Big 3rd Quarter Helps Scranton Handle Business At Home

February 3, 2021

Scranton 47, West Scranton 34 (PIAA District 2)

Another week, another trip to Pennsylvania! PIAA programs are well into their regular seasons at this point, and I’m starting to get a chance to watch some teams that aren’t the predominant powers. This was the case here, as I was able to make the trip to Scranton High School to watch their young squad take on visiting West Scranton. Action picked up as the 1st half went on after a slow start both ways, and Scranton established control with a big 3rd quarter and kept their grip to the finish line on the way to a double digit win.

Lanee Olson got it going in the 2nd half, where she had 14 of her game high 18 points in Scranton's W.

The action wasn’t slow at the beginning, but the scoreboard movement was. Cold shooting plagued both sides as it took a while for everyone to settle in. Finley Bittenbender (Scranton 2024) opened the scoring with a layup on a backdoor cut at the 4:15 mark of the 1st quarter, and it took until the 2:20 mark for West Scranton to get on the board with an Olivia Dougher (West Scranton 2022) bucket. Scranton led 4-2 through the first eight minutes. The scoring picked up in the 2nd quarter as Scranton started to establish the more uptempo pace they were looking for. Guard play & balance were the stories for Scranton, with four different players scoring 4 points in the 1st half, but another six Dougher points in the 2nd quarter helped West Scranton keep pace and trail by just three at 19-16 going into the locker room.

An early 3rd quarter spurt helped the hosts get some breathing room. Lanee Olson (Scranton 2023) scored five straight in a 59 second 7-0 shot to put them up 26-17, and a Madison Maloney (West Scranton 2022) trey at the 5:45 mark proved to be the Invaders’ last points of the 3rd. Scranton reeled off 9 straight over that stretch, 5 coming from Kennedy Bittenbender (Scranton 2024), and they pushed the margin to 15 at 35-20. West Scranton steadied the ship a bit in the 4th, with a basket & free throw briefly cutting the deficit to 12 early in the frame, but another 9-0 stretch for Scranton – 5 coming from Olson here – took away any doubt and gave the hosts their largest lead of the night at 21 with around 4 minutes left.

Lanee Olson turned it up in the 2nd half for Scranton, where she scored 14 of her game high 18 points. There was balance behind her, with all three Bittenbenders chipping in the scoring column as well. Madison Maloney led West Scranton with 13 points including 4 threes, 3 of them coming in the final 3:30 of play. Olivia Dougher added 11 for the Invaders.

Madison Maloney got hot late and led West Scranton with 13 points in Wednesday's loss to Scranton.

#ThoughtsFromTheBaseline

- West Scranton hung around for quite a while, but even from the jump, it felt like it’d only be a matter of time. Scranton wanted to dictate tempo & play fast, and it didn’t take too long for them to get their way. Shots weren’t falling for either side early and West Scranton kept pace into the 3rd quarter once the lid was taken off the rim, but every Scranton bucket – which in the 2nd half meant a chance to get up & press – felt like it might be the start of a game-breaking run until it eventually happened.

- First time watching Scranton, so I’ll be interested to see them against different matchups & as they progress, but potentially a lot to keep an eye on here in years to come. Their guard play was on display vs. West Scranton, and many of them have years left at the high school level. Lanee Olson (2023), Riley Bittenbender (2023), Finley Bittenbender (2024), & Kennedy Bittenbender (2024) – yes, lot of Bittenbenders – all made things happen in their own ways throughout the game. Looking forward to keeping tabs as time goes on.

Riley Bittenbender showed promise running the show at the PG in Scranton's victory.

- I really could make an individual note of any of the aforementioned four as they all did their thing at various times, but for this post, I’ll make note of Lanee Olson. It was my first time watching her as I don’t think I saw her on the AAU circuit with her Keystone Karma group, and she caught my eye in Wednesday’s game. Lanee’s a smaller guard that looks like she’s used to playing against bigger athletes. She has the feel & awareness of where the defense is around her and uses her body well to cut off the D, win the off-arm battle, or lay the shoulder into someone to create a little space. Crafty to begin with and throw in the fact that she’s a lefty… even more effective. Her shot was off early, but she maintained her energy in the 1^st half at both ends and eventually broke through coming out of the locker room. She got to the rim & finished, flashed the in-between game, turned D into O, broke defenders down off the bounce, hit a three at one point, showed the passing ability with a tough one that hit its mark on a 2v1 break… a little bit of everything in the last 16. Looking forward to getting to watch more going forward.

- A major thank you to Scranton High School administration (particularly athletic director Mr. Ted Anderson) for letting me in to check this game out. It was definitely worth the trip, and it’s always a blessing to get to watch high school hoops this winter!

One more thing...

It took me a while to get this typed & posted because my mind has been far away from this for the last day. The basketball community, the 518, & the world as a whole lost a fantastic man on Thursday as the great Pat Filien passed away suddenly. Pat’s basketball pedigree ran deep, as he was a standout player at St. Rose in the early ‘90s and then moved on to several D1 coaching stints at various institutions on both sides of the basketball world (Albany & Vermont men, Air Force & UMKC women).

In recent years, he became the athletic director at Bryant & Stratton – Albany and was tasked to start their men’s basketball program. He was also a figure in the local girls’ basketball scene as a coach in the New York Havoc program and a consistent presence at my events. He worked with literally hundreds of ESTers as the coordinator of the skill work sessions at several EST events, including the 2017-19 Fall Showcases.

One thing I never heard anyone say was ‘yeah, I don’t know how I feel about that Pat Filien guy’. To know him was to like him – the positive attitude, infectious smile & laugh, but always a dose of knowledge & reality to boot. He was a great basketball mind, but more importantly a caring & kind soul, devoted family man, and the kind of father I could only wish to be half of when I have kids. Whenever I asked him to help with an event in any fashion, I’d get a slightly varied version of a standard answer; “It’s a busy time, but I always got time for the kids”. That’s who Pat was and what I’ll remember him as; loved to teach, loved to coach, loved to impact lives in a positive way, & genuinely cared.

My heart goes out to his wife (Tiffani), son (Marcus), & daughter (Lauren) along with everyone whose life he impacted. There has been a GoFundMe created to help offset the unexpected incurred costs to come. I’d kindly request all to consider a donation for a fantastic family if you have the means. The link: https://gofund.me/b5cb102b.

Our loss on Earth is Heaven’s gain. The games will go on, and he’ll always have a spot with all of us – the court, the bench, the stands, wherever the game takes us!