ELLA CLEMENTONI
North Pocono basketball
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ELLA CLEMENTONI
North Pocono basketball
CARBONDALE — Joe Ferguson looked at the scoring averages between his North Pocono team and Scranton Prep. Because they were so evenly matched, he knew the team that played better defense was going to win Saturday afternoon’s Lackawanna League Division I girls basketball championship playoff.
The Lady Trojans responded in a big way. They stymied the Classics, holding them to 10 points over the final 23-plus minutes to earn a 38-21 victory on the Moskosky-Egnotovich Court at Carbondale Area’s Peter Turonis Memorial Gymnasium.
Anna Clementoni had 18 points and nine rebounds, while sister Ella Clementoni had an all-around performance with nine points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals for North Pocono (19-4), which won its first Division I title since 2005. The Lady Trojans were Division II champs in 2024.
Chloe Mamera led Scranton Prep (17-6) with 12 points. The Classics had their 11-game winning streak stopped as well as their eight-year streak as Division I champ.
“This means a lot to us. It was our biggest goal going into the season,” Ella Clementoni said. “We were really excited coming into this game, we weren’t nervous. We just played our game.”
Going into the game, North Pocono averaged 48.8 points on offense while allowing 34.7 points on defense. Scranton Prep averaged 51.5 points while giving up 35.5.
“You look at the numbers for this game, I never saw two teams that close offensive and defensive averages over the course of 22 games,” Ferguson said. “We knew we were going to have to play better defense than they played.
“Credit to Prep, they held us to 38. It was a defensive struggle and both teams played hard.”
Seven seconds into the second quarter, Shannon Bestrycki hit a 3-pointer to give Scranton Prep an 11-7 lead. However, the Classics didn’t score again for the rest of the first half, going 0 for 8 from the field and 0 for 2 from the foul line with two turnovers.
They scored eight points in the third quarter — all by Mamera. Kamyl Lynady had their lone basket in the fourth quarter with 3:30 remaining.
North Pocono played a matchup zone defense and packed the paint, trying to limit Mamera’s touches inside and force Scranton Prep to beat it from the outside. The Classics shot 9 for 32, including 1 for 15 from 3-point range, and committed 12 turnovers.
“Chloe still had her points, but we played really good defense on her,” Anna Clementoni said. “We really worked on in practice crowding the post.”
Added Ferguson: “We did a great job, I thought, bottling up a great player.”
Also, the Lady Trojans did a good job of limiting the Classics to one shot as they held a 27-11 rebounding edge.
“We’re not going to win with 21. It’s that simple,” Scranton Prep coach Bob Beviglia said. “Coach Ferguson does a great job. The matchup is tough to play against. We did pretty well against it at our place (Jan. 30). But today, the ball didn’t go in the basket. And they did a good job keeping us away from the basket. When you don’t have a second opportunity, it puts a premium on the first one. I thought we had some good looks, in the first half especially, but the ball didn’t go in.”
With the defense keeping Scranton Prep off the scoreboard, North Pocono’s offense went to work. Julia Biko broke the press and scored off a layup. Ella Clementoni hit a pull-up jumper to tie the game, then hit a 3-pointer to put the Lady Trojans ahead for good, 14-11. After Anna Clementoni scored off a rebound, Ella Clementoni made a steal in the final seconds, raced down court, hit a layup, was fouled and completed the three-point play with 0.2 seconds left to make it 19-11 at halftime.
“We got the and-one going into halftime and coach Ferg really fired us up in the locker room going into the second half,” Ella Clementoni said. “We just really focused on good on-ball defense and not letting Chloe get the ball. She’s their best player. We wanted other players to shoot the ball so we could get rebounds and get in transition.”
In the third quarter, Scranton Prep did make a bit of a comeback bid. Six straight points by Mamera cut the deficit to 26-19 with 2:02 left. But after Anna Clementoni hit one of two free throws, Alexis Silva scored off a feed from Ella Clementoni to give North Pocono a 29-19 advantage after three.
Ella Clementoni then fed Anna Clementoni for consecutive baskets to open the fourth. The Lady Trojans had assists on 12 of their 16 field goals. Besides Ella Clementoni’s six, Biko had three and Aleah Quinn two.
“We were hoping we could get a couple of stops,” Beviglia said. “I thought Ella did a good job of finding open people under the basket for them.”
Given how long Scranton Prep reigned in Division I made winning the title extra special for North Pocono.
“We know Prep was a really hard team and have been champs the past eight years,” Anna Clementoni said. “So especially to win it with my sister, it’s a great feeling.”
Scranton Prep played without Eva Kaszuba, who also is a member of the school’s swim team and was competing at the Les Richards Meet.
Both teams now look ahead to next week’s District 2 playoffs. North Pocono is the No. 3 seed in Class 5A and Scranton Prep is the top seed in Class 4A.
Old Forge 48, Blue Ridge 38: At Old Forge, Ava Arnold scored 18 points to help the Lady Devils rally for a nonleague win over Blue Ridge.
Arnold hit three 3-pointers and had 11 of her points in the third quarter when Old Forge (7-15) outscored Blue Ridge, 17-6, to overcome a three-point halftime deficit.
Aryanna Harris added 10 points for the winners.
Abi Gelinger led the Lady Raiders (10-12) with 18 points and Lyndee Barbour followed with 12.