Lacie Kringe drilled three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter locking up the Most Valuable Player award for herself and the Lady Cougar Tip-Off Tournament title for her Hazleton Area team on its home court.
Kringe’s fourth-quarter shooting brought the host Lady Cougars from behind for a 50-46 victory over Nazareth Area in Saturday night’s championship game.
Nazareth took a 36-34 lead into the fourth quarter.
Kringe then finished off her 14-point effort. The fourth quarter was tightly played throughout with the last of the lead changes coming on Kringe’s last 3-pointer for a 48-46 lead with 58 seconds left.
Hazleton Area shot 5-for-7 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Sophia Shults, who finished with 11 points, and Alexis Reimold, who added 10, each made both of their attempts.
Hazleton Area hit eight 3-pointers in the game.
Olivia Williams made two in the first quarter when Hazleton Area stormed out to a 17-4 lead.
Reimold made two and scored eight points in the second quarter while keeping the Lady Cougars in front, 27-23.
Kringe hit four in the second half.
Samantha Baker scored 11 points to lead Nazareth.
In other tournament games Saturday:
Lake-Lehman 48, Abington Heights 27
Lake-Lehman shut out an opponent for a quarter for the second time in the tournament to take the third-place game at the Lady Cougars Tip-Off Tournament.
The Lady Knights had opened the season by holding Nazareth scoreless in the first quarter Friday.
Lake-Lehman’s defense held Abington Heights scoreless in the third quarter, to just a single field goal in the second half and to 11 points over the final 3 quarters.
Caroline Murray scored all of her team-high eight points for Abington Heights during the first quarter to get the Lady Comets out to a 16-13 lead.
Lia Keefe, who had seven points, and Ella Wilson each hit 3-pointers during the 16-0 third quarter to give Lake-Lehman a 39-22 lead.
Wilson hit a 3-pointer in each of the last three quarters to finish with 15 points. Keefe added 13 and Hailey Kline had 11.
Wallenpaupack 63, East Stroudsburg North 31
Ella Smith scored 23 points while claiming the tournament MVP award for her efforts leading host Wallenpaupack to the title of the Lake Region Tip-Off Tournament.
Grace Steffen added 15 points and made the all-tournament team along with Wallenpaupack teammate Paulina Schmidt.
Chanel Davis scored 20 points for East Stroudsburg North.
Stroudsburg 58, Carbondale 43
Stroudsburg won the third-place game at the Lake Region Tip-Off Tournament.
Honesdale 40, Dallas 38
Honesdale held Dallas to one field goal in the fourth quarter, spoiling the 1,000th career game as head coach of Vince Bucciarelli along with his return to a leading role on the sideline.
The Lady Hornets used a 12-4, fourth-quarter advantage to rally from six down in the opener of the Mike Duda Tournament at Wyoming Valley West.
Elyse Montgomery scored 14 points in the win. Rachael Collins had six of her eight points during the fourth-quarter comeback.
Molly Walsh scored 12 points to lead Dallas, which struggled through an 11-for-28 afternoon at the line.
Wyoming Valley West 53, West Scranton 36
Mackenzie Perluke scored 23 points to lead host Wyoming Valley West to the Duda Tournament win and a spot in Tuesday night’s final against Honesdale.
Perluke had 14 first-half points to lead the Lady Spartans to a 36-15 halftime lead.
Thalia Irizarry added 15 points in the win.
Mia Tallo and Kydasia Deas scored nine points each to lead West Scranton.
Wyoming Area 42, Shikellamy 30
Morgan Janeski scored 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as Wyoming Area earned its first win under new coach Mark Casper in the third-place game of the Lady Jays Tip-Off Tournament at Central Columbia.
Anna Wisnewski scored 11 points and also grabbed 8 rebounds.
Lily Fatool led Shikellamy with 12 points.
Wyoming Area did not lead until 2:30 left in the first half when it scored as part of a 17-6 run to a 31-21 lead midway through the third quarter.
The Lady Warriors put the game away with an 11-4 fourth quarter.
Holy Redeemer 56, Selinsgrove 38
Holy Redeemer got points from seven different players during a 20-4 second quarter to wipe out an early deficit against the host Lady Seals in the third-place game of the Angela Wolfe Tournament.
Mia Ashton had 9 of her 15 points in the first quarter to keep the Lady Royals within striking distance.
Megan Albrecht added nine points while making the all-tournament team.
Holy Redeemer opened the lead to 46-22 after three quarters.
Central Bucks West 35, Western Wayne 9
Central Bucks West limited the Lady ‘Cats to single digits in points in the third-place game of the Skip Coleman Tournament at State College.
