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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — It was supposed to be an easy basket for Hazleton Area.
The Cougars stole the ball, took off on a fast break and got the ball to one of their best shooters with nobody standing between her and a layup.
But Scranton’s little, lightning-quick guard Ciaira Loyd had other ideas. She flew in from midcourt, caught the play from behind and swatted away the shot.
When Scranton’s huge height advantage wasn’t hampering the Cougars, its superior speed was.
That one-two punch knocked out Hazleton Area’s hopes of winning a second straight district title Friday, as Loyd poured in 22 points, Scranton blocked nine shots and the Knights turned out the lights early while coasting to a 56-25 victory and the first-ever District 2 Class 6A title at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“They deserved it,” Hazleton Area guard Maddie Mrochko said. “Scranton’s such a good, strong team.”
Upending a top-seeded Scranton team that won its 15th straight game turned out to be a task that was a little too tall for Scranton.
The Knights featured 6-2 center Colette Mulderig, 6-foot forward Kristi Hart and brought 5-11 post player Shelby Funchess off the bench as a sub.
Together, they combined to register seven blocks — and essentially took away any inside penetration the Cougars attempted to muster.
“Their bigs are big,” exclaimed Hazleton Area coach Joe Gavio. “When they came out, I looked and said, ‘These girls are pretty tall.’ That’s hard to practice for. We have one girl (starter) that’s big (5-10 Marissa Trivelpiece), and we’ve played teams with one big kid. They had two and they rotated three.
“Their size was a factor.”
Was it ever.
Mulderig blocked three shots and Hart batted away two layup attempts in the second quarter, forcing the Cougars to stop driving and start relying on an outside game.
It wasn’t there, though.
After scoring 11 points in the first quarter, Hazleton Area managed just 14 points for the rest of the game. And the few times the Cougars managed to get out on a break, a hustling Scranton defense kept breaking up the transitions.
When size didn’t frustrate Hazleton Area, Scranton’s speed did.
“It was a little of both, I think,” said Mrochko, a double-figure scorer who was held to three points. “Honestly, we never really played against girls that tall. Their speed only added to it. Our game plan was always to just play our game. We tried. When they kept blocking shots, it was difficult.”
No such trouble for Loyd.
Scranton’s 5-4 senior scoring star swished a pair of early 3-pointers and scored eight points in the first quarter to get the Knights out to a seven-point lead.
“They jumped us early,” Gavio said.
The Cougars hung around for a bit when Marissa Trivelpiece scored six of her team-high eight points in the opening quarter, but not long after, Scranton packed the middle and pushed Hazleton Area’s offense into a perimeter game.
“We got a little intimidated by the blocked shots,” Gavio said. “A couple times, we had a shot to make a run. Their size hurt us a little bit.”
On offense and defense.
Mulderig added 12 points in the victory, including a three-point play late in the third quarter that stretched Scranton’s lead to 20 points and basically deflated any comeback hopes Hazleton Area entertained. That sent 18-5 Scranton into the PIAA playoffs Friday against the No. 8 seed from District 1, while Hazleton Area finished its season at 15-9.
“We came to play,” Loyd said. “When they stopped me, I just had to get it inside. They couldn’t stop our bigs.”
The Cougars couldn’t really stop Loyd, either.
She popped in six points during the second quarter, as the Knights doubled Hazleton Area’s offensive output in the period and took a 32-18 lead into halftime.
Then, Loyd added seven more points in the third quarter — including a spectacular, falling, left-handed layup — while leading Scranton to a 47-23 lead and pretty much ending all suspense.
“Make no mistake, they go with Loyd,” Gavio said. “She’s gotten better and better. Ciaira Loyd’s a stud, she’s such a good player. They were the better team tonight, probably the better team overall.
“Their size and Loyd, that was a tough combination.”
Scranton 56, Hazleton Area 25
HAZLETON AREA (25) — Kendra Pfeil 2 0-0 5, Marissa Trivelpiece 3 2-2 8, Maddie Mrochko 1 1-2 3, Mackenzie Jones 0 0-0 0, Virginia Yurchak 1 0-0 2, Megan Trivelpiece 0 1-2 1, Katie Lipinski 1 2-2 4, Alexis Sheeto 1 0-0 2, Erika Book 0 0-2 0, Ashley Albrechta 0 0-0 0, Destiny Huston 0 0-0 0, Mia Cundro 0 0-0 0, Abbey Valente 0 0-0 0, Erin Potoskie 0 0-0 0, Faith Grula 0 0-2 0. Totals 9 6-10 25.
SCRANTON (56) — Ciaira Loyd 8 4-7 20, Tahliah Dillon 2 0-0 4, Erin Barrett 2 0-0 5, Colette Mulderig 4 4-4 12, Kristi Hart 3 1-2 7, Shelby Funchess 1 0-0 2, Sophia Glogowski 0 0-0 0, Peyton Orzello 1 0-0 3, Victoria Yatko 0 0-0 0, Ciera Chandler 0 0-0 0, Alyvia Svetovich 0 1-2 1, Samantha Peck 0 0-0 0, Isabelle Jarrow 0 0-0 0, Trinity Gammaitoni 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 10-15 56.
Hazleton Area`11`7`5`2`—`25
Scranton`18`14`15`9`—`56
Three-point goals — HAZ 1 (Pfeil); SCR 4 (Loyd 2, Orzello, Barrett).
