Dallas’ Molly Walsh scores two of her game-high 29 points in the Mountaineers’ 107-71 loss to Hazleton Area on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Area’s Kaitlyn Bindas (14) drives for a layup ahead of Dallas’ Molly Walsh during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Area’s Addy Fritz (20) defends against Dallas’ Caitlyn Mizzer during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Area’s Mariah Marolo drives past Dallas’ Lyla Wydra for a layup during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Dallas’ Molly Walsh scores two of her game-high 29 points in the Mountaineers’ 107-71 loss to Hazleton Area on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
HAZLE TWP. — For one of the few times all season, the Hazleton Area girls basketball team was back on its heels.
Dallas was on a 13-point run behind superstar Molly Walsh, Lady Cougars standouts Sophia Benyo and Alexis Reimold were in foul trouble and the Mountaineers were believing a second comeback win over Hazleton Area at Hughie McGeehan Gymnasium in three years was well within their reach.
Fortunately for the Lady Cougars, their lead was 24 points when Dallas made its second-half charge in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 showdown between state-ranked powers. Even more fortunately for Hazleton Area, it found another gear after the Dallas spurt, outscoring the Mountaineers, 35-11, over the final quarter-plus for a wild 107-71 victory that almost guaranteed the Lady Cougars a spot in the upcoming WVC playoffs.
“They wanted to run with us and they (showed) that they could,” winning head coach Joe Gavio said, after his team answered its wake-up call to record the highest points total for a Hazleton Area basketball team, girls or boys. “With three minutes to go in the third quarter, they cut our lead to 11 points and we had two of our studs on the bench with four fouls apiece. They started to take over the game. They were feeling it. ..
“Then we just turned it on.”
Indeed, Dallas’ two-minute burst only served as a challenge for the Lady Cougars (18-1, 9-0 WVC). Senior Kayla Lagowy wrapped two of her four 3-pointers and Hazleton Area’s 16 threes on the night around Walsh’s two free throws to retrieve momentum for the Lady Cougars and deflate the visitors’ spirit.
“We get it down to 11 (points) and then they go on their own little run … We turn the ball over and we lose our concentration with what we’re supposed to do,” Dallas head coach Vince Bucciarelli said. “Bang, bang, bang! Basket after basket after basket, and it wore on us.”
The Lady Cougars’ knockout punch followed: a 29-7 fourth-quarter blitz. They showcased all facets of their offensive arsenal from 3-pointers by Molly Temchatin, Kaitlyn Bindas, Reimold and Addy Fritz to layups off eye-catching assists from Temchatin, Benyo, Mariah Marolo, Bindas and Sofia Rodgers.
“All of our shots were falling … It was just a great game for us all around,” Lagowy said. “With two big games against (Dallas) and Crestwood (on Sunday), we wanted to dominate as a team. … We played together.”
Bindas finished with a team-high 28 points, including four 3-pointers; the freshman Temchatin netted a career-high 20 points with four threes; Marolo canned 15 points; Lagowy had 14; and Benyo and Fritz tossed in 10 and nine, respectively.
Walsh led all scorers with 29 points, but she had help from Dallas teammates Caitlyn Mizzer (17) and Mia DelGaudio (12) as the Mountaineers scored the most points for a Hazleton Area opponent this season and still lost by 36.
Both teams engaged in full-court action and displayed their shot-making ability in the game’s early stages. Brianna Casey and Caitlyn Mizzer knocked down 3-pointers for Dallas, only to have Lagowy and Bindas connect from deep for Hazleton Area, as the teams traded baskets over the game’s first seven minutes. Mia DelGaudio’s layup off a Walsh feed tied it at 18, before Temchatin’s twisting drive ignited a 9-0 Lady Cougars’ run that put them on top, 27-18, at the end of the first quarter and gave them the upper hand the rest of the way.
“There’s always that spurt that they give you,” Bucciarelli said. “It doesn’t matter which kids he (Gavio) puts in there, he’s got a lot of experience with those kids. What are you gonna do?”
Hazleton Area’s 8-0 run followed Casey’s second 3-pointer that opened the second-quarter scoring. Benyo’s jumper, Marolo’s two free throws, a Juliana Silva 3-pointer and Reimold foul shot extended the Lady Cougars’ advantage to 35-21 by the 5:50 mark. Before the quarter was over, Temchatin buried three 3s to help her team take a 53-33 lead into halftime.
When Bindas heated up for nine points over the first half of the third quarter and Marolo cashed a steal into a hoop and later set up Benyo for an easy basket, the Cougars’ lead snowballed to 71-47 and their victory appeared well in hand.
Dallas had other ideas, though, as Mizzer drilled a three, Casey sank a free throw, Mizzer scored in transition, DelGaudio made a basket and Walsh went on a personal five-point run to pull the Mountaineers within 71-60 with 1:25 still left in the quarter. Walsh added four more points before the end of the quarter, but Lagowy’s hot shooting hand settled any angst that might have been building on the Lady Cougars’ bench. Even Gavio, who normally loathes calling timeouts, had used a 30-second break to settle his team ahead Lagowy’s barrage.
“They’re a good team; Molly’s really good… She wasn’t the (WVC Division 1) MVP in her sophomore year for nothing,” Gavio said of the Mountaineers and Walsh. “They could score, we could score. I mean, they scored 70 points.”
The Lady Cougars scored 107.
“I thought it was a pretty good exhibition of basketball. People who like exciting basketball should come here to see us play because we’re exciting,” Gavio said. “The bottom line is you’ve got to make plays, and we make plays. We made them tonight when had to make them because …we were in a little bit of trouble.”
Minutes later, however, the PIAA’s mercy rule was in effect and Hazleton Area was again well on its way to celebrating its second win over Dallas this season and 14th straight victory overall. Reimold’s 3-pointer with 3:46 left put the Lady Cougars at the century mark.
“No excuses,” said Bucciarelli, whose team’s only two losses have come at the hands of the Lady Cougars. “We’re not that bad.”
Hazleton Area will seek another signature win when Crestwood visits for a make-up game Sunday. The junior varsity contest will start at 5:30 p.m.
DALLAS (71)
Shaw 0 0-0 0, Rollins 0 0-0 0, Mizzer 7 0-2 17, DelGaudio 6 0-0 12, Sutzko, Wydra 1 0-0 2, Samanas 0 0-0 0, Kanton 1 2-2 4, Casey 2 1-4 7, Gibson 0 0-0 0, Walsh 9 11-15 29. Totals 26 14-23 71.
HAZLETON AREA (107)
Marolo 5 4-8 14, Benyo 5 0-0 10, Silva 1 0-0 3, Matyas 0 0-0 0, Rodgers 1 0-0 2, Bindas 9 6-8 28, Fritz 4 0-0 9, Temchatin 8 0-0 20, Lagowy 5 0-0 14, Reimold 2 1-2 6, Chupela 0 0-0 0, Pavlick 0 0-0 0. Totals 40 11-17 107.
Dallas (18-2, 8-2) 18 15 31 7 — 71
Haz Area (18-1, 9-0) 27 26 25 29 — 107
3-FG: Mizzer 3, Casey 2, Bindas 4, Temchatin 4, Lagowy 4, Marolo, Silva, Fritz, Reimold.