Lia Keefe scored 10 of her game-high 12 points while Lake-Lehman was taking control in the middle quarters Thursday night to defeat Wyoming Area, 39-29, in a meeting between two of the top three teams in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 girls basketball.
The game was tied, 12-12, after one quarter.
Keefe scored seven points and Brenna Hunt had five in the second quarter when the Lady Knights held the Lady Warriors to one field goal while taking a 24-17 lead.
Ella Wilson scored six points and Keefe hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter when the lead grew to 35-21.
Lake-Lehman started strong in each quarter.
The Lady Knights moved ahead to stay with the first seven points of the second quarter. They opened the second half with an 8-2 run.
Hailey Kline and Ella Wilson had eight points each for Lake-Lehman while Hunt added seven.
The Lady Knights did not hit a basket in the fourth quarter, but they went 4-for-6 from the line while keeping the Lady Warriors from getting close and finished 12-for-16 (75 percent). Molly Jenkins made both her free throws in the fourth and Kline was 2-for-3.
Morgan Janeski, who grabbed seven rebounds, and Anna Wisnewski scored seven points each for Wyoming Area.
Wisnewski did all her scoring in the first quarter when she joined Jocelyn Williams in hitting 3-pointers to keep the Lady Warriors even.
Lake-Lehman won its eight straight to improve to 7-1 in the division, a half-game behind Holy Redeemer, and 12-4 overall. The No. 2 Lady Knights set up Saturday’s 1:15 p.m. home showdown with No. 1 Dunmore, winners of eight straight, as the top two Small School girls teams in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Basketball Power Rankings of District 2 teams go head-to-head.
Dunmore (13-2) and Lake-Lehman are also 1-2 in the race for the top seeds in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs.
Wyoming Area slipped behind Nanticoke to fourth in the division at 5-3 and fell to 11-7 overall when it had its five-game winning streak broken.
In other WVC Division 2 girls basketball games Thursday:
Holy Redeemer 65, MMI Prep 12
Division leader Holy Redeemer held visiting MMI Prep without a field goal in the first half while taking leads of 18-0 after one quarter and 37-2 at halftime.
Paige Skibitsky made four 3-pointers while scoring 16 points and a dozen teammates also scored.
Mia Ashton and Jillian DelBalso each had six of their eight points in the first quarter. Angelina Corridoni also finished with eight points.
Bria Kringe scored all 12 points for the Preppers.
Nanticoke 76, Hanover Area 19
Nanticoke’s defense held host Hanover Area to just one basket from inside the arc.
The Trojanettes took leads of 31-4 after one quarter and 52-13 at halftime.
Claire Aufiero (15), Caitlyn Majiros (14) and Sophia Lukowski (12) scored in double figures for Nanticoke.
Hannah Salwoski had 3-pointers in each of the first two quarters to lead the Hawkeyes with six points.
