Pictured above: Scranton’s Maggie O’Shea. (Tim Drewes Photo)
EDITOR’S NOTE: The quarterfinal round of the District 2 basketball playoffs concluded Thursday night. While NEPASportsNation.com compiles more complete reports, here is a quick recap of a night of quarterfinal games.
By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
CLARKS SUMMIT – Peyton Houlihan made five straight shots at one point.
The Dallas Lady Mountaineers missed 14 in a row.
Those streaks went a long way in allowing Abington Heights to spoil Vince Bucciarelli’s homecoming as head coach with a 46-38 victory over visiting Dallas in the District 2 Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinals.
Bucciarelli coached at Abington Heights for 32 years, winning 592 games and a combined 26 district and division championships. He is in his first year as Dallas coach.
Houlihan didn’t miss from late in the first quarter into the fourth on the way to a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Caroline Murray also had 13 points for the Lady Comets, who held the Lady Mountaineers scoreless in the second quarter to open a 25-9 hafltime lead.
Abington Heights led 33-13 midway through the third quarter, before Dallas got as close as 44-38 with 30 seconds left.
Freshman Molly Walsh scored 11 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas.
The busiest night of the District 2 playoff season included 16 games, 15 of which were won by the higher seed on its home court.
The Mid Valley girls were the only road winners, completing a three-game season sweep of Lackawanna League Division 3 rival Riverside, 58-43, behind 17 points from Krista Cortazar.
Both Scranton teams won at home in a doubleheader.
The Lady Knights avenged an earlier loss by pummeling North Pocono, 64-31, in Class 5A.
Maggie O’Shea and Finley Bittenbender each made three 3-pointers. O’Shea scored 17 points while Bittenbender had 13.
The Knights topped Wyoming Valley West, 57-47, in the District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional.
Oliver Almonte led the way with 14 points.
Delaware Valley defeated Wilkes-Barre Area, 54-48, in the other Class 6A Subregional game.
Ronnie McManus scored 17 points to lead the Warriors. The teams were tied at halftime and after three quarters before Jake Brower scored 9 of his 12 points in the fourth.
Nanticoke trailed at halftime before winning the closest of the four Class 4A boys games, beating Wyoming Area, 53-51.
Jaidyn Johnson scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half to lead the Trojans.
Valley View beat Berwick, 54-42; Scranton Prep downed Honesdale, 61-50; and Tunkhannock topped Hanover Area, 61-47, in the other Class 3A games.
A.J. Kucharski and Taheed Jewell scored 16 points each to lead Valley View.
Scranton Prep avenged a home, upset loss to Honesdale just 16 days earlier.
Elk Lake and Mountain View cruised through the Class 2A boys quarterfinals.
Wyatt Casselbury led the way with 18 points as Elk Lake ripped winless Lackawanna Trail, 74-35.
Mountain View easily handled Montrose, 50-30, after the teams split during the regular season.
Top-seeded Pittston Area and Wallenpaupack joined defending champion Abington Heights and Scranton as the Class 5A girls winners.
Kallie Booth scored 19 points to help Pittston Area fight off a challenge from Crestwood, 41-30.
Wallenpaupack beat rival Honesdale for the fourth time this season, 42-27.
Dunmore, Lake-Lehman and Holy Redeemer joined Mid Valley as the four Class 3A girls winners in games that were decided by a total of 112 points.
Top-seeded Dunmore routed Wyoming Seminary, 57-14.
Sophia Talutto scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half for the Lady Bucks.
Dunmore led 43-7 at halftime and 54-8 after three quarters.
Ciera Toomey added 11 points.
Ella Wilson, Brenna Hunt and Hailey Kline scored 12 points each as Lake-Lehman handled Western Wayne, 48-22.
Holy Redeemer ended Elk Lake’s 11-game winning streak, 64-36.
Mia Ashton scored 16 points and Meghan Albrecht added 14.
By Thursday night, District 2 had its Saturday schedule complete:
SATURDAY’S BOYS GAMES
District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional
Scranton at Hazleton Area, 7 p.m.
Class 4A
Tunkhannock at Valley View, 2 p.m.
Nanticoke at Scranton Prep, 2 p.m.
Class 2A
Mountain View at Holy Cross, 2 p.m.
Elk Lake at Blue Ridge, 5 p.m.
District 2-11 Class A Subregional
Susquehanna vs. Bethlehem Christian at Catasauqua, noon
Lehigh Christian at MMI Prep, 2 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Class 5A
Abington Heights at Wallenpaupack, 6 p.m.
Scranton at Pittston Area, 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Mid Valley at Dunmore, 1 p.m.
Holy Redeemer at Lake-Lehman, 2 p.m.
MORE AHEAD
Return to Basketball – NEPA Sports Nation more-detailed reports on Tuesday’s action and in-depth coverage of the entire District 2 tournament.
