S. ABINGTON TWP. — Valley View started the second half on a 6-o run to lead by 11 points and the Lady Cougars held off a furious comeback attempt from Abington Heights to post a 57-51 win over the Lady Comets in a Lackawanna League Division 1 girls basketball game Monday night.
Sophomore forward Skylar Bianchi scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Valley View (13-6, 6-4 Div. 1).
“Skylar’s a fabulous player and she works hard,” Valley View head coach Rob Martin said. “She uses her body so well and gets great position. We couldn’t be happier with how she’s finishing and our guards are doing a great job of getting her the basketball.”
Valley View junior guard Jadyn Swartout scored five of her eight points in the first quarter when the Lady Cougars took a 9-8 lead.
Lady Cougars senior guard Arianna Nardelli scored all five of her points in the second quarter as Valley View stretched its lead to five at the half.
“You never know where our points are coming from,” Martin said. “Skylar is our most consistent scorer, but we have five other players who chip in six to eight points a game and that’s very important. We don’t care about who is scoring the points, these kids just want to win.”
Clair Marion scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in the first half for Abington Heights (16-4, 9-2 Div. 1).
“I thought Clair did a great job of keeping us in the game in the first half,” Abington Heights head coach Deanna Klingman said. “She took the ball hard to the basket and give us a shot.”
Bianchi scored eight points, on 4 of 4 shooting, in the third quarter.
“She’s tough to handle,” Klingman said. “We expected her to be big in the post.”
Abington Heights cut Valley View’s lead to four points three times in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Cougars made just enough free throws — 10 of 19 — in the fourth to hold on for the win.
Anna Scoblick scored all six of her points for Abington Heights in the final quarter. The freshman also grabbed 14 rebounds and assisted on a 3-pointer by junior guard Maria Tully, after wrestling a loose ball away from a Valley View defender, to bring Abington Heights to within 50-45 with 1:26 left in the contest.
Tully scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth while junior guard Faith Kendricks scored six of her nine points in the quarter for Valley View.
“I thought we woke up a little bit in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough,” Klingman said. “We needed a little bit more time on the clock.”
The Lady Comets made just 2 of 20 3-point shot attempts in the game.
“You have games like that,” Klingman said. “I thought our shooters got good looks, but we struggled from the perimeter.”
