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PLAINS TWP. — Wilkes-Barre Area planned on playing on its terms Friday night.
That meant limiting Pittston Area’s strong perimeter game and forcing the Patriots to attack inside. The strategy worked to near perfection as the Wolfpack posted a 41-22 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball showdown.
WBA (8-0 Div. 1, 14-1 overall) continued its hold on first place, while Pittston Area (5-2 Div. 1, 13-2) fell a spot to third place.
Pittston Area entered the game with two of the top scoring guards in the division in Kallie Booth and Daniella Ranieli. The duo was averaging 27.5 and had scored 58% of the teams points. The Wolfpack limited them to six points each.
“We just stressed defense all day yesterday,” WBA coach Mary Mushock-Namey said. “I put my two best defenders (Danayjha Moore and Reagan Holden) on both of them and I think they did a really great job keeping them in check.”
That forced Pittston Area to try to penetrate to score. There, the Patriots ran into Gloria Adjayi and Shelby Ardo Boyko contesting shots. Adjayi swatted away six shots and had six rebounds. Ardo Boyko had 10 rebounds as WBA limited second-chance opportunities.
“Last year especially I worked with her a lot over the summer,” Ardo Boyko said. “We just bonded well, especially outside of basketball. I think that helps a lot during the season.”
Ardo Boyko would have likely had a double-double but passed up a high-percentage shot to allow Adjayi to score.
The defensive effort led to Pittston Area scoring just one field goal in the second half, a drive by Booth with 5:34 remaining in the game. The Patriots went just over 14 minutes where their only four points came from the foul line. The 22 points were the fewest they scored this season. They came in averaging 46 per game.
“I was happy with the defensive effort,” Pittston Area coach Jeff Gregory said. “Our kids always play hard defensively. Our problem tonight was on the offensive end, obviously. You get one basket in the second half, that tells you enough.”
WBA likes to set the tone offensively by getting the ball inside to Adjayi. That wasn’t the case Friday and the perimeter shooting seized control early.
Emma Krawczeniuk and Moore opened the game with 3-pointers. After Pittston Area got an inside basket from Amanda Fath, Holden rattled in another trey for the Wolfpack for a 9-2 lead less than three minutes into the wire-to-wire victory.
Pittston Area managed to move within 16-14 just past the midway point of the second quarter on another inside bucket by Fath. But that would be the Patriots’ last field goal until Booth scored on a drive early in the fourth quarter.
The teams will meet again on Feb. 14 at Pittston Area. That game was originally scheduled for Jan. 10, but is part of a jumbled schedule because of COVID-19 and weather issues.
Wilkes-Barre Area 41, Pittston Area 22
PITTSTON AREA (22) — Daniella Ranieli 1 3-4 6, Kallie Booth 1 4-7 6, Maddie Karp 0 0-0 0, Ava Callahan 1 0-0 2, Leah Zambetti 1 0-0 2, Taylor Baiera 0 2-4 2, Jiana Moran 0 0-0 0, Amanda Fath 2 0-0 4, Ava Butcher 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 9-15 22.
WBA (41) — Natalia Credle 0 0-0 0, Jetta Mager 0 0-0 0, Danayjha Moore 4 2-2 12, Mahogany Robinson 0 0-0 0, Reagan Holden 3 0-0 7, Eternity Aiken 2 0-0 4, Shelby Ardo Boyko 4 1-2 9, Emma Krawczeniuk 1 0-0 3, Gloria Adjayi 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 3-4 41.
Pittston Area`7`7`4`4 — 22
Wilkes-Barre Area`13`10`10`8 — 41
Three-point goals — PA 1 (Ranieli). WBA 4 (Moore 2, Holden, Krawczeniuk).