WILKES-BARRE — Down five points at the half, the Pittston Area coaching staff needed to do something to slow Williamsport in the PIAA District 2/4 Class 4A Subregional Quarterfinals.
The Patriots turned to their defense.
Pittston Area, the third seed, switched from zone to a man defense and limited Williamsport to just four field goals in the second half for a 53-37 win over the Millionaires at Holy Redeemer Tuesday night. The Patriots held Williamsport to just 12 points in the final two quarters.
“My assistant coaches talked me into going man,” Pittston Area coach Kathy Healey said. “I think that was a key move. I give them all the props in the world and we were able to execute.”
Pittston Area, the defending District 2 Class 4A champions, will play the winner of the Delaware Valley-Wallenpaupack game on Thursday. Delaware Valley and Wallenpaupack’s game was postponed to Wednesday.
Junior guard Taryn Ashby finished with a team-high 16 points. Alexa Noone scored eight points in the third quarter and finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Marley O’Brien scored the first six points for Pittston Area on a pair of 3s and finished with 12 points.
Ashby, who was named to the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 First Team earlier in the week, added seven assists and seven rebounds.
“Taryn is the ultimate competitor,” Healey said. “She’s steady. Sometimes she doesn’t get the credit she deserves, but she would rather her teammates score instead of her.”
Without the strong performance in the third quarter, the Patriots would be forced to watch the district final from the sidelines. Instead, Pittston Area outscored the Millionaires 17-4 during the eight-minute stretch. Kirsten Durling started the second half run with a steal at half court and a layup just seconds into the third.
Noone then buried a triple, which was followed by a 3-pointer from Ashby that gave Pittston Area its first lead, 28-27, since the four-minute mark of the first. But it was the defense that Pittston Area kept relying on. Healey asked her girls to pressure the ball and speed up the game.
“It definitely fires us up,” Ashby said when playing that kind of game. “Our first half performance wasn’t the best. We came out hot in the second half. We definitely had that third quarter.”
Once the fourth quarter started and up by eight, Pittston Area continued to turn pressure defense into baskets. Ashby, Durling and O’Brien all scored on fast break opportunities to quickly bump the lead up to 14. The Patriots never looked back.
Heading into the game, Pittston Area knew it had to stop Williamsport star Jaynelle Robinson. Robinson, who scored 29 points and had 28 rebounds in a game earlier this season, scored 18 points and hauled in 13 boards. However, the 6-foot-3 center had just two baskets in the second half.
Once the Patriots went to man defense, it was O’Brien’s responsibility to limit Robinson.
“We knew we had to keep her off the boards as much as we could,” O’Brien said. “We never played against anyone that big before so it was a little difficult.”
Riverside 58, GAR 40
Lizzy Spindler scored a game-high 29 points as Riverside eliminated GAR from the D2-2A playoffs.
The Vikings led 37-10 at halftime. They will play Dunmore on Wednesday.
Lindsey Quinn scored 14 for GAR. Marie Skrepenak added nine.
Carbondale 55, Northwest 32
Carbondale had four players in double figures as it ousted Northwest from the D2-2A tournament.
Mikenna Walsh had 18 to pace the Chargers, who will play top-seeded Holy Redeemer on Thursday.
Brenna Babcock scored 15 for Northwest.
Pittston Area 53, Williamsport 37
WILLIAMSPORT (37) — Jada Whaley 2 0-0 4, Sammi Reeder 1 0-0 2, Veronica Moon 0 0-0 0, Gabby Thomas 1 0-4 2, Chloe Jennings 3 0-0 9, Halle McCormick 1 0-0 2, Elaina Stone 0 0-0 0, Jaynelle Robinson 6 6-10 18. Totals 14 6-14 37.
PITTSTON AREA (53) — Jamie Chisdock 1 0-0 2, Megan Cummings 1 0-0 2, Rachel Ferrance 0 2-2 2, Marley O’Brien 4 2-4 12, Taryn Ashby 5 5-6 16, Kirsten Durling 4 0-1 8, Alexa Noone 4 0-0 11, Cherokee Musto 0 0-2 0. Mary Silinskie 0 0-0 0, Andrea Ruby 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 9-15 53.
Williamsport`16`9`4`8`—`37
Pittston Area`8`12`17`16`—`53
Three-point goals — Williamsport 3 (Jennings 3); Pittston Area 6 (Noone 3, O’Brien 2, Ashby 1).
Riverside 58, GAR 40
GAR (40) – Lindsey Quinn 5 0-1 14, Alexis Whiting 0 8-8 8, Aaliyah Braham 1 2-4 4, Cheyenne Taylor 0 0-0 0, Shealynn Taylor 1 1-1 3, Cierra Taylor 1 0-0 2, Kiyenna Sowell 0 0-0 0, Marie Skrepenak 3 2-4 9. Totals 11 13-18 40.
RIVERSIDE (58) – Lizzy Spindler 11 3-4 29, McKenzie Haduck 2 2-2 7, Shelby Slaboda 6 0-2 12, Natalie Sottile 1 0-0 2, Jess Millan 4 0-2 8, Julia Anoniacci 0 0-0 0, Haley Tilberry 0 0-0 0, Brea Olanovich 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 5-10 58.
GAR`6`4`14`16`—`40
Riverside`21`16`11`10`—`58
Three-point goals – GAR 5 (Quinn 4, Skrepenak), RIV 5 (Spindler 4, Haduck).
Carbondale 55, Northwest 32
NORTHWEST (32) – Brooke Mendegro 0 4-4 4, Trista Babcock 2 2-2 6, Brenna Babcock 7 0-0 15, Liz Gurzynski 0 3-4 3, Jill Kondrosky 1 0-0 2, Danielle Bowman 1 0-0 2, Hannah Wisniewski 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Thomas 0 0-0 0, Hailey Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 9-10 32.
CARBONDALE (55) – Zoe Zazzera 5 0-0 10, Anna Totsky 4 1-2 10, Amelia Zazzera 4 3-4 12, Mikenna Walsh 7 1-2 18, Mollie Salitsky 0 0-2 0, Maresa Artone 1 0-2 2, Alex Artone 1 0-1 3, Cristina Carachilo 0 0-0 0, Madeline Kelly 0 0-0 0, Emily Wall 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 5-13 55.
Northwest`9`4`4`8`—`32
Carbondale`11`17`14`13-`55
Three-point goals – NWT 1 (B.Babcock), CAR 6 (Totsky, A.Zazzera. Walsh 3, A.Artone).
