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DALLAS TWP. — Divisional title hopes had long departed, but that didn’t make Crestwood’s visit to Dallas meaningless Wednesday night. The two teams were trying to avoid a bus ride in the upcoming District 2 Class 5A girls basketball tournament.
Dallas moved a step closer to a home game.
Elizabeth Viglone scored 18 points, Victoria Spaciano had 15 and along with Audrey DelGaudio dominated the boards as the Mountaineers defeated Crestwood 53-30 in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.
Dallas (5-6 Div. 1, 10-8) came into the game fourth in the D2-5A standings and behind third-place Wallenpaupack only .000651 in the power rankings. Crestwood (3-8, 8-10) was in fifth and within striking distance of both. The top-four teams are guaranteed a district home game.
“We definitely want home court advantage,” Dallas coach Kelly Martin-Johnson said. “So every game for us is a big game from here on out. The three, four, five seeds are extremely close in the power rankings. We’re going after it in every game.”
The situation was too murky with the three having a total of 10 games left after Wednesday to reasonably predict an outcome. There is even a chance either Crestwood or Dallas would have a long bus ride to Wallenpaupack. Or Crestwood and Dallas would meet again in districts. So that’s why Wednesday was so important to both.
Dallas took the lead for good, 7-5, when DelGaudio scored off a rebound midway through the first quarter. She added another rebound basket and two second-chance opportunities allowed the Mountaineers to take a 15-7 lead going into the second quarter.
DelGaudio finished with 12 rebounds and fell a point shy of a double-double. Spaciano got one with 11 rebounds to go with her 15 points. Dallas finished with 44 boards.
“We focus on boxing out in practice and getting good position whether on offense or defense,” Martin-Johnson said. “Boxing out is kind of a lost art, so we’re constantly pushing our kids to get position, get inside position, make contact, get a body. They hit the boards hard tonight.”
The Mountaineers let the door ajar in the second quarter for a Crestwood comeback by missing their first nine shots. Crestwood, though, missed its first 10 attempts as Dallas pulled into halftime with a 21-11 lead.
A couple 3-pointers by Crestwood’s Camryn Collins cut the deficit to 24-17 three minutes into the third period. Dallas answered with an 11-0 run to quell the rally attempt.
NOTE: Dallas will embark on a grueling stretch because of COVID-19 and weather scrambling the WVC schedule. The Mountaineers play four games in six days starting with a road contest at Wilkes-Barre Area on Friday.
Dallas 53, Crestwood 30
CRESTWOOD (30) — Camryn Collins 3 2-2 10, Katelyn Bozinko 2 0-0 4, Isabella Caporuscio 1 0-2 3, Gianna Musto 0 0-0 0, Julia Glowacki 0 0-0 0, Kendall Petrosky 0 4-4 4, Kate Gallagher 0 0-0 0, Lucy Malia 0 0-0 0, Mary Kate Banford 0 0-0 0, Grace Pasternick 3 1-2 7. Totals 10 7-10 30.
DALLAS (53) — Iris Hobson-Tomascik 1 0-0 3, Jordan Porasky 1 0-0 2, Scarlett Hobson-Tomascik 1 0-0 3, Nadia Evanosky 0 0-0 0, Chelcie Strobel 1 0-0 2, Caroline Comitz 0 0-0 0, Megan Bryk 0 1-2 1, Audrey DelGaudio 4 1-4 9, Elizabeth Viglone 5 7-10 18, Kassidy Motley 0 0-0 0, Morgan Solano 0 0-0 0, Maddy Pevear 0 0-0 0, Victoria Spaciano 7 1-3 15. Totals 20 10-19 53.
Crestwood`7`4`8`11 — 30
Dallas`15`6`14`18 — 53
Three-point goals — CRE 3 (Collins 2, Caporuscio); DAL 3 (I. Hobson-Tomascik, S. Hobson-Tomascik, Viglone)