H.S. Girls Basketball: Wyoming Valley West edges Berwick in overtime in WVC opener

PLYMOUTH — Wyoming Valley West’s Trinity Johnson didn’t miss many shots Thursday night.

But as she stood alone at the foul line with 4.6 seconds left in overtime, some doubt crept in.

“I was worrying the whole time,” Johnson said. “I was like, ‘Trin, you can’t do it, you can’t do it, you can’t miss.’ But I knew I was ready for it, and I’ve been working for those since last year because I wasn’t doing too hot. So I worked on them in the offseason.”

Johnson netted the two free throws — both coming from a technical foul — and Valley West made one final defensive stand to edge Berwick 58-56 in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball opener for both teams.

Valley West (1-0 Div. 1, 1-0) received the technical free throws when a Berwick player slammed the ball on the court after the Dawgs lost possession out of bounds under their basket.

Berwick had one last chance to tie or win the game. Rachel Whitenight took an inbound pass in the left corner and appeared ready to launch a 3-point attempt. Tight defense by Valley West’s Haylie Oliphant forced Whitenight to dribble out of the corner and toss up an errant off-balance shot.

The Spartans received a huge game from Johnson, a junior who finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Claudia Siegfried, one of three sophomores in the starting lineup, canned seven 3-pointer and shot 7-of-12 from behind the arc.

“Our kids are a young team,” Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said. “This is a great way to come out for a group of young players. We have a long way to go, but will take this one.”

Valley West was playing its first game of the season and facing an opponent for the first time since a late November scrimmage. Berwick (1-0 Div. 1, 1-2) had a couple games under its belt, yet coach Bill Phillips didn’t see that as an advantage because of the Spartans’ size. Besides Johnson’s rebounding, Kalia Saunders grabbed nine boards.

“We the only 4A school in Division 1,” Phillips said. “Plus, they are a lot bigger than us. I mean, Katie Starr is a great post player, but after her we’re a little small. But I thought our kids played tough underneath the boards.”

Starr finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Renny Murphy added 17 points, but overall the Dawgs struggled at times from the perimeter and especially behind the 3-point line.

Siegfried had no such struggles behind the arc. Her sixth 3-pointer of the game with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter tied the score 49-49 and forced overtime. Four of her seven treys gave Valley West the lead in a game where the biggest advantage was four points.

“I worked a lot over the summer,” Siegfried said. “Through all our basketball practices I’ve been practicing my shot and getting ready for moments like these in tough games.”

Berwick led twice in overtime, but Johnson erased the final lead with a rebound basket at 1:10 to tie the score 56-56. She also had a block on the defensive end in the sequence that resulted in the technical free throws.

Wyoming Valley West 58, Berwick 56 (OT)

BERWICK (56) — Renny Murphy 6 3-5 17, Rachel Whitenight 3 0-1 8, Jackie Nevel 3 0-0 6, Katie Starr 10 2-6 22, Emily Ouimet 1 0-0 2, Sarina DeFinnis 0 0-0 0, Gabby Starr 0 1-2 1. Totals 26 6-14 56.

WVW (58) —Trinity Johnson 11 4-5 27, Kalia Saunders 2 1-2 5, Haylie Oliphant 0 1-2 1, Claudia Siegfried 7 0-0 21, Mackenzie Perluke 1 2-2 4, Gabby Marsola 0 0-0 0, Fatikha Tikjtova 0 0-0 0, Aliya Tikjtova 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 8-11 58.

Berwick`12`12`13`12`7 — 56

Valley West`13`10`16`10`9 — 58

Three-point goals: BER 4 (Murphy 2, Ouimet 2). WVW 8 (Johnson, Siegfried 7).