Maggie O’Shea scored 17 points Thursday when Scranton took advantage of a strong start to run over visiting North Pocono, 64-31, in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinal.
The win advanced the Lady Knights into the district semifinals and avenged a 45-38 loss to North Pocono in their Lackawanna League crossover meeting Jan. 19.
“We didn’t do very well last time so we had a lot of motivation going into this game,” O’Shea said. “We watched a lot of film. We just really wanted to win.”
O’Shea and Finley Bittenbender, who finished with 13 points, made three 3-pointers each.
Scranton opened a comfortable lead late in the first quarter.
The Lady Knights led by a point before scoring 11 straight points in the last 2:32 of the first quarter, then 2 more 29 seconds into the second quarter for a 17-3 lead.
Kennedy Bittenbender, who added 11 points, had five straight during the run.
Scranton pushed the lead to 24-5 midway through the second quarter.
North Pocono closed to within 28-15 at halftime. Kylie Mastillo had all eight of her points in the first half.
The Lady Trojans remained within 34-21 with 4;30 left in the third quarter before the Lady Knights broke the game open.
Lanee Olson, Kennedy Bittenbender and Finley Bittenbender each hit 3-pointers during a 10-2 burst over a stretch of 1:14.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was created from the reporting of Ben Magnotta.
MORE COVERAGE
Photo Gallery: North Pocono/Scranton girls basketball photo gallery – NEPA Sports Nation.
