Pictured above: A clipping from the weekly newspaper Go Lackawanna following Dunmore and MId Valley’s 2011 state girls basketball semifinal.
By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
SCRANTON – Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament basketball returned to Lackawanna College – formerly the Scranton Catholic Youth Center and home of some great state games, including finals – for just one game in 2011.
It was the only local building used for high school games at the time that could hold the most attended game in District 2’s girls basketball history.
Nearly 4,000 people packed the gym March 22, 2011 to watch and Dunmore and Mid Valley, Lackawanna League divisional rivals, meet the only time two District 2 teams ever squared off for a spot in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship game berth.
That matchup comes to mind Friday with Dunmore and Lake-Lehman set to meet in a rare PIAA game between district rivals. The Lady Bucks and Lady Knights play in a Class 3A state quarterfinal, trying to get to Monday’s semifinal.
District 2 finalists are kept away from each other in state brackets until the semifinals, meaning each would have to win three times to set up a state rematch. The few third-place district teams that qualify for the state play don’t often have the type of success Lake-Lehman did this season with consecutive state wins to set up a quarterfinal meeting of district opponents – something that is a somewhat frequent occurrence in the PIAA’s larger districts like 1 (suburban Philadelphia), 7 (suburban Pittsburgh) and 3 (Harrisburg-Lancaster-Reading-York).
Dunmore, the District 2 champion, made it to the 2011 Class 2A state semifinal somewhat expectedly, but with three close battles.
Mid Valley, a rising team, got 34 points from all-stater Danielle Terranella in a quarterfinal upset that stopped York Catholic’s state championship appearance streak at five.
Their quarterfinal victories in consecutive games at Pottsville’s Martz Hall the previous weekend set up the rematch and a game that lived up to its billing.
After seven ties and nine second-half lead changes, Dunmore scored the game’s final six points for a 51-46 victory.
Ashley Murray had 5 of those points as part of scoring 17 of her game-high 25 in the second half.
“I just tried to keep my head in the game,” Murray said in a postgame interview. “It was loud. There were a lot of emotions flowing.
“I just tried to keep myself strong and mentally tough.”
Corinna Palko, the team’s other senior starter, hit the go-ahead free throw with 1:32 remaining.
Murray made it a two-possession game by hitting two free throws with 13.5 seconds left.
Dunmore went on to fall to Villa Maria Academy, 62-39, in the state final.
