Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — They had been down this road before, banging on the door of a district title, only to be turned away again and again.
This time, the Nanticoke Trojanettes didn’t bother to knock.
They simply stormed the last obstacle standing in their path to a championship and smashed it down.
Kayla Aufiero rang up 18 points, Riley Klepadlo worked her way to 15 more and Lisa Radziak hit the money shots Thursday as the Trojanettes burned Berwick with a tenacious press defense that carried them to a 52-33 victory in the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball final at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“Oh my gosh, unbelievable,” Aufiero said. “We came up short last year. To finally get it feels great.”
The three-time Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champion Trojanettes have been targeting this moment for three seasons, since Aufiero and Klepadlo were sophomore starters.
But their gold medal dreams were dashed in the district semifinal round the past two seasons, including last season’s four-point loss to Scranton Prep with Klepadlo watching from the bench with a season-robbing torn ACL.
Not this year.
Klepadlo, Aufiero and Alyssa Lewis each made three steals as Nanticoke’s swarming press defense forced 12 turnovers in the first half and 21 for the game while neutralizing a much bigger — and younger — Berwick team.
“Their press is really good,” Berwick coach Bill Phillips said. “That’s why they only have one loss. They are a very, very good pressing team. It just got to us.”
Right from the start.
The 25-1 Trojanettes harassed Berwick into eight turnovers in the first quarter, Aufiero scored seven points in the first eight minutes and Klepadlo swished a 3-point goal that gave Nanticoke a 10-7 lead it never lost.
And while Berwick took better care of the ball in the second quarter — losing it four times — the Bulldogs were held to just six points during the period.
“Our defense is relentless,” Aufiero said, “Our press gets teams confused, frazzled. From the start, we came out strong.”
It sent Nanticoke into the PIAA Class 4A playoff tournament to face 18-6 Lancaster Catholic, the fourth seed out of District 3 on March 10.
Berwick, as the District to runner-up, will face either Jersey Shore or Lewisburg, which play tomorrow for the No. 3 seed from District 4.
And that defense sent a message to Berwick, which battled the Trojanettes to the very end of a three-point loss during the regular season.
“Today, we were going to go into this game and press in the half court, full court, just playing with a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” Nanticoke coach Alan Yendrzeiwski said. “The press, I think, was really tough for them to handle.”
The Bulldogs really became rattled when Radziak began rattling the rims.
She completely changed the direction of the game, by burying a 3-point goal two seconds from halftime to send the Trojanettes into the locker room with a 27-17 lead.
“I knew time was running out,” Radziak said. “I just wanted to get a last shot. I was able to take it.”
For good measure, the 5-foot-2 sharpshooter continued beating Berwick’s zone defense by drilling two more 3-pointers in Nanticoke’s first couple of possessions of the second half, as a seven-point Nanticoke lead shot to 35-19 in the span of less than three minutes.
“Huge,” Aufiero said of Radziak’s long-range shooting spree. “They really helped us to build the lead. When she hit those, we felt great confidence.”
That helped the Trojanettes overcome a Berwick team that rode a five-game winning streak into the district final.
And the Bulldogs had reason to believe they were capable of pulling an upset in the title game, packing the middle with post players Roni Isenberg, Megan Dalo and Tori Talanca, all standing 6-foot or a tick under against a much smaller Nanticoke attack.
But the Trojanettes were undeterred.
Aufiero kept finding ways to produce points in the paint, swooping in for 11 of the team’s 27 points in the opening half.
“It was challenging,” said Aufiero, who converted all seven of her free throws. “But I went up and got some fouls. My teammates did a good job of finding me.”
She had plenty of help from Klepadlo, at 5-9 Nanticoke Area’s tallest player, who scored two points in each of the last three quarters to help the Trojanettes navigate through a tall task and reach the top of the district at long last.
“I’m really happy for our seniors,” Yendrzeiwski said. “To get this opportunity, to finally clime the mountain and get that district title, is something they’ll remember for a really long time.”
Nanticoke Area 52, Berwick 33
BERWICK (33) — Reese Mensinger 6 2-3 17, Abbey Burt 0 0-0 0, Mikayla Davis 0 2-2 2, Tori Talanca 1 1-2 3, Roni Isenberg 4 1-2 9, Mallory Pinterich 0 0-0 , Megan Dalo 0 2-2 2, Sierra Miedaner 0 0-0 0, Maddie Lanning 0 0-0 0, Jordan Greshko 0 0-0 0, Alexa Wall 0 0-0 0, Haley Owens 0 0-0 0, Whitney Switzer 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-11 33.
NANTICOKE AREA (52) — Riley Klepadlo 7 0-0 15, Kayla Aufiero 5 7-7 18, Alexis Pyzia 0 0-0 0, Lisa Radziak 3 1-2 10, Katie Butczynski 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Lewis 3 3-4 9, Amiah Lukowski 0 0-0 0, Maddy Grilz 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 11-13 52.
Berwick`11`6`9`7`—`33
Nanticoke Area`14`13`13`12`—`52
Three-point goals — BER 3 (Mensinger 3); NAN 5 (Radziak 3, Klepadlo, Aufiero).
