Jackie Gallagher goes up for Crestwood Friday night. The freshman had eight points, five assists and four steals in an opening win over Western Wayne.
Tom Robinson | For Times Leader
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
KINGSLEY — The coach was not the only thing that was new about Crestwood girls basketball Friday night when the winter sports season got underway around Pennsylvania.
The Comets turned to four freshmen, including two starters, as they advanced to the Saturday afternoon final of the first Lambert-Simons Tip-Off Classic.
Charlie Hiller, a 6-foot freshman led the way with 17 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots as Crestwood defeated Western Wayne 51-42 in Mary Mushock-Namey’s debut as coach of the team.
“It’s very encouraging,” Mushock-Namey said after her team advanced to play New York State Section IV Class A (equivalent of PIAA Class 5A) defending champion Union-Endicott in the 2 p.m. final. “I just played two juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen.
“The future is bright. So with this youth, you will see some inexperience and some decision-making that’s not what you are used to, but I think with more time and more games in, we’re only going to get better and better each game.”
Sophomore Keira Dougherty added 15 points and five steals.
It was opening night – as the 30 turnovers for each team would attest – but the Comets already showed that they not only will have a height advantage on many nights, but that they are prepared to use it well.
Kate Gallagher, a 6-1 junior, had six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots before fouling out. Her sister, 5-9 freshman Jackie Gallagher, added eight points, five assists and four steals.
“I think we have an advantage in that we do have shooters, even though they didn’t shoot well today,” Mushock-Namey said. “We can kick it in or we can bring it out.
“I think we’re going to be really tough to guard once we get that experience out of the way and we get it together.”
Jordan Andrews, a sophomore guard, took just one shot and did not score, but she came off the bench to provide a game-high six assists.
Western Wayne’s Emily Romanowski had 17 points, 13 rebounds, seven steals and four assists in her first game back after missing the 2022-23 season following reconstructive knee surgery.
Hiller made an immediate impact in her high school debut.
She scored the first four Crestwood baskets, three on putbacks, for an 8-3 lead and had seven of the team’s rebounds as it started out with a 9-4 advantage on the boards in the first 4:06.
“Charlie is one of the most versatile players I have ever coached,” Mushock-Namey said. “She can play 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. In this game, she played mostly inside, but she can shoot the ball; she can handle the ball.
“She’s a great leader. She’s extremely vocal. You wouldn’t even know that she’s a freshman out there.”
Hiller had a double-double just three minutes into the second quarter, but the Comets did not take the lead for good until almost two minutes later.
“I did expect us to be in foul trouble because we do trap and we do press and we do trap a little bit and when you do that sometimes, you do foul,” said Mushock-Namey, who came to the Comets after being the first head coach at Wilkes-Barre Area. “But I didn’t expect us to be in that much foul trouble. We had three starters with two fouls in the first quarter.
“That was a little struggle to have to handle, but I think everybody that came off the bench did a good job and kept us in it until we got those girls back in.”
The Comets used a 19-5 run to end the first half and start the second half to open a 32-21 lead.
Dougherty hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the second quarter, then Crestwood scored the first six points of the third quarter.
The closest Western Wayne got the rest of the way was six points and Crestwood’s lead was in double figures for all but 45 seconds of the fourth quarter.
Union-Endicott defeated host Mountain View, 48-37, in the opener.
Addison Kilmer, a returning all-stater, scored 18 in defeat for the Eagles, who played in the state Class A semifinals last year.
The tournament honors former Mountain View coaches Bob Lambert and the late Rush Simons. Lambert was in attendance. Mountain View is coached by Bill Simons, grandson of Rush, who won 528 games as a girls basketball coach.
Crestwood 51, Western Wayne 42
WESTERN WAYNE (42) – Allie Pauler 4 0-0 11, Raegan Palmer 1 0-0 2, Emily Romanowski 5 6-7 17, Khloe Mistishin 1 2-9 4, Brooke Kellogg 1 1-2 4, Stephanie Mildner 1 2-4 4. Totals 13 11-22 42.
CRESTWOOD (51) –Charlie Hiller 8 1-2 17, Kendall Petrosky 0 0-0 0, Jackie Gallagher 4 0-0 8, Kate Gallagher 3 0-2 6, Keira Dougherty 6 2-2 15, Jordan Andrews 0 0-0 0, Cameron Vieney 1 1-4 3, Aryanna Kijek 0 0-0 0, Lauren Falcheck 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 4-10 51.
Western Wayne`14`7`5`16 — 42
Crestwood`11`15`9`16 — 51
Three-point goals – WW 5 (Pauler 3, Romanowski, Kelloggo), CRE 1 (Dougherty).