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HAZLE TWP. — Welcome into the inner circle of head coaching playoff winners, Ed Grant.
And welcome back to the district semifinals, Nanticoke Area.
Lauren Casey, Amiah Lukowski and Alyssa Lewis each scored 10 points Tuesday and took turns producing pivotal moments as Nanticoke Area opened the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball playoffs with 44-21 quarterfinal victory over Western Wayne to make first-year head coach Grant a winner in his playoff debut at Hazleton Area High School.
“Just good to get one off the back,” smiled Grant, who served as a Nanticoke Area girls basketball assistant the past few years and was elevated to the program’s helm when Alan Yendrzeiwski stepped away to spend more time with his family after last season. “It’s really good. Our kids played really hard.”
It’s not hard to see where this may be going.
The 18-5 Trojanettes, who shut out 13-10 Western Wayne through the final quarter, will face top-seeded, 22-1 Scranton Prep — which put away Tunkhannock 64-28 in another quarterfinal — in the semifinal round Friday.
Win or lose that game, Nanticoke Area is assured of playing for a spot in the PIAA tournament for a fifth straight season — since District 2 sends three Class 4A teams to states with one getting there through a battle of teams that lose in the semifinals.
The Trojanettes lost that third-place game in 2015, won it in 2016, won the District 2 title in 2017 and fell in the district finals to finish as District 2’s No. 2 state representative last season before assuring themselves a fifth straight trip to the semis with Tuesday’s win.
“One-hundred percent, we definitely wanted to get back in the swing of things,” said Lewis, who scored all of her 10 points in the second half to help the Trojanettes turn a seven-point halftime lead into a runaway victory. “We wanted to make history and go back (to the finals). It’s one of our goals as a team.
“This is the best basketball you can play, in districts.”
They’re playing it for a new voice at the top of the bench now.
“I still look at him as a coach, whether it’s the last couple years or now,” said Lewis, a senior, “but he leads us. He’s really someone I look up to for advice.”
Nanticoke Area could have used some early.
Casey got started by popping a couple baskets and Lukowski swished a 3-pointer as Nanticoke Area rolled off the game’s first seven points. Then eyes began to roll as Western Wayne fought back to tie the game 11-11 heading into the second stanza.
“We were up 7-0, then they had their little spurt there,” Grant said. “But basically, we’re solid. That’s been our deal all year.”
Indeed, the Trojanettes held dangerous outside shooter Kaeli Romanski to four points — none in the second half — and used an aggressive man defense to hold Western Wayne to four points for the second quarter.
Lukowski buried another trey, Casey finished with eight points in the first half and Nanticoke Area took a 22-15 lead into the break.
Then Lewis got loose, charging inside for her first six points as Nanticoke Area grew its lead to 11 points at the two-minute mark of the third quarter while limiting Western Wayne to two points over the first six minutes of the second half.
“We wanted to play fierce and fast and go hard at everybody,” Lewis said. “We wanted to stay upbeat.”
Lukowski perked up the Trojanettes with her third trey of the game in the final quarter, Lewis added four more points and Casey hit another bucket while Nanticoke Area surrendered no more points through the entire fourth quarter.
“We take great pride in our defense every year,” Grant said. “We communicated well, we executed the gameplan well. Being here as an assistant, you’re used to that atmosphere. Some nerves, but that goes away once the game starts. Our seniors know how to lead us through situations like that, as well.”
Berwick 44, Dallas 42
Katie Starr scord 13 points and the No. 2 Bulldogs used a fourth quarter comeback to defeat the No. 7 Mountaineers and avoid the upset.
Megan Dalo and Renny Murphy both scored 11 points for Berwick, which will meet Lake-Lehman in Friday’s semifinal round.
Deanna Wallace scored a game-high 14 points to pace the Mountaineers.
Lake-Lehman 53, Valley View 28
Madison Borum had a game-high 18 points as the Black Knights stormed past the Cougars and into the Class 4A district semifinals.
Corinna Scoblick added 14 points for Lehman, which will meet Berwick in Friday’s semifinal round.
District 2 Girls Basketball Quarterfinals
Class 4A
Nanticoke Area 44, Western Wayne 21
WESTERN WAYNE (21) — Kaeli Romanski 2 0-0 4, Coral Swoyer 2 2-2 6, Cassidy Asinski 1 0-0 3, Kathey Shepherd 0 0-0 0, Gracie Guarino 3 2-3 8. Totals 8 4-5 21.
NANTICOKE AREA (44) — Alyssa Lewis 3 4-4 10, Amiah Lukowski 3 1-2 10, Lauren Casey 5 0-0 10, Jil Baron 2 2-3 6, Bella Czeck 1 0-0 2, Emily Hauer 1 0-0 2, Jen Kurkoski 1 0-0 2, Riley Baird 1 0-0 2, Myla Vnuk 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-9 44.
Western Wayne`11`4`6`0 — 21
Nanticoke Area`11`11`6`16 — 44
Three-point goals — WW 1 (Asinski); NAN 3 (Lukowski 3).
Lake-Lehman 53, Valley View 28
VALLEY VIEW (28) — Skylar Bianche 7 1-1 15, Jadyn Swartout 1 5-6 7, Faith Kendricks 3 0-0 6, Mia Rudalavage 0 0-2 0, Tori Duffy 0 0-0 0, Arianna Nardelli 0 0-0 0, Alivia Romano 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 6-9 28.
LAKE-LEHMAN (53) — Madison Borum 7 4-5 18, Corinna Scoblick 6 2-2 14, Savannah Purdy 3 2-4 8, Claire Dougherty 3 0-0 7, Sarah Salus 3 0-0 6, Jodie Salansky 0 0-0 0, Jessica Salus 0 0-0 0, Madison Brdaric 0 0-0 0, Hunter Kline 0 0-0 0, Jessica Spencer 0 0-0 0, Chase Purdy 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 8-11 53.
Valley View`3`9`8`8 — 28
Lake-Lehman`6`17`15`15 — 53
Three-point goals — VV 0; LL 1 (Dougherty).
Berwick 44, Dallas 42
DALLAS (42) — Deanna Wallace 5 0-0 14, Bella Hill 4 3-4 12, Claire Charlton 2 1-2 5, Samantha Kern 2 1-2 5, Morgan MacNeely 1 2-3 4, Nadia Evanosky 1 0-0 2, Julia Kocker 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-11 42.
BERWICK (44) — Katie Starr 6 1-3 13, Megan Dalo 5 1-2 11, Remmy Murphy 3 4-4 11, Jadyn Michael 3 0-0 9, EMily Novicki 0 0-0 0, Abby Burt 0 0-0 0, Emily Ouimet 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-9 44.
Dallas`13`5`17`7 — 42
Berwick`9`15`8`12 — 44
Three-point goals — DAL 5 (Wallace 4, Hill); BER 4 (Michael 3, Murphy).