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NANTICOKE — The star power at Nanticoke Area, along with the heart and soul of three league championship teams, is all gone.
That punishing press defense, along with the points it produces, is not.
Using a similar, swarming style that stormed to the last three Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 titles, Alyssa Lewis, Lisa Radziak and the rest of the Nanticoke Area girls basketball team pestered Pittston Area into 20 turnovers Thursday and punished the Patriots by taking an early 18-point lead before cruising to a 57-41 victory at Syl Bozinski Gym.
“Our team is really fast,” Lewis said. “Everyone plays hard, plays fast. We know what our goal is. We fly to the ball on defense. We just play hard.”
It’s not hard to see where this may be heading.
Halfway through the WVC season, Nanticoke Area improved to 7-0 in Division 2, right in back of 8-0 Holy Redeemer.
And the Trojanettes are doing it without their top playmakers who graduated — Kayla Aufiero and Riley Klepadlo after last season and Gianna Roberts left following the 2015-16 season. They’ll all be invited back to watch, free of charge — along with everyone who played or coached girls basketball at Nanticoke Area — when the school celebrates 50 years of girls basketball next Thursday against Crestwood at Bozinski Gym.
But for now, Lewis, Radziak and the run-and-gun Trojanettes are having a celebration of their own.
Lewis made three steals and scored six of Nanticoke Area’s first 10 points within the game’s first two minutes, as the Trojanettes answered Pittston Area’s opening 3-pointer with a 10-0 run.
“We wanted to get off to a great start,” Lewis said. “Pittston has a great team. We wanted to play our usual style, fast and focused.”
The Trojanettes flew right past Pittston Area, which fell to 3-4 and remained two games off the WVC Division 1 lead.
Lewis led the charge, finishing with five steals and helping Nanticoke Area force 12 turnovers in the first quarter.
Looks like she was making up for some lost time.
“She’s just getting back from an ankle injury,” Nanticoke Area coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said. “She’s back now. Once she starts hitting that mid-range jumper to go along with it, she’s going to take the next step.”
Her steps were fast and furious Thursday, as Lewis finished with 11 points after helping the Trojanettes power to a 28-10 lead by the end of the opening quarter.
“I got an injury in the Hanover game — sprained ankle,” Lewis said. “So I was out for a couple games. It’s feeling good, close to 100 percent. The press was working really good. I got a couple good steals right in the beginning.”
Then Radziak started burying shots.
She got going with two 3-pointers to start her team-high 15-point night, taking off on a 10-point scoring spree over the final 5:52 of the opening quarter.
“We saw today, teams that played that box-and-one or triangle-and-two on Kayla (Aufiero) last year, now it’s on Lisa,” Yendrzeiwski said. “She’s had to step up. She really stretches zone defenses out and is doing a great job handling the ball at point guard for us.”
Radziak was one of four Trojanettes to score in double figures, as Bella Czeck came off the bench to beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer for a 42-19 halftime lead while ending up with 10 points and Maddy Grilz used three 3-pointers to also hit for 10.
Nanticoke Area entered the final quarter with a 53-27 lead, and spent the final eight minutes shooting sparingly.
“That was the key,” Yendrzeiwski said, “to get up early on them like we did in the first half. At the end of the day, our girls have a lot of fun playing this way. They enjoy it.”
Nanticoke Area 57, Pittston Area 41
PITTSTON AREA (41) — Mary Silinskie 0 0-0 0, Alexa Noone 3 4-6 11, Andrea Ruby 1 0-0 2, Emily O’Brien 2 1-1 5, Leah Hodick 7 3-3 17, Nicole Zambetti 1 0-0 2, Emma Coles 0 2-2 2, Lily Savoy 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 10-12 41.
NANTICOKE AREA (57) — Alyssa Lewis 5 1-4 11, Jil Baron 0 2-2 2, Lisa Radziak 6 0-0 15, Maddy Grilz 3 1-2 10, Kaite Butczynski 2 3-4 7, Bella Czeck 2 5-6 10, Amiah Lukowski 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 12-18 57.
Pittston Area`10`9`8`14`—`41
Nanticoke Area`28`14`11`4`—`57
Three-point goals — PA 1 (Noone); NAN 7 (Grilz 3, Radziak 3, Czeck).
