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PIAA wrestling preview: A look at all 11 WVC entrants in Hershey

Sometimes losing a big one can be a positive thing.
				Just ask Hazleton Area.
				The Cougars lost not only one title shot but two during the Wyoming Valley Conference girls basketball season.
				Those losses, though, seemed to steel a resolve and trigger a new hunger in Hazleton Area, which enters the first-round of PIAA play this weekend as the only District 2 champion from the WVC.
				&ldquo;It definitely was a wake-up call,&rdquo; Hazleton Area&rsquo;s senior scoring leader Marissa Trivelpiece said of a painful defeat in the WVC overall league championship game, &ldquo;to get back to what we&rsquo;re doing. I think that showed in the in the District (2/4) semifinal.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;re here to play.&rdquo;
				The fired-up Cougars suddenly caught fire and overwhelmed both Scranton and Williamsport to win the District 2/4 Class 6A subregional title. They&rsquo;ll join District 2 Class 3A runner-up Holy Redeemer when state play starts in those classes Friday, while District 2 silver medalist Dallas and third-place team Berwick will open in PIAA Class 4A play Saturday.
				A last-minute loss to Lake-Lehman for the league crown turned out to be an eye-opener for the Cougars, who dropped a playoff game with Dallas for the WVC Division 1 championship and the overall league title game on Lehman&rsquo;s long 3-point field goal with nine seconds to go in the same week.
				&ldquo;After that championship game we lost on that half-court shot,&rdquo; Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said, &ldquo;they said &lsquo;That&rsquo;s never going to happen again.&rsquo;&rdquo;
				So far, it hasn&rsquo;t.
				Hazleton Area headed into district play as a 20-win team without a title, but one on a major mission.
				Trivelpiece took it personally after missing four free throws in the final minutes and going 1-for-8 from the foul line for the game in that league title loss.
				&ldquo;I never do that,&rdquo; Trivelpiece said. &ldquo;After that conference championship, I told coach Gav, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not missing a foul shot again this year.&rsquo; &rdquo;
				She didn&rsquo;t miss anything in the district championship.
				Trivelpiece &mdash; typically more of an inside force &mdash; nailed every shot she took while sparking a 58-34 victory over Williamsport last Friday for the District 2/4 crown. She converted both of her free throws and each of her shots from the field &mdash; all from behind the 3-point line.
				Trivelpiece also fired the first shot of a district-opening victory over Scranton, a 24-foot warning strike that turned out to be a signal for seven 3-pointers in the first quarter, nine for that game, and a combined 17 treys in the two-game district tournament. She&rsquo;s 5-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from 3-point range since the start of districts.
				&ldquo;First time against Scranton, she said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m taking the first shot,&rsquo; &rdquo; Gavio said. &ldquo;It was an NBA 3. She wanted it.&rdquo;
				Giving unbeaten Scranton Prep a strong battle into the fourth quarter of a District 2 title loss may make Dallas want a state victory even more.
				Despite having heavily-guarded leading scorer Lauren Charlton held to four points, the Mountaineers had an eight-point lead early in the second quarter, took a one-point advantage into the final minute of the first half and were within six points midway through the third quarter before Prep pulled away for a 52-35 win.
				&ldquo;We were really happy with what we did,&rdquo; Dallas center Claire Charlton said. &ldquo;We played really good defense. We were able to run on them, even though they are a great team.&rdquo;
				Meanwhile, Holy Redeemer will try to recover from having a great run of seven consecutive victories in state openers come to an end last season, while Berwick is back in state play for the third time in four years.
				Here&rsquo;s a look at WVC teams ready to tip off first-round PIAA games.
				Holy Redeemer (20-6)
				vs. Bloomsburg (21-5)
				Class 3A First Round
				6:30 p.m. Friday, Shamokin HS
				Holy Redeemer kept rolling shots off the rim in a District 2 title loss to Dunmore to finish with a third straight silver medal and had its string of seven consecutive opening-round state victory snapped by Loyalsock last season. It was this Bloomsburg team that beat Loyalsock, and handily, 56-40 for the District 4 title.
				The Panthers have some nice balance, with Rylee Klinger averaging 14.4 points while nailing 24 3-pointers to go with the 12.3 points Madeline Evans puts up. Bloomsburg has been on a roll while entering states on a six-game winning streak and 10 victories in its last 11 games. That includes ripping through the District 4 tourney by beating Hughesville, Warrior Run and Loyalsock by 11, 22 and 16 points.
				Holy Redeemer hit a snag after an 18-4 regular season, losing two of its four postseason battles. The first roadblock was a foul-plagued loss to Hazleton Area in the WVC overall league playoff tournament and the second came Saturday &mdash; when the Royals couldn&rsquo;t get anything going in a 52-24 drubbing by Dunmore.
				Senior Sam Yencha, who averages 17.5 points, is the leader of a Redeemer team that upset Riverside in the District 2 semifinals and looks to make last year&rsquo;s early exit and aberration in state openers.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not done yet,&rdquo; Holy Redeemer coach John Jezorwski said after the Dunmore loss.
				District 2 champion Dunmore, a returning state finalist, looks to start another run to the PIAA finals with a 6 p.m. game at Scranton High School against Constitution (12-11), the No. 4 team from District 12.
				CLASS 6A
				Owen J. Roberts (19-8)
				vs. Hazleton Area (21-5)
				Class 6A First Round
				7:30 p.m. Friday, Berwick MS
				Hazleton Area broke a 10-year drought in state openers by edging Central Bucks West on a controversial basket at the buzzer last year, and returning starters Marissa Trivelpiece, Faith Grula, Kyra Antolick and Brooke Boretski are looking for a repeat.
				&ldquo;Now we get ready to to it again,&rdquo; Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio said.
				Boretski&rsquo;s been on a scoring spree lately and had a game-high 12 points in a District 2/4 title game where Trivelpiece, Olivia Wolk and Faith Grula all scored 11.
				Owen J. Roberts will counter with rebounding machine Olivia LeClaire, who pulled down 17 boards in one game last month, and scorers Avery White and dangerous 5-foot-4 point guard Hannah Clay. It was Clay&rsquo;s 3-pointer in the final minutes that lifted the Wildcats over Garnet Valley 42-41 in the first playback game of the District 1 tournament. Owen J. Roberts, the No. 14 seed in that tourney, then edged Souderton in the ninth-place game to earn a date with Hazleton Area in states and comes in with three wins over its last four games.
				Shamokin (16-9)
				vs. Dallas (22-5)
				Class 4A First Round
				2:30 p.m. Saturday, Wilkes University
				Bolstered by a strong showing against unbeaten Scranton Prep in a District 2 title loss, Dallas feels very prepared to play its first state game in 17 years.
				The Mountaineers&rsquo; 6-foot center Claire Charlton has provided punch inside lately and guard Deanna Wallace can go off at any time &mdash; as evidenced by the eight-point second quarter she hit Prep with that had Dallas in the lead with under a minute to play in the first half. It all revolves, though, around University of Pennsylvania-bound Lauren Charlton, who averaged 17 points and 2.7 3-pointers per game during the regular season.
				&ldquo;This whole group this year,&rdquo; Dallas coach Kelly Johnson said, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say enough about how proud I am of them.&rdquo;
				Shamokin has plenty of pride, too, and showed it by winning 10 consecutive games before a 41-38 loss to Athens in the District 4 semifinals.
				The Indians responded with a 60-42 victory over Mifflinburg to take District 4&rsquo;s No. 3 slot in states.
				Kaitlyn Dunn leads the way for Shamokin with a scoring average of 12.4 points and 21 3-pointers.
				District 2 champ Scranton Prep will try to extend its season-long unbeaten streak to 27 consecutive games when it faces District 3 No. 4 team Susquehanna Township at 4 p.m. at Lackawanna College in another PIAA opener.
				Berwick (16-9)
				vs. Danville (24-3)
				Class 4A First Round
				4 p.m. Saturday, Shamokin HS
				Danville simply destroyed every opponent it&rsquo;s played in the postseason, as the Ironmen continued a torrid pace that&rsquo;s lasted more than a month.
				After suffering a 46-34 loss to Loyalsock on Jan. 27, the Ironmen ripped off 15 victories in their last 16 games and take an eight-game winning streak into states.
				With Corinna Petrus averaging 15.6 points and hitting three double-doubles during the regular season and Linae Williams putting up 14 points per game with 34 3-pointers, Danville can certainly score. That showed in the District 4 playoffs, where the Ironmen crushed Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 58-14, Mifflinburg 64-29 and Athens 49-29 to win the Class 4A title. There&rsquo;s a recurring theme here. Danville hasn&rsquo;t allowed 30 points in a single game in the playoffs.
				Berwick will try to break that trend.
				The Bulldogs boast a strong inside-outside game, with Katie Starr averaging 15.3 points and pulling down double-digit rebounds almost every night and guard Renny Murphy averaging 12.2 points with 43 3-pointers during the regular season. She&rsquo;s also a 78 percent free throw shooter.
				A promising season faded down the stretch when the Bulldogs dropped three of their final six WVC games, but they recovered in time to make a return to states after missing out last year.
				Starr scored four points in the final 2:27 of Berwick&rsquo;s 40-36 victory over Nanticoke Area in the District 2 third-place game and Emily Ouimet came up big with eight points &mdash; including four foul shots in the last 61 seconds of that victory.
				&ldquo;That was the third time for our girls,&rdquo; Berwick coach Bill Phillips said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t win the Wyoming Valley Conference. Wanted to get the (District 2) championship, that didn&rsquo;t happen. The determination of our kids in the locker room at halftime was unbelievable.&rdquo;

Four WVC girls teams step into PIAA basketball tournament