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WILKES-BARRE — Even though it seemed Valley West was in complete control heading to the fourth quarter, the Spartans knew there was still work to be done.
With eight minutes left standing between the program’s first district championship since 1978, Williamsport made sure the celebration did not get off to an early start.
The Millionaires managed to cut what was a 16-point deficit down to nine, but as had been the case for the first three quarters, when Valley West needed to make a play, someone stepped up and made one.
Thalia Irizarry scored a game-high 16 points, and Mackenzie Perluke had 13 as the Spartans defeated Williamsport, 48-32, Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena to win the District 2-4 Class 6A subregional title. The Spartans, now 16-8, will advance to the state tournament and will face the No. 9 seed from District 1 either Unionville or Abington. Williamsport ends its season 10-15.
“Offensively we struggled, I thought we missed some early shots in the paint,” said Williamsport coach Justin Marnon. “Our confidence was shaken a bit. We came in a confident team. We were playing really well.”
Gabby Marsola made two 3-pointers in the first quarter, and Haylie Oliphant and Mackenzie Perluke each made one in the second quarter, showing the Spartans were not intimidated by the atmosphere of the venue and weren’t afraid to take the open looks when they presented themselves.
“Coach told us before the game to try and shoot from the outside to try and get used to the atmosphere,” Oliphant said. “We just took that and went with it in warmups.”
Valley West led by seven at the end of the first half, and after Kiersten Rinehimer scored the final four points of the third quarter to cap an 8-0 run, the Spartans held a 36-20 lead. Valley West carried the momentum over to the fourth quarter adding a pair of Claudia Siegfried free throws to extend the lead to 18.
“We thought we could crash the board offensively and use that to our advantage,” Marnon said. “Give Valley West a ton of credit. They were all over the glass. Those things are a huge shift in momentum.”
While Valley West was looking to take time off the clock in the fourth quarter, Williamsport was looking to speed the game up. Payton Baney scored down low, and Nadirah Tutler scored six unanswered points. Baney scored on a drive to the hoop, and just like that, Williamsport closed the gap to 39-30 with 2:20 left in the game.
“In the fourth quarter I wanted to spread the floor,” Valley West coach Gary Ferenchick said. “I wanted to attack off the dribble and take some time off the clock. I didn’t want to rush things. At times, especially in the fourth quarter, they were beating us up on the boards.”
Along with taking time off the clock on the offensive end, the Spartans turned up the defensive intensity a notch and made the Millionaires work for every shot with the intent of taking even more time off the clock. Baney’s basket that cut it to nine proved to be Williamsport’s last made shot from the field.
From that point on, Valley West went 7 for 9 from the foul line to pull away. Valley West allowed just one point in the final 2:20 of the game.
“This was our goal for the season,” Perluke said. “Coming in here and playing our game how we always do is an amazing feeling. We were confident coming in and we were ready to play. We knew we definitely had to play our game.”