SCRANTON — Coach Bob Beviglia said Eva Kaszuba is the motor for the Scranton Prep girls basketball team.

On Saturday afternoon, the junior drove the Classics to the second round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament.

Kaszuba was all over the court in a 52-27 first-round victory over Lancaster Catholic at the Xavier Center’s Keller Court. She scored a game-high 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds (six offensive), handed out three assists and had five steals.

“She provides the energy, day-in and day-out at practice,” Beviglia said. “I thought what she did well today was she took care of the basketball. Even when she’s going 90 mph, which she does, I thought she was under control. I thought she took opportunities to get to the basket when they presented themselves. Every single kid on our team understands the level of athlete that she is and we feed off that. That energy is something we’re going to look for certainly going into next week to keep us moving along.”

Chloe Mamera added 15 points and 10 rebounds as District 2 champion Scranton Prep (21-5) advanced to Wednesday’s second round at a site and time to be determined against District 11 champion Allentown Central Catholic, which defeated Mifflinburg in its first-round game Saturday, 60-43.

Mia Bonafede led Lancaster Catholic (16-10), the No. 4 seed from District 3, with 11 points.

“I just wanted to win,” Kaszuba said. “This is the last time playing on our court this season and I wanted to go our for our senior Maeve (Haggerty) and let her leave with a win and a pretty big one. I was just fired up because I want to win and go as far as we can.”

With Kaszuba spearheading the defense, Scranton Prep stifled the Lady Crusaders. The Classics held them scoreless for a 10:11 stretch, including blanking them in the second quarter. Lancaster Catholic could not penetrate Scranton Prep’s zone and get the ball inside and committed 23 turnovers.

“We were stressing defense all week,” Mamera said. “We felt if we could keep them under 30 and get to 50, we could win and we did that.

“We were packing it in the lane and hustling out to shooters. They weren’t really getting any (good) shots. Stressing nothing in the lane, keeping it out of the inside and we did good.”

Charlotte Albertini scored with 1:06 left in the first quarter to pull Lancaster Catholic within 11-6. It did not score again until a 3-pointer by Bonafede with 6:55 to go in the third quarter. By that time, the Classics had opened a 27-9 lead.

Kamyl Lynady hit a shot from the baseline to end the first quarter and make it 13-6 after one. Mamera then opened the second quarter with back-to-back baskets. Shannon Bestrycki hit a 3-pointer, Kaszuba scored on a layup, Mamera put back a rebound and Ava Fenton hit a foul shot to give the Classics a 25-6 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Kaszuba scored nine of her points to help Scranton Prep extend its advantage to 40-17.

“I thought our key was we had to shut down 32 (Mamera) and I thought we did a pretty good job on her,” Lancaster Catholic coach Charlie Detz said. “But it was at the expense of giving 31 (Kaszuba) more opportunities. She was all over the place on defense. She was on the boards, she was out running in transition. I watched a lot of film and we knew she could do that, so it didn’t come as a surprise. But I don’t think we played her as efficiently as I would have hoped or expected us to. She was the catalyst for them.”

Valley View 49, Blue Mountain 28: At Blue Mountain, Cora Castellani scored 23 points, had 10 rebounds, six steals and two blocks to power the Cougars to victory in the PIAA Class 4A girls first round Saturday.

Castellani scored 13 of her points in the third quarter, including hitting three 3-pointers,  as the Cougars turned a game tied at 16 at halftime into a 31-20 lead headed to the fourth quarter.

Castellani then hit two more 3s in the fourth as the Cougars put the game away.

Sadie Cardoni scored all of her eight points in the fourth quarter for the Cougars. She added five rebounds

Ava Gazoo contributed nine points, five rebounds and five steals, while Mady Minelli had five steals and Ashlan Palickar had five rebounds and five steals.

Valley View advances to the second round where it will play the winner of Saturday’s first-round game between Neumann Goretti and Susquenita, on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Class 5A

North Pocono 42, Gwynedd Mercy 35: Ella Clementoni scored a game-high 16 points, and Anna Clementoni added 10 points as the Lady Trojans defeated the No. 3 seed from District 1 in a Class 5A girls first-round game Saturday at Wissahickon High School.

North Pocono (22-5), the No. 2 seed from District 2, advances to the second round where they will play the winner of Saturday’s first-round game between Archbishop Wood and Sun Valley on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.