ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – NEPA Elite finished in the top five in two age groups in the Hoop Group Showcase League with the help of input from Abington Heights and Scranton Prep players.
Lily Scoblick from Abington Heights was a key player, particularly on defense, for the NEPA Elite 15U Scoblick team. That squad, coached by her father, Dave Scoblick, made it to the championship game of the HGSL before settling for a second-place finish July 24 at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Maggie Coleman from Abington Heights joined the Scranton Prep combination of Maya Jenkins, Jenna Hillebrand and Claire McGrath on the 16U Rini team that placed fifth in its age group.
NEPA Elite was second in the regular season in 15U and third in 16U out of dozens of teams in the regular-season standings to make the 16-team fields that pursued championships in the final event of the season.
Lily Scoblick grabbed a team-high five rebounds in a 59-22 loss to the New Jersey Shoreshots in the HGSL Championship Game.
NEPA Elite reached the final with two bracket victories the next-to-last day of the season, 51-45 over the New England Storm in the quarterfinals and 44-41 over the Syracuse Nets in the semifinals.
“As a group, we did some different things on defense,” coach Scoblick said. “ … The girls handled it very well.”
Lily Scoblick had seven rebounds and three steals in the quarterfinal. She also scored a three-point play, converting a basket while being knocked to the floor, to put NEPA Elite ahead for good in a second-half comeback.
Scoblick had six rebounds and three steals to help secure the semifinal victory.
Scoblick hit two late clinching free throws and led the team with three steals in a 36-31 victory over Heat Hoops in a showcase game to open the final weekend in Atlantic City.
Maeve Haggerty from Scranton Prep was also part of the team, which went 26-10, including a 6-0 record and pool championship in the next-to-last event of the season, a July trip to Sportika in Manalapan, N.J. for Jersey Shore Live.
The 16U Rini team went 23-12, winning its pool at Sportika, then winning three of four bracket games in Atlantic City. After losing to the eventual runner-up, NEPA Elite won the four-team bracket for teams that lost in the quarterfinals.
Jenkins scored at least eight points in each of the six Atlantic City games. She made nine 3-pointers total during the event. Her best game was the first of the losers’ bracket when she went 2-for-4 on 3-pointers and 6-for-6 from the line to finish with 12 points, six steals and five defensive rebounds in a 50-44 victory over the New Jersey Soldiers.
Hillebrand had a game-high 20 points in the season finale, going 8-for-10 from the floor, including making her only 3-point shot, and 3-for-3 from the line in a 66-54 victory over DMV Lady Tigers. She also had six rebounds and three steals in the game.
Coleman had 12 points in that game, hitting both her 3-point tries. Jenkins added nine points and two steals while McGrath led the team with four assists and shared team leads of six rebounds and three steals.
In the win over the New Jersey Soldiers, McGrath had seven points and seven rebounds; Hillebrand scored seven points; and Coleman led the team in assists and steals with three each.
McGrath, who had six rebounds and three assists, and Hillebrand scored 11 points each in a 44-40 victory over Mass Lady Rivals in the first game of the championship bracket.
Mackenzie Schirg from Lackawanna Trail was part of the 17U team that struggled much of the season, but won two of its final three games while losing the other by one point.
Schirg had nine points in the finale, a 52-45 victory over New England Panthers Varsity.
The previous day, Schirg had six points and six rebounds in a 37-35 victory over Unique Hoops HGSL, then six points and seven rebounds in a 43-42 loss to the New York City Lady Bulldogs.
Emma Coleman and Abby Schneider from Abington Heights were part of the 14U Alers team and also filled in at times on the 14U Clark team that won a national title with a 7-0 run through the 14U Diamond Division and Platinum Bracket at the Nike Tournament of Champions in July in Chicago.
Jaelyn Alers from Scranton Prep also split duties on the two teams, including coming off the bench in Chicago where she appeared in all seven games and went 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) on 3-pointers while contributing at least six points in all but one game.
Emma Coleman had 10 points and 11 rebounds while the Alers team was splitting two close games on the next-to-last day of the season.
