Pictured above: Ciera Toomey
Dunmore continued its defensive mastery of Mid Valley and showed off its 3-point shooting and offensive balance while rolling into another championship game appearance at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
The Lady Bucks hit six 3-pointers while shutting out the Spartanettes in the first quarter on the way to a 56-21, home-court romp in Saturday’s District 2 Class 3A girls basketball semifinals.
Dunmore heads to the arena on an eight-game winning streak in which it has beaten every opponent by at least 26 points. The Lady Bucks have been ahead at halftime by an average of 24.9 points during that time.
Top-seeded Dunmore (21-3) faces third-seeded Holy Redeemer (17-10) for the title in a game scheduled for Saturday at noon.
Mid Valley (15-9) still has a chance to reach the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament when it plays for third place Tuesday at 7 at Lake-Lehman (22-5).
The Spartanettes rose all the way to second place in Lackawanna League Division 3 this season.
Dunmore, however, showed that a large gap exists between first and second place while winning its 10th straight division title.
The Lady Bucks shut out the Spartanettes in the first quarter of all three meetings, outscoring then 57-0 in first quarters and 104-10 in first halves.
With North Carolina commit Ciera Toomey in the starting lineup for the first time on her road back from reconstructive knee surgery, Dunmore did not need long to get started.
The Lady Bucks worked the ball into the 6-foot-4 Toomey in the low post on the opening possession. Toomey kicked the ball out to the top of the key where Cadie Lewis drained a 3-pointer on the game’s first shot.
Dunmore used a slightly different look to get the same result on the second possession.
Toomey received the ball at the right elbow and sent it across to Lewis high on the left side of the circle for another 3-pointer and a 6-0 lead.
Lewis finished the quarter with three 3-pointers, accounting for her nine points in the game.
Amanda Dempsey, Sophia Summa and Sophia Talutto also hit 3s for a 23-0 lead.
Toomey added a basket 10 seconds into the second quarter to make it 25-0 before Grace Goetz scored Mid Valley’s first basket, working free inside with 7:14 left in the half.
Tristan Canavan led Dunmore with 10 points.
Toomey and Talutto scored seven each.
Chiara Zavislak made four 3-pointers while leading Mid Valley with 12 points.
