Scranton Prep’s Kamyl Lynady and Chloe Mamera defend Valley View’s Ashlan Palickar during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Ava Gazoo collides with Scranton Prep’s Chloe Mamera during the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Sadie Cardoni defends Scranton Prep’s Kamyl Lynady during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Ava Fenton (4), McKenna Toolan (23), and Maeve Haggerty (20) receives their team’s plaque after winning the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball championship game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Eva Kaszuba moves the ball during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Mady Minelli defends Scranton Prep’s Shannon Bestrycki during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Chloe Mamera takes a free throw shot during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Bob Beviglia talks to his players during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Mady Minelli passes the ball to teammate Ava Gazoo during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scranton Prep’s Kamyl Lynady and Chloe Mamera defend Valley View’s Ashlan Palickar during the Class 4A D2 girls championship basketball game at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Valley View battled throughout and made several comeback bids during the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball final.
But every time the Cougars got close, Scranton Prep had an answer.
Chloe Mamera scored 21 points to lead the top-seeded Classics to a 52-47 victory over No. 2 Valley View on Thursday night at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
Mamera also had four rebounds and five assists, while Kamyl Lynady added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Classics (20-6), who captured their fourth straight Class 4A title and eighth in the last nine years. It also is the third straight year they defeated Valley View in the final.
The contributions of Lynady and McKenna Toolan, who came off the bench and hit two 3-pointers, were a big difference, according to Valley View coach Robbie Martin.
“We gambled on a couple things defensively. Kids we were going to play, kids we were going to let shoot,” Martin said. “Credit to 15 (Lynady). She did a great job and knocked down some big shots for them. That’s scoring for them you don’t really account for.”
Scranton Prep coach Bob Beviglia said Lynady was the story of the game.
“She rebounded the ball, defensively she’s long and got her hands on the ball and made shots — a couple times going to the basket, which is not really her forte,” Beviglia said. “All her points were big, without a doubt.”
Lynady missed her first two shots, but hit four of her next five and finished 5 for 11 from the floor.
“Coach told us to shoot the ball with confidence,” Lynady, a junior, said. “A couple of mine didn’t go in, but I didn’t let that discourage me and kept shooting. Eventually they started to go in and that built my confidence a lot.
“I also tried to look for my teammates who were open. Our team is very unselfish, they know when to cut, when to look for the ball. I saw Chloe open a few times, I think I might have got Eva open a few times. It was really a team effort.”
Cora Castellani led the Cougars (19-6) with 19 points and five steals. Ava Gazoo followed with 11 points and seven rebounds.
“We were able to play with the lead all night long and you’re certainly much more comfortable when that is the case,” Beviglia said. “I thought defensively we made it hard for them even though they made plays. I thought they were really good tonight. When we needed answers, we had them.”
A foul shot by Mady Minelli with 5:27 left in the second quarter had Valley View within 18-17. But the Cougars managed just a Castellani 3-pointer for the rest of the first half, enabling Scranton Prep to close with a 7-3 spurt that gave it a 25-20 halftime lead. Lynady capped it with a shot along the baseline with 1.0 seconds left off a feed from Eva Kaszuba.
In the third quarter, a 3-pointer by Mamera gave the Classics a 30-22 advantage with 6:37 left. But the Cougars answered with six straight points on a foul shot by Ashlan Palickar, a steal-and-layup by Castellani and a 3-pointer by Castellani to make it 30-28.
Valley View then had two opportunities to tie or take the lead, but had a missed shot and a turnover. Scranton Prep responded with eight straight points. Toolan hit a 3-pointer and Mamera sandwiched two baskets off glass around an Ava Fenton free throw to give the Classics a 38-28 lead with 1:37 left in the third.
“Second half we didn’t do a good job of taking away the middle of the floor. That was one of our big goals today,” Martin said. “They had some easy buckets in the paint and we tried to beat them from the outside. They took it at us from inside which was the big difference.
“We had some unfortunate turnovers in some real critical times, but that’s a credit to their defense and the way the hustle. The big thing for us was we didn’t get enough looks at the basket. We tried to settle too much for shooting outside and I think that kind of hurt us. We needed to try to get to the basket a lot more.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Gazoo fed Sadie Cardoni for a basket, then Cardoni returned the favor to Gazoo to pull Valley View within 42-38. But Kaszuba had a basket and two free throws to push Scranton Prep’s lead back to eight with 2:44 remaining.
Ali Mauro hit a 3-pointer for the Cougars, but Mamera had a basket and two foul shots to give Scranton Prep a seemingly comfortable 50-41 lead with 36.5 seconds left.
However, Valley View made one last-ditch effort. Castellani hit a 3-pointer, then stole the inbounds pass which led to a 3-pointer by Gazoo that made it 50-47 with 17.4 seconds left. But following a timeout, Mamera was fouled and hit two free throws to seal it.
“The fact these kids started the season, not a single start among them, now they’re standing here wearing gold medals is a testament to them as a group,” Beviglia said.
Both teams advance to the PIAA Class 4A playoffs, which begin March 7. Valley View faces the District 11 runner-up, while Scranton Prep gets the No. 4 seed from District 3.
“We’re super-excited for states,” Mamera said. “Obviously we’re going to try to go on a run. It will be fun. We’re going to keep working hard to show what we can do out there.”
Valley View 12 8 12 15 — 47
Scranton Prep 15 10 15 12 — 52
Scranton Prep (52) — Fenton 1 1-3 3, Bestrycki 1 0-0 3, Lynady 5 0-0 10, Kaszuba 3 3-4 9, Mamera 8 4-4 21, Toolan 2 0-0 6. Totals: 20 8-11 52.
Valley View (47) — Cardoni 2 0-0 4, Castellani 6 4-6 19, Gazoo 5 0-0 11, Palickar 2 1-2 5, Minelli 2 1-2 5, Yurkovic 0 0-0 0, Mauro 1 0-0 3. Totals: 18 6-10 47
Three-point goals: Castellani 3, Toolan 2, Gazoo, Mauro, Mamera, Bestrycki.