Dallas senior Lauren Charlton was selected to the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class 4A basketball all-state second team on Tuesday. The reason, she believed, was twofold.
First, it was the other four girls on the court who helped her to the honor.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so excited,” Charlton said. “Obviously, I was working all season for these kinds of things to happen. We had a great season. All of my teammates really supported me, and we all supported each other. I honestly wouldn’t have done it without all of them because we worked so well together.”
Secondly, Charlton was healthy for the first time in three seasons. Her sophomore year was cut short by a right shoulder injury. Her junior season ended early because of a left shoulder injury. Both required surgery.
“I was a little nervous to get back on the court at the beginning of the season because of what happened the past two seasons,” Charlton said. “My teammates were so supportive and helped me through it. Once I started playing, all of those worries went away and I forgot about it.
“It was just so nice to be able to go through a period of time doing what I love and not worrying about getting injured.”
Charlton is the only Wyoming Valley Conference player chosen all-state thus far.
The Class 3A all-state team was also announced Tuesday. The Class 6A and 5A teams were announced Monday. The Class 2A and A teams will be released on Wednesday. The WVC has two teams total in 2A and A — Northwest and MMI Prep — and it’s unlikely either squad will have a selection.
Charlton, a 6-foot University of Pennsylvania recruit, averaged 17 points per game and helped Dallas win the WVC Division 1 title. The Mountaineers advanced to the District 2 Class 4A title game and made the program’s first PIAA tournament appearance in 18 years. She was named the Times Leader Player of the Year.
Charlton scored her 1,000th career point on a free throw late in her final game of her career, a 61-53 loss to Lansdale Catholic in the second round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament. She finished with exactly 1,000 points for her career.
While the loss ended Dallas’ season, Charlton felt it was for the better in the long run. The Dallas boys team had its state title run suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic before playing in the Class 5A quarterfinals and eventually canceled.
“It was kind of nice that we ended before all of this stuff happened,” Charlton said. “It’s nice not to have the what-if feeling if we had won and kept going. It’s easier to deal with now that we lost because we know what other teams are going through. It was hard to handle it at first, but we dealt with it.
“I definitely feel for our boys team that they could have gone on but didn’t have the chance to play. Especially the seniors.”
With school closed for the remainder of the academic year, Charlton is staying busy with online class work and training for the rigors of playing college basketball.
The Lackawanna League had five players named all-state on Tuesday.
In Class 4A, Scranton Prep junior Rachael Rose was selected to the second team while Prep junior Cecilia Collins was chosen to the third team.
Dunmore had three players selected in Class 3A. Sophomores Kylie Lavelle and Moriah Murray were picked to the first team. Freshman Ciera Toomey was a third-team selection.
Scranton senior Collette Muldering was chosen to the Class 6A third team on Monday.
