson 1 1-2 3, Fione Evans 2 0-0 6, Ky&rsquo;ahni Harbin 2 0-1 4, Sophia Glogowski 4 0-0 10, Colette Mulderig 9 4-5 22, Zahliah Small 1 0-0 2, Barachel Yizreal 0 0-0 0, Riley Bittenbender 0 0-0 0, Olivia Clough 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-8 47.
				HAZLETON AREA (65) &mdash; Brooke Boretski 3 2-2 10, Olivia Wolk 7 2-3 18, Kyra Antolick 2 0-0 6, Faith Grula 4 2-2 11, Marissa Trivelpiece 2 0-0 6, Julia Mooney 0 0-0 0, Jaya Franek 2 1-2 5, Isabella Colyer 2 0-0 4, Carley Krizansky 0 1-2 1, Lacie Kringe 1 0-0 2, Layla Buglio 0 0-0 0, Paige Kuehn 0 0-0 0, Luz Mejia 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 8-11 65.
				Scranton`6`14`10`17 &mdash; 47
				Hazleton Area`27`11`17`10 &mdash; 65
				Three-point goals &mdash; SCR 4 (Glogowski 2, Evans 2); HAZ 9 (Trivelpiece 2, Boretski 2, Wolk 2, Antolick 2, Grula).

District 2 Girls Basketball: Hazleton Area comes out smoking, scorches Scranton in girls basketball