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PLYMOUTH — The last two seasons have been pretty painful for injury-plagued Lauren Charlton.
Now she’s ready to shoulder the load.
Charlton shrugged off two previous seasons of shoulder troubles to win the most valuable player award of the Mike Duda Lady Spartans Tip-Off Tournament for the third straight year, while scoring 18 crucial points Tuesday to lead Dallas past host Wyoming Valley West, 39-30 in the girls basketball tourney title game on the Spartans’ court.
“I’m having the time of my life,” said Charlton, a senior who committed to play basketball for the University of Pennsylvania last month. “We’re just having such a great time.”
It’ll be even greater if it lasts for Charlton and 2-0 Dallas.
The Mountaineers’ leader had strong starts to each of her previous two seasons, only to have them end in agony.
Charlton suffered a dislocation in one shoulder as a sophomore and endured a torn labrum in the other last year, ending both of those seasons prematurely.
“It was definitely very frustrating,” Charlton said. “But it helped me grow into a better person. I’m doing a lot of lifting, trying to strengthen (muscles) around those areas. My dad’s been helping me with the rehab. It was definitely a quick recovery.
“I’m 100 percent now.”
She looks it.
In a tight defensive struggle, Charlton scored the game’s first basket 3:14 into the night and wound up with five points in the first quarter to get Dallas into a 7-6 lead entering the second period.
But Trinity Johnson scored six of her team-high nine points in the second quarter and Kalia Saunders came off the bench with four points, three rebounds and two steals in the final five minutes of the first half as the Spartans surged into a 16-12 lead by intermission.
“We were going good,” Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said.
Then Charlton got going again.
She sprayed six points through the third quarter, including a big 3-pointer that rallied Dallas into a 25-21 lead with a quarter to play.
“It’s definitely a different team with her out there,” Ferenchick said. “Of course. She’s probably one of the best in the conference for the last four years. When she’s healthy, that’s a very big plus for them. They really play well with her out there. She also distributes the ball well.”
In the fourth quarter, Charlton simply distributed enough points to put the game away for Dallas.
Her third trey of the night came with 3:36 to play, leaving Dallas with a six-point lead as the Spartans began to scramble.
From there, Charlton used two foul shots to lift Dallas into a 36-28 advantage with a minute remaining, and 20 seconds later, dropped in two more free throws to pretty much seal the victory with a 38-28 lead for the Mountaineers.
“She is finally healthy,” Dallas coach Kelly Johnson said. “Even in the first game, they had people holding her and pulling her, she had red marks on her arms. But she’s OK when she’s being heavily guarded. She did a good job of going in strong under the basket and drawing those fouls and getting shots off.”
After all, she’s had too much time off to back away now.
“Once you get in the flow, it just keeps going,” Charlton said. “We have such a great group of girls. It’s one of the best teams the school has seen. We just have fun. And our chemistry’s amazing.
“I’m healthy and happy and having fun.”
Riverside 63, Wyoming Area 35
Kylie Lavelle scored 22 points to lead the host Vikings past the Warriors.
Cassidy Orzel scored 11 points to lead Wyoming Area.
Nanticoke Area 58, North Pocono 54 (OT)
Lauren Casey scored 21 points as Nanticoke Area evened its early-season record at 1-1 with an overtime victory over North Pocono.
Also contributing for Nanticoke Area were Abby Cullen with 12 points and Emily Hauer and Riley Baird with 10 each.
Carena Colo, Jenna Montanna and Jenna Beach all scored 15 for North Pocono.
Dallas 39, Valley West 30
DALLAS (39): Lauren Charlton 5 5-6 18, Haley Habrack 1 2-2 4, Morgan MacNeeley 0 2-4 2, Claire Charlton 2 0-2 4, Deanna Wallace 0 5-8 5, Bella Hill 0 2-2 2, Emily Weiland 0 1-2 1, Julia Sciandra 1 0-0 2, Julia Kocher 0 0-0 0, Nadia Evanosky 0 1-2 1. Totals 9 18-28 39.
VALLEY WEST (30): Toni Amato 0 2-2 2, Aubrey Boyd 1 2-2 4, Jessica Shaver 0 2-2 2, Trinity Johnson 4 1-2 9, Kiara Kane 2 0-0 2, Claudia Siegfried 2 0-0 5, Kalia Saunders 1 2-3 4, Haylie Oliphant 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 9-11 30.
Dallas`7`5`13`14– 39
Valley West`6`10`5`9– 30
Three-Point goals: DAL 3 (Lauren Charlton 3); WVW 1 (Siegfried).
Nanticoke Area 58, North Pocono 54
NORTH POCONO (54): Alahanna Balbach 1 1-2 3, Alicia Goldenbiel 2 0-0 4, Carena Colo 3 9-14 15, Jenna Montana 5 1-8 15, Jenna Beach 5 5-9 15, Sam Polishan 0 0-0 0, Sydney Polk 0 0-0 0 Morgan Seideta 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 16-33 54
NANTICOKE AREA (58): Tiara Thomas 0 0-0 0, Abby Cullen 3 2-10 12, Jillian Galazin 0 0-0 0, Jen Kurkowski 0 0-0 0, Genevieve Nalepa 1 2-2 5, Riley Baird 3 1-3 10, Emily Haver 2 4-7 10, Jenna Baron 0 0-0 0, Emily Cullen 0 0-0 0, Lauren Cullen 8 5-8 21. Totals 16 14-20 58.
North Pocono`16`7`13`15`3 – 54
Nanticoke`9`13`17`12`7 – 58
Three-point goals: NP 4 (Montanna 4); NAN 5 (Abby Cullen 2, Haver 2, Nalepa, Baird).
Riverside 63, Wyoming Area 35
WYOMING AREA (35): Mackenzie Nocchi 2 0-0 5, Kaitlyn Slusser 1 0-0 2, Nicole Silinskie 2 0-2 4, Halley Kranson 0 0-2 0, Ashley Songaila 0 0-0 0, Erika Holweg 0 0-0 0, Maria Amato 2 0-2 4, Cassidy Orzel 4 2-4 11, Morgan Janeski 3 1-4 7, Anna Wisnewski 1 0-0 2, Alana Aufiere 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 3-14 35.
RIVERSIDE (63): Kylie Lavelle 10 2-5 22, Kayla Rose 4 0-0 8, Alese Karpinski 2 2-2 6, Emily Taylor 2 2-2 8, Leah Hodick 4 0-0 8, BElla McKeefery 0 4-4 4, Morgan Antoniacci 1 1-2 3, Paige Olanovich 1 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Slaboda 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 11-15 63
Wyoming Area`6`6`10`13 – 35
Riverside`19`6`17`21 – 63
Three-point goals: WA 2 (Slusser, Orzel). RIV 2 (Taylor 2).
