Three of the four NEPA Elite girls teams entered in the Select Events Basketball East Coast Summer Showcase are 3-1 in the event heading into their final game Thursday at Spooky Nook Sports in Manheim, Lancaster County.
“I’m thrilled with the progress on the girls side of the program,” NEPA Elite founder Kevin Clark said in a phone interview from Texas where he has been following the progress of those teams while coaching his 17U team in a different event. “They’re battling, even in the losses, which are close.
“We’re in a really good spot.”
A look at results from Wednesday, the second straight day that the teams played twice each:
Scoblick 15U (2-0)
The Scoblick team won twice Wednesday in the 2024 Division Pool C where it is tied for second out of seven teams entering Thursday’s 1:10 p.m. finale.
NEPA Elite edged LGB Select 2024, 32-31, then handled Ball Til U Fall, 57-41, for its third straight win since dropping the opener.
Finley Bittenbender from Scranton led the team in scoring in both games and hit the winning shot in the first game.
Bittenbender had three 3-pointers while scoring 11 points against LGB Select.
NEPA Elite overcame a 19-10 halftime deficit and took a 32-30 lead on Bittenbender’s final 3-pointer with 2:50 left.
When only one point was scored the rest of the way, NEPA Elite held on for the victory.
McKenzie Perluke added seven points.
Balanced offense resulted in a more comfortable win in the second game.
Bittenbender scored 11 points while Ella Wilson and Emily Romanowski had 10 each and Elyse Montgomery had nine.
Perluke is from Wyoming Valley West, Wilson from Lake-Lehman, Romanowski from Western Wayne and Montgomery from Honesdale.
Rini 17U (1-1)
The Rini team struggled offensively in the first half of both games, but rallied for a win in the second game after getting a chance to win on the final possession of the first game.
NEPA Elite scored 17 first-half points and 56 second-half points in the two games.
Following a 26-24 loss to the Central Jersey Hawks Lightning-Mayo, NEPA Elite came back with a 49-43 victory over All In Hoops.
Going into Thursday’s 1:10 p.m. finale, NEPA Elite is tied for second out of six teams in the 2022 Division Pool C. It goes against first-place York Thunder 2022-A. Fancher, which is the only unbeaten left in the pool.
NEPA Elite managed just one field goal in the first half against Central Jersey while falling behind, 12-3, at the break.
It had the game’s final shot, trailing by two, but could not convert.
Mia Blume made both the team’s 3-pointers while scoring all of her game-high eight points in the second half.
Claire Dougherty had the only first-half field goal and finished with a team-high six rebounds.
Kallie Booth went 4-for-4 from the line in the second half and 5-for-6 in the game to account for all of her scoring.
All In Hoops took a 23-14 halftime lead, but NEPA Ellite controlled the second half by a 35-20 margin to produce the win.
Dougherty scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half.
Chase Purdy and Rowan Murray kept the team within striking distance in the first half.
Purdy led the team with five points in the half and wound up with eight.
Murray was the only NEPA Elite player with two first-half field goals on the way to joining Dougherty in double figures with 11 points.
Purdy, Murray and Avery McNulty shared the team rebounding lead of six.
Booth, Nadia Evanosky, Katherine Shepherd and Purdy all hit second-half 3-pointers.
Dougherty and Purdy are also high school teammates at Lake-Lehman. Blume is from Dunmore, Booth from Pittston Area, Murray from Honesdale, McNulty from Scranton Prep, Evanosky from Dallas and Shepherd from Western Wayne.
Butler 15U (1-1)
The Butler team is one of four teams to share the lead in the eight-team 2024 Division Pool D going into the final game.
Four teams are 3-1, two are 2-2 and the other two are 0-4.
NEPA Elite faces Comets Perretta (2-2) in Thursday’s noon finale.
After beating Jersey Cardinals-Reggie, 44-26, NEPA Elite suffered its first loss, 49-45, against the Mid-Atlantic Heat-Prescott.
Ella Cooper was the leading scorer in both games. She had 12 points, including two 3-pointers, in the win and 10 in the loss.
Sophia Summa, who grabbed five rebounds, and Gabby Marsola scored seven points each. Lily Soller had six points and seven rebounds.
Elizabeth Viglone scored nine points and Summa seven against Mid-Atlantic.
Cooper is from Valley View, Summa from Dunmore, Marsola from Wyoming Valley West, Soller from Pocono Mountain East and Viglone from Dallas.
Sheehan 16U (0-2)
The Sheehan team lost twice in the 2023 Division Pool A, 51-33 to Mid-Atlantic Magic and 61-42 to New Jersey Belles-Truhan.
Lexi Corby was 7-for-10 from the line to lead the team with nine points against Mid-Atlantic. Julia Glowacki, who finished with eight points, and Isabella Rebar hit two 3-pointers each.
Cadie Lewis drained five 3-pointers while scoring a team-high 19 points against the Belles.
Corby, who finished with 10 points, and Lewis each had eight points in the first half. Lewis then made three of her 3-pointers while scoring 11 in the second half.
NEPA Elite wraps up the tournament with a 9:40 a.m. game.
