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BERWICK — With the ball in her hands and the game on the line, Erin Gibbons has developed a habit of making magic happen for Wyoming Valley West.
And when she did it again Saturday, it sent the Spartans straight back to the top of their division.
Gibbons drilled three 3-point field goals in the final 12 minutes, the last a dagger with 34 seconds to play in overtime that erased a whole game of Berwick dominance and lifted Valley West to a 48-44 victory over the heartbroken Bulldogs.
“I knew I had to step up,” Gibbons said. “I’m a senior, I’m a captain. Some of the younger players may have been a little nervous. I needed to step up to help us win. I was standing there (in overtime), I got the ball, I heard coach say ‘Shoot.’
“I think I get confidence when I have the ball, knowing I need to make shots for my team.”
Her shooting spree in the fourth quarter and overtime stepped on Berwick’s upset hopes, and may have stomped out any chance the Bulldogs had of making a run at the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 title.
They fell to 6-3 in league play and into a third-place tie with Wyoming Area — three games in the loss column behind 9-0 Nanticoke and 8-0 Holy Redeemer — with seven games remaining on their league schedule.
Valley West, meanwhile, shrugged off an ugly 20-point loss to Holy Redeemer on Thursday and moved right back into a first-place tie with Pittston Area at 7-2 in the WVC Division 1.
“I knew it was going to be a tough one,” Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said. “But we needed to get this one.
“This one was a big one.”
Berwick didn’t make it easy.
The Bulldogs controlled most of the game to the final three minutes of regulation, holding a four- to five-point lead for the most part.
Then Gibbons struck.
Held to eight points in the loss to Holy Redeemer and six points through three quarters by Berwick’s dogged defense, Gibbons scored all nine points for Valley West in the final eight minutes of regulation.
And she buried her second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter to give the Spartans their first lead of the afternoon — 43-40 — with 2:26 remaining in regulation.
“I got a little frustrated when my shots weren’t falling,” said Gibbons, one of the WVC’s top scorers and 3-point shooters whose late-game shooting heriocs lifted Valley West to a win over Scranton in last season’s District 2 playoffs and to an early run-away win over nemesis Hazleton Area this season. “But I knew I could make them.”
She made a free throw to give Valley West a four-point lead with under two minutes to play, but even then, Berwick kept battling.
Reese Mensinger converted two free throws to give the Bulldogs a chance, then Tori Talanca dropped home a layup off an inbounds play as time expired in regulation to tie the game at 44-44 and send the teams to overtime.
“But we got four more minutes at the end,” Gibbons said. “It wasn’t over.”
And Berwick didn’t get many chances to score again.
Led by the dribbling of Gibbons, Valley West ran more that 2:30 off the clock during the four-minute overtime period.
“I was dribbling and they weren’t guarding me,” said Gibbons, who finished with a game-high 18 points. “I thought, ‘Take some time off the clock, get a good shot.’”
Then Gibbons dropped the dagger, nailing her third 3-pointer to put the Spartans up 47-44 with 34 seconds remaining on the overtime clock.
“I think it’s the adrenalin,” Ferenchick said of his shooting star. “She’s a great team leader. And she’s one heck of a player.”
And the play of Gibbons down the stretch not only helped Valley West recover from a stinging defeat, but put the Spartans right back in the hunt for a division championship.
“It was a good win,” Gibbons said. “Our last game, we got down early. All of our losses, we forget about those and move on to the next game. I think we really needed this intense, hyper game to realize we can do this.”
Nanticoke 76,
Hazleton Area 67
Kayla Aufiero had a big first quarter, swishing four 3-point field goals and scoring 21 of her team’s 27 points as the unbeaten Trojanettes raced to a quick 12-point lead and rolled to their 15th consecutive victory.
Aufiero finished with a game-high 30 points and six 3-pointers on the night.
Riley Klepadlo scored 10 of her 20 points in the second quarter to send Nanticoke into halftime with a 43-33 lead.
Lisa Radziak added 13 points in the victory, while Kendra Pfeil led Hazleton Area with 28 points.
Crestwood 52,
Tunkhannock 34
Julia Makowski scored 21 points to pace Crestwood. Andrea Shipton added 13.
Rebecca Avery had 14 and Sydney Faux add 12 for Tunkhannock.
Meyers 51,
Hanover Area 33
Gia Skaff hit six 3-point field goals and scored a game-high 20 points as the Mohawks won their second straight league showdown and moved to 4-5 in the WVC Division 3 and to within a game of 5-4 Northwest for first place.
Bella Skaff added 10 points in the victory. Genesis Rodriguez led the Hawkeyes with 16 points.
Wyo. Val. West 48, Berwick 44 OT
WYOMING VALLEY WEST (48) — Erin Gibbons 6 3-4 18, Andi Blaski 1 0-0 2, Natalie Gruver 4 1-5 9, Gabby Smicherko 4 2-4 11, Colleen Cwalina 3 2-2 8, Katie Mackiewicz 0 0-0 0, Toni Amato 0 0-0 0, Sidney Scarcella 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 8-15 48.
BERWICK (44) — Reese Mensinger 5 2-4 17, Tori Talanca 6 4-5 16, Abby Burt 1 1-2 4, Mikayla Davis 1 0-0 3, Roni Isenberg 2 0-0 4, Megan Dalo 0 0-0 0, Molly Pinterich 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-11 44.
Wyoming Valley West`9`13`13`9`4`—`48
Berwick`10`13`14`7`0`—`44
Three-point goals — WVW 4 (Gibbons 3, Smicherko); BER 7 (Mensinger 5, Davis, Burt).
Nanticoke 76, Hazleton Area 67
HAZLETON AREA (67) – Kendra Pfeil 12 2-5 28, Marissa Trivelpiece 4 2-2 10, Maddie Mrochko 6 1-3 14, Virginia Yurchak 1 0-0 2, Megan Trivelpiece 3 2-2 8, Alexis Sheeto 1 0-0 2, Erick Book 0 0-0 0, Kaile Lpiniski 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Jones 1 1-1 3. Totals 28 8-13 67.
NANTICOKE (76) – Riley Klepadlo 6 7-7 20, Kayla Aufiero 8 8-12 30, Alexis Pyzia 2 2-6 6, Lisa Radziak 5 1-1 13, Katie Butczynski 1 1-4 3, Alyssa Lewis 1 2-4 4, Amiah Lukowski 0 0-1 0, Maddy Grilz 0 0-0 0, Bella Czeck 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 21-35 76.
Hazleton Area`15`18`12`22`—`67
Nanticoke`27`16`15`18`—`76
Three-point goals – HAZ 3 (Pfeil 2, Mrochko). NAN 9 (Aufiero 6, Radziak 2, Klepadlo).
Crestwood 52, Tunkhannock 34
CRESTWOOD (52) – Riley Magin 1 0-0 2, Kristen Andrews 0 0-0 0, Andrea Shipton 4 5-5 13, Sarah Hopkins 3 1-2 9, Gianna Uhl 0 0-0 0, Bella Termini 1 0-0 2, Kate Snipas 0 1-2 1, Sarah Richards 0 4-4 4, Hannah Wiegopolski 0 0-0 0, Julia Makowski 8 3-3 21. Totals 17 14-16 52.
TUNKHANNOCK (34) – Sydney Faux 4 0-0 12, Kelly Barber 0 0-0 0, Josie Fisco 0 1-4 1, Jessica Ell 0 2-3 2, Sam Generotti 1 0-0 2, Abby Ritz 1 1-3 3, Rebecca Avery 5 4-12 14. Totals 11 8-22 34.
Crestwood`12`8`19`13`—`52
Tunkhannock`9`4`10`11`—`34
Three-point goals – CRE 4 (Hopkins 2, Makowski 2). TUN 4 (Faux 4).
Meyers 51, Hanover Area 33
MEYERS (51) – Erin Morris 2 0-0 5, Bella Skaff 3 4-6 10, Gia Skaff 7 0-0 20, Kayley Nilon 0 0-0 0, Allycia Harris 3 0-0 6, Amanda Gray 1 1-3 3, Devon Keiper 2 1-2 6, Bella Gray 0 0-2 0, Elise Fellerman 0 0-0 0, Sarah Bottger 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 7-15 51.
HANOVER AREA (33) – Sara Tuzinski 3 0-0 7, Mary Slusser 1 0-0 2, Victoria Benning 3 0-3 6, Lauren Blazaskie 0 0-1, Madison Hooper 0 0-2 0, Sara Whitesell 0 2-5 2, Genesis Rodriguez 6 4-10 16. Totals 13 6-21 33.
Meyers`14`8`13`16`—`51
Hanover Area`6`4`15`8`—`33
Three-point goals – MEY 8 (G. Skaff 6, Morris, Keiper). HAN 1 (Tuzinski).
