CLARKS SUMMIT – The Scranton Prep girls basketball team walked into the Abington Heights gym Jan. 15 unbeaten and barely tested this season.
The Classics remain unbeaten – they are the only District 2 team, boys or girls, to hold that distinction – but they clearly know they faced a challenge.
Cecelia Collins had a strong all-around game and three of her teammates equally split the scoring in a decisive, 12-point, late-game streak that lifted Scranton Prep over Abington Heights, 61-53, with sole possession of the Lackawanna League Division 1 lead on the line.
“They have a lot of great players and I give them props,” Collins said after scoring 18 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. “They played a tough, hard game.
“They’re a good team.”
The Lady Comets were in the lead for much of the night and went up by 10 in the second quarter.
While giving the Classics the closest of their 15 games to date, the Lady Comets scored a dozen more points than the next highest-scoring Scranton Prep opponent and two dozen more than the Classics have yielded on average.
“Our kids played very hard,” Abington Heights coach Deanna Klingman said. “I’m very proud of them of what they did today.”
Erin Albright went 4-for-5 while scoring eight points in the first 6:14. Her consecutive baskets moved Abington Heights into the lead late in the first quarter, starting a nine-point streak that also included a Rachel McDonald 3-pointer and Clair Marion pull-up jumper in transition.
That run extended to 14-2 when another McDonald 3-pointer and an Anna Scoblick basket began the second-quarter scoring and built the biggest Abington Heights lead to 23-13.
The Lady Comets remained ahead the entire second and third quarters until the Classics scored the first basket of the fourth for a 44-43 lead.
From there, the teams traded the lead and found themselves tied twice until Scranton Prep went ahead to stay with 1:45 left.
Maria Tully’s 3-pointer gave Abington Heights its last lead, 51-49, with 2:51 left.
Rachael Rose, Maria Belardi and Lizzie Neville each had a basket in the streak, then each hit both ends of a one-and-one in the final 46.5 seconds for a 61-51 lead.
Rose finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Belardi went 5-for-6 while also scoring 15 points. Neville had a season-high 11 points to go along with five steals.
Marion had a big second half for the Lady Comets. She had seven points in the third quarter, then hit a go-ahead 3-pointer in the fourth quarter while producing 12 of her 17 points in the second half.
McDonald, who was 4-for-5 on 3-pointers, and Albright had 12 points each.
Tully had six points while leading the team with five rebounds and four assists. Both Tully and Albright had two steals.
Anna Scoblick did much of the defensive work in holding two-time division Player of the Year Rose to 2-for-11 shooting in the first half.
“We had a couple of good looks at the basket late, down six,” Klingman said. “I think this will keep us hungry.”
Erin Albright sets up in the high post for Abington Heights while defended by Cecelia Collins from Scranton Prep (No. 4) as Maria Tully tries to get her the ball around the defense of Maggie Mills (No. 12).
