DALLAS TWP. — In a game of crazy momentum swings, Dallas’ Molly Walsh started the final one Monday night.
Walsh’ 3-pointer with 1:41 play gave Dallas the lead for good as the Mountaineers scored the final seven points in a 51-46 victory over Crestwood in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball game.
Dallas (5-1 Div. 1, 10-3 overall) saw a nine-point lead with under five minutes to play turn into a 46-44 deficit with under two minutes left. Kendall Petrosky led the Crestwood comeback with three 3-pointers in just over a minute.
“I was getting a little nervous,” said Walsh, who was a Times Leader All-WVC selection as a freshman last season. “But when we get negative with each other, it doesn’t turn out very well. We kept staying positive with each other and hyping each other up and we came back.”
Unfortunately for Crestwood (4-2, 8-6), Petrosky was the only player able to find a shooting touch in the fourth quarter. She scored all 12 of the Comets’ points in the period.
Walsh’s 3-pointer at 1:41 gave Dallas a 47-46 lead. Caitlyn Mizzer then made a steal and Walsh followed with a defensive rebound to disrupt Crestwood’s offense down the stretch. A Crestwood technical foul resulted in two free throws by Elizabeth Viglone, making it a two-possession game with 14.6 seconds left.
“(Walsh) stepped up,” Dallas coach Vince Bucciarelli said, “but I thought they all did a good job. Mia DelGaudio did a good job in the first half making those threes. I though Lyla (Wydra) did a good job in the other end when she came in for us. She had one good stop for us. It all works out.”
DelGaudio’s 3-point shooting allowed Dallas to pull to a 13-13 tie after one quarter. The Mountaineers finished off the second quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 27-19 halftime advantage.
Crestwood, though, opened the third quarter with a 15-2 run. Jackie Gallagher finished it by turning a steal into a layup and a 34-29 lead at 2:35.
Dallas then scored 12 consecutive points, starting late in the third and ending with 4:52 left in the fourth on Walsh’s three-point play for a 42-34 lead.
“It was truly a game of runs,” Crestwood coach Mary Mushock-Namey said. “Unfortunately, they made the last run and that’s what cost us the game.”
Dallas stayed a game behind first-place Hazleton Area in the Division 1 standings. Crestwood fell two games off the pace.
Dallas 51, Crestwood 46
CRESTWOOD (46) — Charlie Hiller 3 2-2 8, Kendall Petrosky 5 1-1 14, Jackie Gallagher 6 0-0 14, Keria Dougherty 2 0-0 4, Cameron Vieney 1 0-0 2, Jordan Andrews 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 3-3 46.
DALLAS (51) — Caitlyn Mizzer 4 0-0 9, Mia DelGaudio 5 0-0 14, Brianna Casey 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Viglone 3 6-7 13, Molly Walsh 5 3-7 15, Lyla Wydra 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 9-14 51.
Crestwood`13`6`15`12 — 46
Dallas`13`14`5`19 — 51
Three-point goals — CRE 5 (Petrosky 3, J.Gallagher 2). DAL 8 (Mizzer, DelGaudio 4, Viglone, Walsh 2).
