{"id":94567,"date":"2026-01-23T12:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/94567\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:41:09","slug":"freshmen-add-to-riverside-old-forge-rivalry-scranton-times-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/94567\/","title":{"rendered":"Freshmen add to Riverside-Old Forge rivalry \u2013 Scranton Times-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Riverside\u2019s<\/p>\n

Riverside\u2019s Faith Pavalonis attempts to evade Old Forge\u2019s defense during the basketball game at Old Forge High School on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Riverside\u2019s<\/p>\n

Riverside\u2019s Faith Pavalonis lines up with the hoop during the basketball game at Old Forge High School on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

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1 of 2<\/p>\n

Riverside\u2019s Faith Pavalonis attempts to evade Old Forge\u2019s defense during the basketball game at Old Forge High School on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Riverside and Old Forge already have an intense rivalry in all sports. But things should be interesting in girls basketball for the next three years.<\/p>\n

That is because each team has a talented freshman helping to lead them this season. Faith Pavalonis is at Riverside and Lana Clements is at Old Forge.<\/p>\n

As the second half of the Lackawanna League campaign gets under way Friday, Pavalonis leads Division II in scoring with 15.1 points, which ranks 10th overall in the league. She also ranks among the top foul shooters at 75.9 percent (66 for 87).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good,\u201d Pavalonis said about her season thus far. \u201cBut a lot of the shots wouldn\u2019t be able to get down without my team. My three-ball hasn\u2019t been hitting a lot this season, but I\u2019ve been living at the free throw line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clements, meanwhile, is fourth in Division II in scoring and 19th in the league with 10.8 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been going well, I feel like I\u2019ve improved a lot,\u201d Clements said. \u201cI\u2019m starting to play with more confidence thanks to my coaches and teammates. My teammates are a very big part of my confidence and how I play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each has a season-high of 29 points. Pavalonis got hers Jan. 15 against Lakeland, while Clements did it against Hanover Area on Dec. 27.<\/p>\n

They are different players. Pavalonis is a 5-foot-9 guard who can handle the ball and drive to the basket. She also can hit from the outside, although she only has 14 3-pointers this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I need to get my shot off quicker,\u201d Pavalonis said. \u201cOnce that\u2019s down, I can definitely be more of a dominant scorer than I already am now. I\u2019m quick enough to get to the basket, but I still have to hit the threes.\u201d<\/p>\n

First-year Lady Vikes coach Jamie Armillay calls Pavalonis a gym rat with a strong work ethic who is always looking to get better.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s in the gym working hard to improve her craft every single day and developing into a nice leader,\u201d Armillay said. \u201cIt\u2019s no secret. Anybody who picks up a newspaper or any sports outlet that has high school knows what she\u2019s doing offensively every night. And she still finds ways to get better, create different ways to score and get her teammates involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last summer, Pavalonis gained valuable experience playing in the United World Games in Europe and helping Team USA win gold in the 14U division.<\/p>\n

Old Forge coach Dante Lucarelli said the 5-foot-9 Clements gives the Lady Devils something they\u2019re not used to having: an inside presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a culture that\u2019s not really known here,\u201d Lucarelli said. \u201cWe usually have good shooters, good scorers. Now inside, we might have finally found something with a big body in there.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has great moves to the basket, gets a lot of boxouts on rebounds. She\u2019s tough inside. Even when it\u2019s not her night scoring the ball, she can do other things to make sure we still get the ball on offense, get opportunities. She\u2019s our anchor on offense and defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing Clements is working on is her mindset and learning not to let it affect her when shots aren\u2019t falling or things aren\u2019t going her way. That will come, though, as she gets older.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing so young and playing varsity as a freshman, it definitely affects me when I mess up,\u201d Clements said. \u201cI come with the mindset that I\u2019m supposed to outplay the seniors when I\u2019m really not.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Clements, Old Forge also has a freshman starting at point guard in Mikaela Lohman, who averages 5.9 points and has hit 19 3-pointers.<\/p>\n

Lucarelli said having to face a player like Pavalonis is a motivating factor for his team and adds more spice to the rivalry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you play that caliber of player, it makes us elevate our game just as much,\u201d Lucarelli said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great rivalry for the next couple years. They have her and we have two freshmen who I think are going to be the best duo in the league in a couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pavalonis agrees it will be an exciting matchup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a fun four years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Riverside\u2019s Faith Pavalonis attempts to evade Old Forge\u2019s defense during the basketball game at Old Forge High School…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-94567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}