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WILKES-BARRE – Nanticoke Area played more than 52 minutes of basketball against Wyoming Area in two games over the past two weeks before having the lead for the first time.

Alyssa Lewis made sure the Trojanettes treated the lead preciously as they headed down the stretch Friday night.

Lewis went 7 for 8 from the line following Lisa Radziak’s go-ahead basket, completing a late nine-point streak that carried Nanticoke to a 50-43 victory in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball semifinal.

Nanticoke Area will play Scranton Prep for the District 2 title at 6 p.m. Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena. Wyoming Area will face Berwick Tuesday for the district’s third and final 4A berth in the PIAA state tournament.

Lewis finished with 26 points, including 18 in the second half when Nanticoke Area erased a 21-16 deficit. She also had five steals to lead a Trojanettes press that forced Wyoming Area into 28 turnovers.

All five Nanticoke starters had at least three steals.

“We’re trying to play hard and play fast,” Lewis said. “We work as a team and we all know where each other is going.

“Once we see something going on down the court, we all try to rotate and work hard.”

For most of three quarters, Wyoming Area countered those turnovers with easy baskets when they beat the press. The Warriors, however, had trouble converted contested layups down the stretch and shot just 2 for 10 while committing nine turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“We just didn’t do a very good job early adjusting to the screening action they were doing, sending people long,” Nanticoke Area coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said. “I thought we settled it down a little bit adjusting in a timeout, then we talked about it at halftime about how we wanted to guard it.

“It seemed like there was a stretch there where we kept getting steal after steal after steal and they really struggled with something that had been successful for them early on.”

Radziak scored all 10 of her points in the second half. Jil Baron had eight points, 12 rebounds and four steals.

Sophomores Cassidy Orzel and Nicole Silinskie led Wyoming Area with 13 points each, but Orzel battled foul trouble that cost her key minutes and Silinskie fouled out when the Warriors had to foul late.

Sarah Holweg had 12 points, Addison Orzel grabbed 20 rebounds and Aleah Kranson had six assists.

Wyoming Area built the lead as high as 17-8 in the second quarter and 23-16 early in the third.

Nanticoke, which lost its chance to win the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 when it was beaten by Wyoming Area in the regular-season finale, came back with nine straight points.

Radziak scored her first points on a 23-footer for three points and a 23-23 tie with 4:18 left in the third. Maddy Grilz, who missed the earlier meeting with an injury, hit a 19-footer for the first lead.

Those plays started a stretch of six ties and seven lead changes in nine minutes.

Holweg beat a double-team to hit a runner in the lane for a 41-41 tie with 3:11 left.

Radziak needed just 11 seconds to hit a similar shot on the other end for the lead.

While Lewis made repeated trips to the line, Wyoming Area did not score again until Holweg hit two free throws too late with 6.7 seconds left.

District 2 Class 4A Semifinals

Scranton Prep 49, Berwick 41

Kathleen Rose scored 16 points for Scranton Prep.

Berwick’s Katie Starr and Renny Murphy combined for 27 points. The Dawgs play Wyoming Area on Tuesday for third place and a spot in the PIAA state playoffs at a site and time to be determined.

Nanticoke 50, Wyoming Area 43

WYOMING AREA (43) — Nicole Silinskie 3 4-6 13, Aleah Kranson 1 0-0 2, Sarah Holweg 4 4-5 12, Cassidy Orzel 6 1-3 13, Addison Orzel 1 0-0 2, Ellie Glatz 0 1-2 1, Kristi Skok 0 0-0 0, Jalen Rhodes 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-16 43.

NANTICOKE (50) — Alyssa Lewis 6 13-14 26, Maddy Grilz 1 0-0 2, Lisa Radziak 4 1-4 10, Katie Butczynski 1 2-2 4, Jill Baron 2 4-4 8, Amiah Lukowski 0 0-0 0, Lauren Casey 0 0-0 0.Totals 14 20-24 50.

Wyoming Area`11`10`10`12`—`43

Nanticoke`6`10`16`18`—`50

Three-point goals — WA 3 (Silinskie), N 2 (Lewis, Radziak).

Scranton Prep 49, Berwick 41

SCRANTON PREP (49) — Kathleen Rose 6 1-3 16, Rachel Rose 4 4-5 13, Holly Dareski 4 2-2 10, Elisa Penctar 2 0-0 4, Alaina Weston 1 1-1 3, Claire Szymanski 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 8-11 49.

BERWICK (41) — Katie Starr 5 3-5 16, Renny Murphy 4 0-0 11, Reese Mensinger 2 4-8 8, Roni Isenberg 3 0-0 6, Sierra Miedaner 0 0-0 0, Megan Dalo 0 0-0 0, Jadyn Micahel 0 0-0 0, Mallory Pinterich 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-13 41.

Scranton Prep`17`10`12`10 — 49

Berwick`9`10`15`7 — 41

Three-point goals — SP 5 (R. Rose, Szymanski, K. Rose 3); BER 6 (Murphy 3, Starr 3).

Nanticoke Area’s Katie Butczynski drives for a shot against Wyoming Area during a breakout fourth quarter that lifted the Trojanettes to victory in Friday night’s District 2 tournament game.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Nanticoke-Wyoming-Area-GBB-TL-1.jpg.optimal.jpgNanticoke Area’s Katie Butczynski drives for a shot against Wyoming Area during a breakout fourth quarter that lifted the Trojanettes to victory in Friday night’s District 2 tournament game. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Nanticoke Area senior guard Lisa Radziak (23) takes a 10-foot jump shot against Wyoming Area on Friday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Nanticoke-Wyoming-Area-GBB-TL-2.jpg.optimal.jpgNanticoke Area senior guard Lisa Radziak (23) takes a 10-foot jump shot against Wyoming Area on Friday. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Nanticoke Area defeats Wyoming Area in D2-4A semis

By Tom Robinson

For Times Leader

Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports