Maggie Coleman made four 3-pointers Monday night, providing Abington Heights with the cushion it needed to hold off host North Pocono, 35-29, in the 15th annual Pink Game.
The night was a success for both teams before they even stepped on the court.
Pregame ceremonies included a check presentation from the teams to the Foundation for Cancer Care in the amount of $45,382. That made the donations produced from this year’s game the most in the history of the event.
Abington Heights and North Pocono have joined forces for the Pink Game the last five years. In the 10 years prior to that, Abington Heights met Scranton Prep in the annual Pink Game.
The 15-year series has produced nearly a half-million dollars in donations to the Foundation for Cancer Care, which provides support and financial assistance to local cancer patients. Players from both teams raise the funds through a series of activities in advance of and on game night.
Coleman finished with 14 points, making her the high scorer in the defensive battle, and also blocked two shots.
Caroline Murray had seven points, all in the first quarter, for the Lady Comets while Kate Scoblick contributed seven rebounds and three assists.
North Pocono was led by Amaya Monacelli with nine points.
In addition to the charitable aspect of the game, it was also a Lackawanna League Division 1-2 contest.
Abington Heights, the second-place team in Division 1, won for the sixth time in seven games. The Lady Comets are 6-3 in the league and 12-6 overall.
North Pocono had its lead reduced to a half-game over Wallenpaupack, but remained in front of Division 2. The Lady Trojans, who came into the night on a four-game winning streak, slipped to 6-2 and 8-9.
Murray and Coleman helped Abington Heights take a 15-point lead in the first half. The Lady Comets still led by 14 going into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Comets forced turnovers on four of the first five possessions by the Lady Trojans on the way to an 8-1 lead that included six points by Murray.
Monacelli’s drive off a steal with 2:31 left accounted for North Pocono’s first basket.
Coleman hit her first 3-pointer to help Abington Heights increase the advantage to 13-5 after one quarter.
Murray had eight points in the second quarter as the Lady Comets opened a 24-9 lead.
North Pocono fought back the first time with the last four points of the first half and the first four of the second half to close within 24-17.
Madison Zalewski ended a 5:24 scoreless stretch by Abington Heights, hitting a jumper in the lane, then connecting from 19 free in transition 25 seconds later.
Zalewski sparked a 9-2 run to close the third quarter with a 33-19 lead.
Kylie Mastillo, who scored all six of her points for North Pocono in the second half, had the only Lady Trojans score during that time.
Scoblick’s rebounding helped complete the run. She scored on a putback on the fourth Abington Heights shot of that possession, then got to a rebound in the closing seconds and found Coleman for a 3-pointer a second before the buzzer.
North Pocono held Abington Heights to two points in the fourth quarter, but ran out of time in its comeback bid.
Monacelli worked her way inside and Mastillo scored on the fastbreak in the first 42 seconds of the fourth to make it 33-23.
Lauryn Notari scored the only Abington Heights basket of the quarter, then North Pocono scored the final six points.
After the Lady Comets missed the front end of two one-and-ones, Mastillo scored on a putback while being fouled with 18 seconds left. She got her own rebound on the missed free throw, but the Lady Trojans were unable to turn that into another score.
