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DUNMORE — Some pretty big point producers are missing from a Dunmore girls basketball team that came within seven points of winning a state title last season.

The form that took the Bucks there isn’t.

Moriah Murray swished five of her six 3-point field goals in the second quarter Monday and returning state runner-up Dunmore destroyed Crestwood, 66-17 in a 2019-20 season opener for both, spoiling the debut of new Comets coach Don Hopkins in a non-conference game at Dunmore High School.

“Tonight was a good eye-opener for us,” Hopkins said. “We’re a very young team. They shot the ball very well. We’re going to learn, every game we play.”

It was the season opener for Crestwood and the first game as a head coach for Hopkins, who replaced former coach Ed Stepanski — whose position was opened after taking the Comets to the District 2 Class 5A semifinals in each of the three seasons Pennsylvania has used a six-classification system, including the District 2 title game and a state playoff appearance in 2017.

“Very happy,” Hopkins said, “I’m looking forward to it. This was just the first game.”

It was also the debut of a couple new faces in Dunmore’s lineup, although District 2 fans are all-too familiar with the names.

The Bucks have been accustomed to watching 6-2 center Victoria Toomey and sure-handed guard Gianna Delfino dominate opponents during the last few years.

Now, it’s freshman Ciera Toomey in the middle with sophomore Elisa Delfino hitting from the outside.

“Elisa is Gianna’s sister and Ciera is Victoria’s,” Murray said. “They both come from great families. They’re just very solid players. We have history with this group of girls. This is our all-star team from biddie (leagues) when we were kids.”

Looks like that all-star show is ready to roll again.

Murray led the charge out of the blocks, scoring the first seven of her game-high 24 points in the opening quarter to spark Dunmore to an early 18-2 lead.

Turns out, she was just warming up.

The star of last season’s District 2 Class 3A championship victory over Holy Redeemer, Murray drilled a pair of 3-pointers and scored the first eight points of the second quarter. A little later, she tossed in three consecutive treys as the Bucks barreled into halftime with a 37-9 lead.

“Never take anything for granted,” Murray said.

With Dunmore’s defense swarming, the Comets barely had a chance to take anything.

They managed just four baskets for the game and were limited to just 17 shots from the floor. Helena Jardine scored six of her team-high eight points from the foul line and Brianna Wickiser added five points in a game that quickly got away from Crestwood.

Meanwhile, the Bucks used 11 points from Toomey and seven apiece from Delfino and Annay Talutto to put the game into the mercy rule with a 40-point lead in the second half.

“I thought our defense played hard,” Hopkins said. “We recognized a lot of the things they were trying to do. We didn’t expect them (the Bucks) to shoot the way they shot. It’s hard to beat a team when they shoot that well. We’ve just got to move on from this.”

Pittston Area 47, Hanover Area 20

Jada Sharp popped four 3-point field goals in the second quarter and the Patriots pulled away from the Hawkeyes in a season opener for both.

Sharp finished with a game-high 16 points, Hannah Getz hit eight of her 10 points in the first quarter and Lily Savoy added 10 for Pittston Area.

Sarah Tuzinski led Hanover Area with 11 points.

Berwick 37, Selinsgrove 31

Katie Starr scored 12 of her game-high 14 points in the second half and the Bulldogs evened their record at 1-1 by coming back from a halftime deficit to build a 10-point lead in the third quarter, then hanging on for the win.

Morgan Nevel added nine points for Berwick.

Dunmore 66, Crestwood 17

CRESTWOOD (17) — Jaden Weiss 0 0-0 0, Helena Jardine 1 6-10 8, Jill Taleroski 0 0-0 0, Brianna Kijek 0 0-0 0, Brianna Wickiser 2 0-0 5, Julia Johnson 0 0-0 0, Isabella Caparusio 0 0-2 0, Candence Hiller 1 2-2 4, Julia Glowacki 0 0-0 0, Olivia Jardine 0 0-0 0, Grace Pasternick 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Bozinko 0 0-0 0, Madison Foley 0 0-0 0, Camryn Collins 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Zlockie 0 0-0 0. Totals 4 8-14 17.

DUNMORE (66) — Ciero Toomey 4 2-2 11, Moriah Murray 7 4-4 24, Mia Blume 2 0-0 5, Elisa Delfino 2 2-4 7, Alexis Chapman 2 0-0 5, Anna Talutto 3 0-0 7, Katherine Hopkins 0 0-0 0, Candence Lewis 1 0-0 2, Nora Haggerty 1 0-0 3, Sophia Mandarano 0 0-0 0, Alexis Santarsiero 0 0-0 0, Adriana Pacewica 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 8-10 66.

Crestwood`2`7`5`3 — 17

Dunmore`18`19`25`4 — 66

Three-point goals — CRE 1 (Wickiser); DUN 11 (Murray 6, Blume, Delfino, Haggerty, Chapman, Talutto).

Pittston Area 47, Hanover Area 20

HANOVER AREA (20) — Madison Elick 0 0-0 0, Hannah Salwolski 1 0-0 2, Sarah Tuzinski 2 6-8 11, Alley Sheridan 2 0-1 4, Kyleen McCance 0 1-2 1, Madison Hooper 1 0-1 2, Amaya Shutes 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 7-12 20.

PITTSTON AREA (47) — Kallie Booth 2 0-0 4, Hannah Getz 5 2-4 12, Samantha Christian 0 0-0 0, Nicole Zambetti 2 0-0 5, Kendall Tigue 0 0-0 0, Jada Sharp 6 0-0 16, Bernadette Lieback 0 0-0 0, Lily Savoy 4 2-2 10, Leah Zambetti 0 0-0 0, Mia Demarco 0 0-0 0, Jessica Zaladonis 0 0-0 0, Emma Coles 0 0-0 0, Taylor Balera 0 0-0 0, Jianna Moran 0 0-0 0, Ava Callahan 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 4-6 47.

Hanover Area`6`2`11`1 — 20

Pittston Area`14`12`13`8 — 47

Three-point goals — HAN 1 (Tuzinski); PA 5 (Sharp 4, N. Zambetti).

Berwick 37, Selinsgrove 31

BERWICK (37) — Renny Murphy 2 3-4 8, Morgan Nevel 4 1-2 9, Sarah Steeber 1 0-0 2, Abby Burt 0 0-0 0, Jackie Nevel 0 0-0 0, Katie Starr 6 2-3 14, Jadyn Michael 0 1-2 1, Emily Ouimet 1 1-3 3. Totals 14 8-14 37.

SELINSGROVE (31) — Gabielson 4 0-0 9, Atwood 0 0-0 0, Latsma 0 0-0 0, Defazio 3 2-3 8, Diehl 1 0-0 2, Shaffer 0 0-0 0, Davis 3 0-1 6, Adams 0 3-6 3, Stanford 1 0-1 3. Totals 12 5-11 31.

Berwick`7`8`16`6 — 37

Selinsgrove`6`11`4`10 — 31

Three-point goals — BER 1 (Murphy); SEL 2 (Gabrielson, Stanford).

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By Paul Sokoloski

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