NANTICOKE — Nanticoke Area’s defense was fine in the first quarter Thursday night. So was the rebounding.
The Trojanettes’ problem was poor shooting compounded by turnovers. Neither improved in the second quarter as first-place Lake-Lehman rolled to a 51-26 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 girls basketball game.
Lehman (12-0 Div. 2, 15-5) clinched a tie mathematically for the divisional championship. Realistically, the win virtually assured the title since the Black Knights would have to lose their final two divisional games. One of them is against MMI Prep, which they defeated 53-8 a few weeks earlier.
Nanticoke Area (9-3, 11-9) can still tie Holy Redeemer (10-2, 16-4) for second place, a position which would mean a spot in the WVC Tournament on Feb. 12. But even if the teams finish with the same divisional records, Redeemer is nearly certain of winning the tiebreaker — District 2 power rankings.
The Trojanettes missed all 10 of their first-quarter shots and had seven turnovers, yet trailed just 8-1. They then missed five more attempt in the second before Natalee Atkins hit a 3-pointer.
Lehman, though, hadn’t caused much damage to that juncture. That changed with an 8-0 burst as freshman Kinley Purdy, who finished with a career-high 24 points, triggered the Black Knights’ transition offense.
“Just too many halfcourt turnovers in the first half and that was able to get their transition game going,” Nanticoke Area coach Ed Grant said. “I thought that was what burned us most of the game. They’ve consistently done that on film when they get it out and go.”
Nanticoke Area shot slightly better in the second quarter, but finished 3-of-24 shooting in the first half and in a 25-9 hole at halftime. The Trojanettes entered the game with three of the top-seven 3-point shooters in the division. They exited 3-of-29 from behind the arc.
“The defense set the tone all game,” Lehman coach Charlie Lavan said. “Once they couldn’t get a good look at their 3-point shots, then we defended (center Caitlyn) Majiros pretty good inside. Then (our) shots started to drop and we got out in transition, which was huge.”
Lehman scoring leader Ella Wilson finished with just five points, nearly 13 under her season average. But she grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to offset early rebounding by Nanticoke Area’s Nevaeh Baran and Haley Verazin and forced several turnovers.
Nanticoke Area opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run, but an 8-0 burst where four Black Knights scored stopped the minor comeback bid.
Lake-Lehman 51, Nanticoke Area 26
LAKE-LEHMAN (51) — Delcia Biscotto 0 0-0 0, Ella Wilson 2 1-2 5, Kathryn Morgan 3 2-4 8, Kinley Purdy 11 0-0 24, Olivia Oliver 5 0-1 11, Olivia Corcoran 0 0-0 0, Morgan Breslford 0 0-0 0, Amanda Battin 1 0-0 3. Totals 22 3-6 51.
NANTICOKE AREA (26) — Natalee Atkins 1 0-0 3, Amiah Ceruti 0 0-0 0, Caitlyn Majiros 3 3-4 9. Kate Reed 2 0-0 5, Marli Donahue 1 0-0 3, Nevaeh Baran 1 2-2 4, Haley Verazin 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 5-6 26.
Lake-Lehman`8`17`15`11 — 51
Nanticoke Area`1`8`10`7 — 26
Three-point goals: LL 4 (Purdy 2, Oliver, Battin). NA 3 (Atkins, Reed, Donahue).
