Old Forge used a balanced attack and accurate foul shooting Friday night to defeat host Pittston Area, 49-33, in a non-league game between girls basketball teams off to winning starts.
Olivia Ciullo went 9-for-10 from the line, including 7-for-8 in the fourth quarter, while scoring 15 points to lead Old Forge. Angelina Rios added 12 points and Lindsey Welsh had 10.
The Lady Devils were 11-for-14 on free throws in the fourth quarter and 21-for-27 in the game, compared to 6-for-8 by the Lady Patriots.
Old Forge bounced back from its first loss in a meeting of unbeatens against Scranton Prep. The Lady Devils are 5-1.
Pittston Area dropped to 4-2.
Kallie Booth scored all 10 of her points in the second half for the Lady Patriots.
Booth and Nicole Zambetti each hit three 3-pointers.
Pittston Area finished with seven 3-pointers, getting all but 12 of its points from beyond the arc.
Emma Coles grabbed eight rebounds and Jada Sharp had five assists in the loss.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Nanticoke 61
Wyoming Area 56
Cassidy Orzel kept bringing Wyoming Area back while scoring 10 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to offset a 26-point night by Mandy Baird, who led visiting Nanticoke to its fourth straight victory Thursday.
Orzel brought Wyoming Area within one point on her fourth 3-pointer of the game with 3:58 left and then on a 12-foot jumper a minute later. Her three-point play with 28 seconds left closed the gap to 58-56.
Nicole Silinskie made three 3-pointers while scoring 14 points. One was a turnaround shot to beat the halftime buzzer and give the Lady Warriors a 28-24 lead at intermission.
Morgan Janeski grabbed eight rebounds for Wyoming Area (3-2).
Pittston Area 64
Elk Lake 21
Emma Coles scored 11 points and dished out five assists Wednesday when Pittston Area routed visiting Elk Lake.
Pittston Area held Elk Lake without a field goal in the first quarter. During that time, Jada Sharp hit two 3-pointers, Nicole Zambetti added one and Coles had a pair of baskets while the Lady Patriots took a 15-3 lead.
Sharp, who finished with 10 points, added another 3-pointer in the second quarter. Zambetti had all seven of her points in the first half, which ended with Pittston Area in front 30-9.
Hannah Getz had eight points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
Abington Heights 36
Pittston Area 22
Clair Marion hit her last eight free throws, including six in the fourth quarter, Monday when defending District 2 Class 5A champion Abington Heights handed visiting Pittston Area its first loss of the season.
Pittston Area led after one quarter, but was limited to a single Kallie Booth basket in the second quarter, allowing Abington Heights to take a 14-9 halftime lead.
Emma Coles led the Lady Patriots with eight points. Booth and Lily Savoy added six each.
Pittston Area was within 25-18 going to the fourth quarter.
Wyoming Area 52
Susquehanna 48
Cassidy Orzel, Nicole Silinskie, Mackenzie Nocchi, Halle Kranson and Maria Amato all hit free throws in the final 1:35 for Wyoming Area, which was 9-for-12 from the line in the fourth quarter while holding off visiting Susquehanna.
Susquehanna had a six-point lead after one quarter and was in front until the last 1:31 of the half.
Orzel had nine of her 20 points while the Lady Warriors were outscoring the Lady Sabers, 18-10, in the second quarter.
Silinskie finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Nocchi added eight points in Wyoming Area’s third straight win.
All-state guard Taylor Huyck scored 20 points and center Mackenzie Steele, a University of Scranton commit, added 15 for Susquehanna.
Wyoming Area 61
Forest City 14
Wyoming Area shut out host Forest City in the first and third quarters of the Dec. 14 rout.
Cassidy Orzel had seven of her 13 points in the first quarter when the Lady Warriors got off to a 22-0 start.
Wyoming Area topped that with a 24-0 third quarter to open a 56-11 lead.
Nicole Silinskie had 12 of her game-high 16 points in the third quarter.
Maria Amato finished with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds. Orzel and Silinskie each grabbed five rebounds.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Pittston Area 56
North Pocono 55
J.J. Walsh hit the winning points for the second time this season, making both ends of a one-and-one with 1.8 seconds left to lift the Patriots to Thursday’s home-court win.
Walsh, a sophomore guard, hit the game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left in the opener to make coach Al Semenza a winner in his debut at the school.
Logan Booth led Thursday’s win with 19 points. Walsh added 14 and Brennan Higgins had 11.
Pittston Area improved to 3-2 while North Pocono fell to 3-3 in the meeting between District 2 Class 5A schools.
Nanticoke 70
Wyoming Area 48
Jake Greenfield had 18 points to lead host Wyoming Area, which was within four points at the half Thursday before being outscored by Nanticoke, 22-9, in the third quarter.
Sammy Solomon added 13 points and Cole Coolbaugh had 10 for the Warriors (2-2).
Pittston Area 61
Delaware Valley 22
Pittston Area’s defense shut down visiting Delaware Valley in Wednesday’s rout.
The Patriots held the Warriors to two points in the third quarter while expanding a 21-point halftime lead.
Brennan Higgins led a balanced attack with 12 points. J.J. Walsh added 11 and Logan Booth had 10.
Wyoming Area 52
Susquehanna 46
Cole Coolbaugh scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half Wednesday to help Wyoming Area turn back visiting Susquehanna.
Jesse Mikoliczyk added 12 points and Jake Greenfield had 11.
BOYS SWIMMING
Holy Redeemer 87
Wyoming Area 39
Holy Redeemer won every event of the Wyoming Valley Conference meet at Wyoming Area Thursday.
Tunkhannock 123
Pittston Area 40
Zack Gregory won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle for Pittston Area during Wednesday’s WVC loss at Tunkhannock.
Billy Bonzack won the 100 freestyle for the Patriots.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Holy Redeemer 102
Wyoming Area 59
Holy Redeemer swept every event against host Wyoming Area in Thursday’s WVC meet.
Tunkhannock 117
Pittston Area 55
Sage Brown, Emma Holdredge and Camryn Rogers each won two individual events to lead Tunkhannock past visiting Pittston Area Wednesday.
WRESTLING
Dandy Mini Mart Duals
Wyoming Area went 1-4 in the event at Towanda Dec. 14.
The Warriors defeated Coudersport, 48-36. They lost to Towanda (63-18), Williamson (42-36), Hanover Area (42-36) and Danville (54-18).
Wyoming Area won seven straight bouts from 285 to 138 for a 42-12 lead over Coudersport then got a clinching first-period pin from Connor Wrobleski at 170, the next-to-last bout.
Rocco Pizano (138) also had a first-period pin to complete the streak. Ethan Spence (285), Garret Pocceschi (113), Zachary Sheridan (120) and Kyle Emsley (132) also had pins for the Warriors.
Unbeaten Jaden Pepe had a forfeit against Coudersport, but won his other four bouts on the day at 106 and 113 by first-period pins in a total time of 4:30.
