Lake-Lehman’s Delcia Biscotto (3) drives the baseline against Dallas’ Mia DelGaudio during Wednesday’s WVC semifinal at Pittston Area. Biscotto hit the decisive 3-pointer in the final seconds to lift the Black Knights.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Olivia Oliver (33) knocks down a 3-pointer against rival Dallas on Wednesday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Dallas’ Elizabeth Viglone (22) takes a 15-foot shot in the first half against Lake-Lehman in a battle of the Back Mountain at Pittston Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Dallas’ Molly Walsh (24) scores on a fast-break layup against the Black Knights’ Brenna Hunt (12). Walsh accounted for nine of the team’s 21 first-half points and finished with 18.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Ella Wilson (14) battles her way into the lane, scoring two-points with Dallas’ Elizabeth Viglone (22) and Carolyn Comitz (23) defending.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
YATESVILLE — Lake-Lehman’s plan in the final seconds Wednesday night was to get the ball to Ella Wilson for a possible winning shot.
The reason was logical. Wilson, the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 scoring champion, went on a personal 12-point tear in the second half. Dallas knew that as well and thwarted the opportunity with a double team.
Lehman’s alternate choice worked just as well.
Delcia Biscotto hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left as Lehman edged Dallas 48-46 in a WVC girls basketball tournament semifinal game at Pittston Area High School.
The victory set up a pair of divisional runner-ups in the championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hazleton Area — Division 1 second-place Hazleton Area (20-4) and Division 2 second-place Lehman (15-8).
“That last shot actually wasn’t drawn up that way,” said Lehman coach Charlie Levan, whose team will be going for its fourth consecutive WVC tournament crown. “We wanted to post Wilson up, but she was doubled. That was OK because she can beat that sometimes and could also dump to Molly (Jenkins).
“But Biscotto let it go and it was a heck of a shot.”
Biscotto nailed the 3-pointer from just left of the free-throw circle. It was her second 3-pointer of the game.
“I’m a 3-point shooter,” Biscotto said, “but I was surprised that it went in. I just shot it. That was all that was on my mind. I knew time was going down, so I knew I had to shoot it.”
Dallas called timeout and had nine seconds which with to work. The Lehman defense prevented the Mountaineers from getting off a quality shot as time expired after the miss.
Wilson finished with a game-highs of 20 points and 15 rebounds. She had just six points at the half, but scored all the points in a 12-0 Lehman run that started in the third quarter and extended into the fourth. Her 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth gave Lehman a 40-31 lead.
“I realized I had to take on the role as a scorer,” said Wilson, who averaged 20.9 points in the regular season. “Especially because I’m an upper classmen and we lost a lot from last year scoring-wise.”
The lead disappeared quickly. Dallas’ Molly Walsh, the WVC Division 1 scoring champ, converted two steals into layups. Elizabeth Viglone then sank a 3-pointer off a steal by Caitlyn Mizzer. The Mountaineers caught Lehman 45-45 on a pair of free throws by Walsh with 2:45 remaining. She added another free throw with 42.6 seconds left for a 46-45 lead.
Walsh finished with 18 points and Viglone had 11 for Dallas (18-6), which will be either the second or third seed in next week’s District 2 Class 5A playoffs.
WVC Semifinals
Lake-Lehman 48, Dallas 46
LAKE-LEHMAN (48) — Delcia Biscotto 3 0-0 8, Brenna Hunt 3 0-0 6, Ella Wilson 8 3-5 20, Molly Jenkins 4 0-2 8, Olivia Oliver 2 0-0 6, Kathryn Morgan 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 3-7 48.
DALLAS (46) — Caitlyn Mizzer 3 0-0 7, Mia DelGaudio 2 0-0 5, Lyla Wydra 1 0-0 2, Elizabeth Viglone 4 1-1 11, Molly Walsh 7 4-5 18, Brianna Casey 1 0-0 3, Carolyn Comitz 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-6 46.
Lake-Lehman`9`10`16`13 — 48
Dallas`7`14`10`15 — 46
Three-point goals — LL 5 (Biscotto 2, Wilson, Oliver 2). DAL 5 (Mizzer, DelGaudio, Viglone 2, Casey).
