Dallas’ Odessa Kanton, center, grabs an offensive rebound ahead of North Pocono’s Julia Biko in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Dallas’ Brianna Casey, right, gets past North Pocono defender Trinity Litts in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Dallas’ Nia DelGaudio, center, drives between North Pocono
s Julia Biko, left, and Anna Clementoni in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
North Pocono’s Alexis Silva passes against the Dallas defense in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Dallas’ Molly Walsh (24) looks to get around North Pocono’s Ella Clementoni (10) in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
North Pocono’s Anna Clementoni, right, shoots a three-pointer over Dallas’ Odessa Kanton in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Dallas’ Caitlyn Mizzer (2) looks to pass against the North Pocono defense in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
North Pocono’s Anna Clementoni, right, grabs a defensive rebound ahead of Dallas’ Odessa Kanton in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
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Dallas’ Odessa Kanton, center, grabs an offensive rebound ahead of North Pocono’s Julia Biko in a District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinal in Dallas Twp. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2026. BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
DALLAS TWP.— The first two 3-pointers Ella Clementoni made in the first quarter allowed her and her North Pocono teammates to settle into the flow of Saturday afternoon’s game against Dallas.
The final 3-pointer she made proved to be the difference.
Clementoni scored 23 points and her 3-pointer with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter gave the third-seeded Lady Trojans the lead for good in a 44-41 victory over No. 2 Dallas in District 2 Class 5A girls basketball semifinals.
North Pocono (21-4) will face No. 1 Crestwood (22-3) on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. at Mohegan Arena in the district championship game. Crestwood won last year’s title and defeated Abington Heights on Saturday to advance.
“In the first quarter those shots were big,” Ella Clementoni said. “We slowed down a little bit going into halftime. Coming out, we hit a bunch of big shots.”
Despite trailing by three points the Mountaineers (20-4) had a chance to tie the game. After calling timeout with 4.7 seconds left, Dallas set up a play to get leading scorer Molly Walsh a shot. Walsh broke free out of the set and caught the ball in the right corner. With two North Pocono defenders charging at her to defend, Walsh’s attempt hit the iron and bounced off.
“Coach kept telling us to play defense,” Ella Clementoni said. “We only had to play defense for a couple seconds. Molly got open but we got a good hand in her face.”
North Pocono’s zone defense gave Dallas trouble all afternoon. Designed to prevent Walsh from penetrating while simultaneously making it difficult for Dallas center Odessa Kanton to get the interior pass from the perimeter, the Lady Trojans were effectively efficient. Walsh finished with 15 points, seven of which came from the foul line. Kanton scored four of her eight points from the foul line and did not convert a shot from the floor until the fourth quarter.
“We can get up and down the floor,” North Pocono coach Joe Ferguson said. “We controlled the tempo of the game with our defense. I thought Anna Clementoni did a great job inside.”
While Anna Clementoni guarded the interior pass from behind, when Kanton did receive the pass, the Trojans got help from the backside making it difficult for Kanton to turn and shoot.
“She is very aggressive, very strong,” Anna Clementoni said of Kanton. I knew I had to front the post and not get in foul trouble.”
The game was tied at 12 after the first quarter, and the Lady Trojans held a 22-21 lead at halftime. North Pocono shot 8 of 29 from the floor in the first half while Dallas was 5 of 18. Julia Biko made a 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the third quarter to put the Lady Trojans up by six.
Kanton made two free throws and scored off a second-chance opportunity, giving the Mountaineers a brief two-point lead late in the fourth quarter before Ella Clementoni erased it with her go-ahead 3-pointer.
“We had the opportunities at the end,” Dallas coach Vince Bucciarelli said. “You can’t let somebody score 23 points. She had a hot night. We didn’t get the ball to Molly enough. She should have had the ball more than she did. I don’t know what happened, we didn’t get her the ball.”
Crestwood 62, Abington Heights 50: At Crestwood, having not played in six days, Crestwood started its District 2 Class 5A semifinal game against Abington Heights uncharacteristically slow.
But a big second quarter boosted Crestwood on Saturday afternoon.
The top-seeded Comets (22-3) will have a chance to defend their district title against North Pocono on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. at Mohegan Arena.
Abington Heights (15-9), the No. 4 seed, led, 9-2, after the first quarter, but Crestwood answered in the second, outscoring Abington Heights, 26-5, to take control of the game.
Keira Dougherty led Crestwood with 20 points. Charlie Hiller and Jackie Gallagher each scored 12.
Emma Coleman led Abington Heights with 19 points. Sarah Cantner and Lily Scoblick each scored nine.
Class 4A
At Scranton, Chloe Mamera scored a game-high 17 points and Ava Fenton added 15 as top-seeded Scranton Prep defeated No. 4 Honesdale, 58-28, in a District 2 Class 4A semifinal at the Xavier Center.
McKenna Toolan added nine points for the Classics (19-6), who will meet Valley View in the championship game Thursday at 6 p.m. at Mohegan Arena. The Cougars defeated Nanticoke Area on Saturday to advance to the title game.
Ruby Martin scored 14 points and Lily Murray had 10 for the Lady Hornets (17-7).
Valley View 74, Nanticoke Area 46: At Valley View, freshman Ali Mauro scored a game-high 20 points to help power the No. 2 Cougars past No. 3 Nanticoke Area in Saturday’s semifinals.
Cora Castellani had 15 points and five assists, Ashlan Palickar had 13 points and Ava Gazoo had 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Cougars (19-5).
Sadie Cardoni chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds for Valley View.
Natalee Atkins led Nanticoke Area (18-7) with 17 points, while Nevaeh Baran scored 13 and Amiah Ceruti had 10.