Click here to subscribe today or Login.
HAZLE TWP. — Admittedly, Faith Grula felt a little jittery stepping onto the big stage.
A lot jittery, actually.
Fortunately for Hazleton Area, she didn’t show it.
Grula made the go-ahead basket, an ensuing steal, and the game’s final rebound — all within the final 37 seconds Tuesday — as Hazleton Area lost a big early lead, then rallied in the clutch to upend Pittston Area 35-33 in a Wyoming Valley Conference girls basketball battle at Hazleton Area High School.
“We just needed to do what we needed to do,” Grula said.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore did just about everything at the end to ensure the Cougars moved to 3-0 at the top of the WVC Division 1, at a time when Hazleton Area desperately needed her.
During last Monday’s Wyoming Valley Conference-opening victory over Wyoming Valley West, Hazleton Area’s starting point guard Katie Lipinski suffered a torn ACL, dampening a solid start for the Cougars.
To tab her replacement, Cougars coach Joe Gavio pointed straight at Grula, who admitted to feeling pretty nervous about the assignment.
“Definitely,” Grula said. “It was a big jump for me from last year. But it’s really picking up my intensity.”
That showed down the stretch.
With Pittston Area holding a 33-32 lead, Grula worked open just outside the basket and quickly popped a 10-foot jumper with 37 seconds to play. It was her only basket of the game and gave the 6-2 Cougars the lead to keep.
“We just did whatever it took, the last 30 seconds,” said Grula, who added four foul shots to her night to finish with six points.
She wasn’t done.
Grula immediately stole away Pittston Area’s ensuing possession, preventing the Patriots a chance to regain the lead and costing Pittston Area precious time off the clock. Virginia Yurchak eventually made a free throw for the game’s final point before her second converted foul shot was disallowed by an infraction.
And when a missed Hazleton Area foul shot hung in the air with two seconds to play, Grula went up and grabbed it, securing the rebound and the victory that kept the Cougars in first place in the WVC and dropped Pittston Area to 2-2.
“She’s going to tell you she didn’t play well,” Gavio said. “(But) Faith’s coming into her own right now, made some big plays, wanted it.”
For a good stretch, it appeared the Patriots wanted Tuesday’s game even more.
Hazleton Area came out hot, hitting the game’s first four baskets to take a quick 8-0 lead and then, behind seven of Marissa Trivelpiece’s 17 points, held a commanding 16-6 lead after a quarter.
From there, it was all Pittston Area.
The Patriots limited Hazleton Area to a combined seven points in the middle quarters and to just three baskets after the first quarter until Trivelpiece buried a 3-pointer as the Cougars regained their lost lead 30-29 with 2:52 to play.
Meanwhile, Pittston Area worked its way back into the game behind 11 points from Alexa Noone and 10 from Leah Hodick, and grabbed its first lead, 21-19, on Hodick’s rebound layup early in the second half.
“I think we got a little tired,” Grula said. “We went too tough too fast. But we got it together.”
Trivelpiece kept the Cougars in the game through the downslide, converting a big basket to pull Hazleton Area within 23-21 and keep Pittston Area from pulling away midway through the third quarter. Her two free throws just over two minutes into the fourth quarter tied the game at 27-27, and her 3-pointer with under three minutes to play gave Hazleton Area hope, and a 30-29 lead.
“I’m real proud of them,” Gavio said. “We’re going to do what we do. We just did not shoot the ball well. But when we had to, we did.”
Crestwood 52, Valley West 36
Julia Makowski scored a game-high 24 points, leading the Comets to victory.
Sarah Richards added a 3-point field goal and eight points for Crestwood. Andi Blaski led Valley West with 13 points.
Holy Redeemer 66, Northwest 39
Sam Yencha scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the second quarter as the Royals opened a 33-16 halftime lead and rolled to victory.
Sam Rajza hit for 13 points and Julia Andrejko and Lauren Wasiakowski each finished with 10 points for Holy Redeemer.
Northwest’s Brenna Babcock matched Yencha for game-high with 18 points.
Berwick 53, Meyers 34
Reese Mensinger got the Bulldogs off to a strong start and finished with a game-high 26 points in Berwick’s victory.
Mensinger opened with five points to get Berwick out to a 10-3 lead after a quarter, then hit for 14 points in the middle quarters as Berwick’s lead grew to 16 points.
Roni Isenberg chipped in with 15 points for the Bulldogs.
Danayia Ballard led Meyers with 11 points.
Lake-Lehman 54, Hanover Area 17
Madison Borum scored 19 points, Savannah Purdy finished with 14 and Corinna Scoblick added 13 and the Black Knights held Hanover Area to single digits in every quarter to coast to victory.
Wyoming Seminary 54, Tunkhannock 28
Alex Wesneski and Ally Vezendy each scored 12 points and the Blue Knights opened a 16-point halftime lead on their way to victory.
Maaike Reitsma added 11 points in Sem’s victory.
Becca Avery led Tunkhannock with 11 points.
Wyoming Area 62, Wallenpaupack 57
Sarah Holweg scored eight of her team-high 18 points in the final quarter as the Warriors broke a 40-40 tie and rallied for victory over the final eight minutes to remain unbeaten on the season at 8-0.
Addison Orzel added six of her 14 points in the final quarter and Cassidy Orzel finished with 10 points for the Warriors.
Hazleton Area 35, Pittston Area 33
PITTSTON AREA (33) — Mary Silinskie 2 0-0 4, Portia Weidlich 1 0-0 2, Leah Hodick 4 2-2 10, Alexa Noone 3 4-4 11, Andrea Ruby 0 1-4 1, Nicole Zambetti 1 0-3 3, Emily O’Brien 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 7-15 33.
HAZLETON AREA (35) — Kyra Antolick 0 0-0 0, Faith Grula 1 4-4 6, Marissa Trivelpiece 6 4-6 17, Virginia Yurchak 2 1-2 5, Maddie Mrochko 2 0-0 5, Diamond Truluck 0 0-0 0, Brooke Boretski 1 0-0 2, Olivia Wolk 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 9-12 35.
Pittston Area`6`11`6`10`—`33
Hazleton Area`16`3`4`12`—`35
Three-point goals — PA 2 (Zambetti, Noone); HAZ 2 (Mrochko, Trivelpiece).
Crestwood 52, Valley West 36
CRESTWOOD (52) — Riley Magin 0 0-0 0, Kristen Andrews 2 0-0 4, Sara Hopkins 1 3-4 5, Bella Termini 1 1-3 3, Julia Makowski 10 2-4 24, Sarah Richards 2 3-3 8, Emily Roberts 0 0-0 0, Helena Jardine 1 4-6 6, Alexis Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Kline 0 0-0 0, Andrea Shipton 1 0-0 2, Brianna Wickiser 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 13-20 52.
VALLEY WEST (36) — Aubry Boyd 0 0-0 0, Nicole Boutanos 1 0-0 2, Alima Tikhtova 0 0-0 0, Katlyn Rincavage 0 0-0 0, Karaline Stelma 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Gruver 2 0-0 5, Toni Amato 2 2-2 8, Jessica Shaver 0 0-0 0, Grace Giza 3 2-2 8, Kylee Laudenslager 0 0-0 0, Megan Brody 0 0-0 0, Kara Mackiewicz 0 0-0 0, Andi Blaski 6 1-1 13. Totals 14 5-6 36.
Crestwood`12`14`10`16`—`52
Valley West`12`4`14`6`—`36
Three-point goals — CRE 3 (Makowski 2, Richards); WVW 3 (Amato 2, Gruver).
Holy Redeemer 66, Northwest 39
NORTHWEST (39) — Reagan Harrison 2 0-0 4, Brenna Babcock 7 4-6 18, Trista Babcock 1 0-2 2, Jordan Harrison 2 1-2 5, Danielle Bowman 2 3-3 7, Kendra Saxton 0 0-0 0, Tess Edwards 1 1-2 3, Lindsey Thomas 0 0-0 0, Maddie Mclendan 0 0-0 0, Dashawonna Jones. Totals 15 9-15 39.
HOLY REDEEMER (66) — Sarah Kuderka 3 0-0 7, Aleisha Pekarovsky 0 0-0 0, Julia Andrejko 4 1-2 10, Sam Yencha 7 4-4 18, Lauren Wasiakowski 2 6-7 10, Sam Rajza 4 3-4 13, Jordan Cicon 0 0-0 0, Cameron Marcinkowski 3 0-0 7. Totals 23 15-19 66.
Northwest`8`8`15`8`—`39
Holy Redeemer`15`18`14`19`—`66
Three-point goals — HR 4 (Rajza 2, Kuderka, Marcinkowski).
Berwick 53, Meyers 34
MEYERS (34) — Bella Gray 1 0-0 2, Erin Morris 2 3-6 8, Amanda Gray 3 0-1 8, Ashley Bruno 1 1-2 3, Selena Soto 0 0-0 0, Allycia Harris 1 0-0 2, Danayia Ballard 5 1-2 11, Sarah Bottger 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-11 34.
BERWICK (53) — Reese Mensinger 9 6-8 26, Renny Murphy 1 0-0 2, Emily Novicki 0 0-0 0, Sierra Miedaner 0 0-0 0, Katie Starr 0 0-0 0, Megan Dalo 2 3-8 7, Haley Owens 0 0-0 0, Jadyn Michael 1 0-0 3, Mallory Pinterich 0 0-0 0, Roni Isenberg 6 3-3 15. Totals 19 12-14 53.
Meyers`3`11`11`9`—`34
Berwick`10`20`10`13`—`53
Three-point goals — MEY 3 (A. Gray 2, Morris); BER 3 (Mensinger 2, Michael).
Lake-Lehman 54, Hanover Area 17
LAKE-LEHMAN (54) — Halle Jones 0 0-0 0, Madison Brdaric 0 0-0 0, Lexi Concklin 0 0-0 0, Hannah Kline 0 0-0 0, Carlyn Blight 1 0-0 2, Sarah Salus 2 0-2 4, Jess Salus 0 0-0 0, Jessica Spencer 0 0-0 0, Corinna Scoblick 5 1-2 13, Jodie Salansky 1 0-0 2, Courtney Henninger 0 0-0 0, Savannah Purdy 6 0-0 14, Hunter Kline 0 0-0 0, Autumn Savitski 0 0-0 0, Madison Borum 9 1-4 19. Totals 24 2-8 54.
HANOVER AREA (17) — Victoria Benning 1 0-0 2, Genesis Rodriguez 3 0-0 6, Sara Whitesell 1 0-0 2, Emilee Bobos 1 0-0 2, Tanisha Atherton 0 0-0 0, Mary Slusser 1 0-0 2, Arianna Sillah 0 0-0 0, Alesha Dennis 0 0-0 0, T. Hines 0 0-0 0, M. Corbett 1 0-0 3, Devin Karpovich 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 0-0 17.
Lake-Lehman`14`12`17`11`—`54
Hanover Area`2`8`5`2`—`17
Three-point goals — LL 4 (Scoblick 2, Purdy 2); HAN 1 (Corbett).
Wyoming Seminary 54, Tunkhannock 28
TUNKHANNOCK (28) — Kelly Barber 0 0-1 0, Jess Ell 1 1-2 3, Sam Generotti 1 1-4 3, Abby Ritz 4 1-6 9, Becca Avery 3 5-7 11. Totals 9 10-22 28.
WYOMING SEM (54) — Alex Wesneski 4 2-2 12, Julie Gabriel 3 1-1 7, Ally Vezendy 4 2-2 12, Mia Raineri 2 2-2 6, Olivia Meuser 2 0-0 4, Julia Iskra 0 0-0 0, Maaike Reitsma 4 2-3 11, Christina Kilyanek 0 0-0 0, Emily Matthews 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 9-10 54.
Tunkhannock`5`6`10`7`—`28
Wyoming Sem`19`8`13`14`—`54
Three-point goals — SEM 5 (Wesneski 2, Vezendy 2, Reitsma.
