MAHANOY CITY — Laura Bisco was only hoping for a trip to the foul line, but she ended up getting a lot more.
The Mahanoy Area junior drove the lane in the final moments of Friday night’s Schuylkill League Division II-III crossover game with Williams Valley.
She wanted to draw contact. She ended up scoring the game-winning bucket.
Bisco’s shot rattled around the rim and dropped through the nylon with 1.9 seconds left to hand the Golden Bears a 35-33 victory.
“I knew the time was going down and we had to get a shot up,” Bisco said. “I saw a lane and I took it hoping for a foul, but it went in.”
Mahanoy Area (7-6, 2-4 D-III) trailed 26-25 heading into the final quarter before back-to-back buckets by Megan Bisco put the Bears ahead 29-26.
Kate Whelski then hit a 3 for Williams Valley (8-5, 2-4 D-II) and Rayanne Hawk drove the lane for a basket to put the Vikings up 31-29.
Megan Bisco answered right back with a 3 of her own and Kelsey Conroy hit a free throw that put Mahanoy back ahead 33-31.
Jenna Daniel put back a rebound for Williams Valley with 1:42 left to tie it at 33.
The Golden Bears were called for traveling on the ensuing possession, but the Vikings were whistled for a moving screen with 14.6 seconds left to set up Mahanoy’s final play.
“We actually never really got into the play that much because what we wanted to do was isolate Kelsey (Conroy) underneath,” Bears coach Tom Scheeler said. “We moved everybody out high, but by the time we got the ball to Laura, it was 8 seconds. She took it from there.”
Laura Bisco and Megan Bisco both finished with 10 points. Conroy registered a game-high 12.
Whelski led Williams Valley with 11 points.
The Vikings, which rely heavily on quickness, were taken out of their game by Mahanoy’s offense, which methodically worked the ball each possession — sometimes taking two min-
utes off the clock in one trip down the floor.
“We like to run and we weren’t able to run,” Williams Valley coach Brian Unger said. “They slowed things down offensively. We went from our 1-2-2 to man, which I thought worked OK.
“... They were just consistent. There was one possession where they had three rebounds one time up the court. We had the ball twice and they took the ball our of our hands and scored. You can’t do that in this league.”
After conceding the game’s first five points, Mahanoy Area went on a 13-2 run that put it ahead 13-9 after the first quarter.
Williams Valley finished the half strong with six straight points to take a 21-20 lead into the intermission, its first lead since 7-6 at the four-minute mark in the first quarter.
Shooting went cold in the third quarter, with both teams only converting one field goal each.
“Sometimes we live and die by the 3. We didn’t do that very well,” Unger said. “Two or three breakaway layups we missed, they killed us. They were at critical times in the game where you can stretch a two-point lead to a four-point lead.”
Both teams are jockeying for spots in the District 11 Class A playoffs, and with Mahanoy dropping five of its last seven games, Friday’s win was crucial to the Golden Bears’ postseason hopes.
“That’s one we needed,” Scheeler said. “We’ve been playing hard. We’ve been playing tough. The good teams we’ve been playing well against, but there have been spurts where we just slack off and make some mental mistakes.
“We knew (Williams Valley) was a good team. It’s a team I thought we could play with. And we did. We needed a good, tough game like that. We needed a win like this.”
And not just for district playoff qualification purposes. Mahanoy has struggled over the last few years, going through three different coaches in as many seasons.
Another loss Friday could have made the Golden Bears think that fate was upon them once again.
“I’ve been trying to say that the whole time. These girls aren’t used to winning and I keep saying we’re not last year’s team, we’re not teams from the past,” Scheeler said. “We’re us.”
His players don’t need much more convincing after Friday’s victory. They’re not looking at the past. They’re looking to the future — and hopefully to a district playoff spot.
“We needed five more (wins),” Bisco said. “Now we need four.”
Game Summary
WILLIAMS VALLEY (33) — Hawk 3 1-2 8, Han. Nestor 1 0-0 2, Kreiser 0 0-0 0, Hal. Nestor 2 3-3 7, Whelski 3 3-4 11, Schadle 1 1-2 3, Daniel 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 8-11 33.
MAHANOY AREA (35) — M. Babinsky 0 3-4 3, L. Bisco 5 0-0 10, Conroy 4 4-6 12, Van Horn 0 0-0 0, Byrne 0 0-0 0, Davidson 0 0-0 0, M. Bisco 4 0-0 10, K. Babinsky 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 7-10 35.
WV (8-5, 2-4) 9 12 5 7 — 33 MA (7-6, 2-4) 13 7 5 10 — 35
3-point FGs: Hawk, Whelski 2, M. Bisco 2
JV score: No game