By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
CLARKS SUMMIT – Abington Heights forced visiting Dallas into a lengthy offensive drought Thursday night, allowing the Lady Comets to advance through the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinals with a 46-38 victory.
The defending champion Lady Comets shut out the Lady Mountaineers in the second quarter. The scoreless quarter came in the middle of scoreless stretch of 9:08 and a span of 12:09 without a field goal by Dallas.
“Defensively, I was really happy,” Abington Heights coach Deanna Klingman said.
Peyton Houlihan and Caroline Murray shared scoring honors for Abington Heights while Maggie Coleman, Madison Zalewski and Kate Scoblick led the way on the defensive end.
Houlihan, who grabbed 14 rebounds, and Murray had 13 points each.
Coleman had four steals and her seven defensive rebounds were second in the game behind Houlihan’s eight. Zalewski and Scoblick blocked three shots each.
That effort allowed the Lady Comets to spoil the homecoming for Vince Bucciarelli, who spent 32 years coaching at Abington Heights, winning 592 games and producing 26 district or division titles.
“It wasn’t about me,” Bucciarelli said. “It was about the girls.”
Abington Heights limited Dallas to 10 field goals in the game and built a 33-13 lead in the middle of the third quarter.
Dallas fought back to get within six points with 30 seconds left.
“They shot free throws,” said Klingman, who served as Bucciarelli’s assistant for six years and is in her eighth year as head coach. “That’s what kept them in the game.”
Between Dallas field goals, Abington Heights turned a 7-5, first-quarter deficit into a 27-9 lead in the first minute of the second half.
The Lady Mountaineers went 0-for-13 from the floor and 0-for-2 from the line in the second quarter. Even with 19 offensive rebounds, they never managed to get the offense going until it was too late.
“You can’t play a team like Abington and score nothing in the second quarter,” said Bucciarelli, who also had a stop at Mid Valley before two years off from being a head coach. “But, I’m proud of how the girls came back.”
Freshman Molly Walsh scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas. She also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Victoria Spaciano had six points and nine rebounds while Elizabeth Viglone had six points, eight rebounds and four steals in the loss.
Abington Heights moved into a Saturday night semifinal at Wallenpaupack. The Lady Comets are one win from being the only team to play in all eight years of championship games at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
