Scranton’s Chrissy Jacklinski defends North Pocono’s Ella Clementoni during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s Julia Biko and Scranton’s Jaelyn Alers scramble for the ball during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Chrissy Jacklinski moves past North Pocono’s defense during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s Trinity Litts lines up with the hoop during the basketball game against Scranton at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Jaelyn Alers shoots during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Jaelyn Alers and North Pocono’s Ella Clementoni compete for the ball during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Bianca Perez controls the ball during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s Trinity Litts prepares to pass the ball to her teammate Anna Clementoni during the basketball game against Scranton at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Rhylee Bell controls the ball during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Chrissy Jacklinski moves the ball up the floor during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s Alexis Silva takes a free throw during the basketball game against Scranton at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s Anna Clementoni moves the ball during the basketball game against Scranton at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Bianca Perez defends North Pocono’s Celia DeCasare during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Jaelyn Alers signals to her teammates during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
North Pocono’s head coach Joe Ferguson talks to his players during the basketball game against Scranton at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s head coach PJ Hughes talks to his players during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scranton’s Chrissy Jacklinski defends North Pocono’s Ella Clementoni during the basketball game at North Pocono High School in Covington Twp. on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
COVINGTON TWP. — For three-plus quarters, with its defense stopping Scranton, North Pocono built a seemingly comfortable double-digit lead.
But shots that weren’t falling earlier for the Lady Knights started to drop and suddenly it became a one-point game.
It took two Julia Biko foul shots with 11 seconds remaining for the Lady Trojans to finally secure a 39-36 win Friday night in a Lackawanna League Division I girls basketball game at North Pocono High School.
Ella Clementoni scored 13 points to lead the way for North Pocono (7-1 league, 13-3 overall), which is ranked No. 1 in this week’s Times-Tribune Top 10 poll. Anna Clementoni added nine points, seven rebounds and three steals and Celia DeCesare grabbed 12 rebounds.
Jaelyn Alers had a game-high 18 points for No. 6 Scranton (4-4, 7-9). Chrissy Jacklinski followed with 13 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.
“Credit Scranton and their coaches. They just kept playing,” North Pocono coach Joe Ferguson said. “I told our kids that nothing in our league is going to be easy. It’s a grind and you have to just stick with it. Our kids are used to getting stops on the defensive end of the floor and we had to get a stop because Scranton was hot.”
Leading after three quarters, 33-19, a layup by Anna Clementoni and two free throws by Alexis Silva offset three Jacklinski foul shots and gave North Pocono a 37-22 lead with 6:12 left.
However, the Lady Trojans went scoreless for the next six minutes as Scranton’s pressure caused them to go 0 for 6 from the field and 0 for 4 from the foul line with three turnovers during that span. That enabled the Lady Knights to battle back.
“We panicked a little bit and I credit Scranton with their pressure defense,” Ferguson said. “We didn’t get shots that we wanted to get and we missed too many layups. If we make our layups, I think it’s a different story.”
Shooting 7 for 39 to that point, Scranton hit five consecutive shots. First, Jacklinski scored off a turnover. She and Alers then hit two 3-pointers apiece to highlight a 14-0 run that trimmed the North Pocono lead to 37-36 with 1:17 remaining.
“I’m proud of our girls. No one should hang their heads tonight,” Scranton coach P.J. Hughes said. “All you can ask is that you play as hard as you possibly can. The girls fought to the end. It would have been easy down 14, 15 points to give in, but they never did.”
When an offensive foul was called against North Pocono with 48.4 seconds left, the Lady Knights had a chance to take their first lead, but they turned the ball over on a traveling violation with 21.6 seconds to play.
Biko was fouled with 11 seconds left and calmly sank the two free throws to give North Pocono a 3-point lead. Scranton missed a desperation 3-point shot in the final seconds and the Lady Trojans escaped with the victory.
“Coach always makes us shoot foul shots for at least an hour at every practice,” Biko said. “I knew I had to make them and I knew that I would make them because of constant drilling. I knew I wasn’t going to miss.
“My nerves calmed down a little after the first one went in. I knew if I missed the second one, it would be all right because our defense is really good.”
Behind that defense, North Pocono scored the game’s first nine points as Scranton started 0 for 6 with three turnovers. A layup by Jacklinski finally put the Lady Knights on the scoreboard with 1:48 left. But Ella Clementoni had a steal-and-layup with 59.4 seconds left to send the Lady Trojans to the second quarter with an 11-2 lead.
“Our team really came out hot in the first quarter,” said Biko, who finished with five points, five rebounds and three steals. “It was nonstop talk. Talk, move. Had to make sure we got out on the corners because we knew Chrissy was going to be there, we knew that Rhylee (Bell) was going to be there. We had to get out on the shooters. We knew if we let them shoot, they were going to come back. And that’s what they did (in the fourth). We had a little miscommunication, got a little riled up, got nervous and messed up a little. But we got back with it and pulled it off.”
Trinity Litts and Alers traded baskets to open the second before consecutive scores by Litts, Anna Clementoni and Ella Clementoni increased North Pocono’s lead to 19-4 with 5:12 left in the quarter. Scranton turned to its pressure defense and held the Lady Trojans scoreless for the next 3:24 to pull within 19-12 on a steal, layup and three-point play by Rhylee Bell with 2:02 left. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Biko and Ella Clementoni ended the drought and helped the Lady Trojans take a 25-15 halftime lead.
“Credit them. They played really well in the first half and got out on us,” Hughes said. “They really weren’t letting us get our open looks. We had a few open ones that had to go in and we didn’t make them. Then they got into transition better than I’ve seen. They got a lot of easy baskets off those long rebounds. They put them in. They probably got 10 points in the first half on fast-break layups.”
Ella Clementoni and Aleah Quinn opened the third quarter with consecutive 3-pointers to give North Pocono its largest lead, 31-15, with 6:29 left.
This win enables North Pocono to take some momentum into next week when it has key road contests against Valley View and Scranton Prep.
“We need to put the work in because we have two tough matchups coming up,” Biko said. “We’ve got to do the same thing that we brought here into those games to come out and win, too.”