PLYMOUTH — Whenever Wyoming Valley West needed a basket, it seemed to get one. Sometimes two. Occasionally three.
The situation kept adding up Tuesday night for a 48-26 Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls basketball victory over a Dallas team which entered with a deceiving record.
Mackenzie Perluke was the Spartan who seemed to be in the right place at the right time most often. The junior guard scored a game-high 20 points as Valley West improved to 2-0 in the division and 7-2 overall.
“Mackenzie was very good today on the offensive end,” Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said. “Every time we needed a bucket, she was there. She is one we can depend on this year. Everyone around her, she helps.”
Dallas fell to 0-2 in Division 1 and 3-5 overall. The Mountaineers’ previous four losses were two by one point and a pair by two points. However, they struggled from the field Tuesday night and in particular in the paint where they missed several shots. They were 5-of-21 from the field in the first half.
“We have four losses by a total of six points,” Dallas coach Vince Bucciarelli said. “So we’re capable of playing better than we did tonight. We didn’t play up to our capability. I thought we did a good job defensively in the first half. The second half just got away from us.”
Valley West led wire-to-wire, starting with a basket by center Kalia Saunders, who finished with a team-high seven rebounds. Dallas stayed within striking distance until a 3-pointer by Haylie Oliphant followed by a pair of baskets by Perluke bumped the lead to 21-10 at 2:30 of the second quarter.
Dallas cut the deficit to single digits twice in the third quarter, but a pair of 3-point baskets by Oliphant sandwiched around an inside basket by Thalia Irizarry put Valley West back in control.
“He has more than one shooter out there,” Bucciarelli said. “That’s what was killing us.”
The Spartans then held Dallas scoreless for over three minutes to start the fourth quarter.
“We played outstanding defense,” Ferenchick said. “Now granted, they got a lot of looks and missed a lot of shots, but I thought the girls played outstanding defense. It’s something we’ve been working on the past few weeks and something we’re going to continue to work on.”
Valley West also received strong rebounding from Anya Richet, who had six boards, and Perluke, who added five.
Molly Walsh had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas.
Wyoming Valley West 48, Dallas 26
DALLAS (26) — DelGaudio 1 2-2 4, Strobel 0 0-0 0, Viglone 0 0-0 0, Walsh 5 4-8 14, Spaciano 3 0-0 6, Wydra 0 0-0 0, Riley 0 0-0 0, Finn 0 0-0 0, Bryant 0 0-0 0, Pevear 0 0-0 0, Ricardo 1 0-0 2, Comitz 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 6-10 26.
WVW (48) — Marsola 0 0-0 0, Perluke 7 2-2 20, Oliphant 3 0-2 9, Saunders 2 0-0 4, Irizarry 4 0-1 8, Siegfried 1 0-0 2, Richet 2 1-2 5, Novitski 0 0-0 0, Chamberlain 0 0-0 0, Sierra 0 0-0 0, Rinehimer 0 0-0 0. McLaughlin 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 3-7 48.
Dallas`6`8`10`2 — 26
Valley West`9`14`14`11 — 48
Three-point goals — WVW 7 (Perluke 4, Oliphant 3).
