Clash of the Titans, 570 Edition: Late Run Propels Prep Past Dunmore

 January 23, 2020

Scranton Prep 50, Dunmore 45

As a basketball fan, there are certain matchups that you just don't miss. In northeast Pennsylvania girls' hoops, the premier 'must see TV' battle is whenever Scranton Prep & Dunmore hit the court. Regarded as the top two programs in the area, schools located 1.5 miles apart, multiple Division I players on each side, two teams that know each other well enough to call out each other's plays... it checks all the boxes. The play on the court, even as an early-season matchup, lived up to the hype. A back-and-forth battled turned Scranton Prep's way for good with a big 4th quarter run en route to a big road W to get them going.

Rachael Rose (Scranton Prep 2021, USC Upstate signee) dropped 20 to tie for the game high & made big plays throughout in their narrow W.

Defensive schemes were different, but offensive response was the same - both teams were firing away from the perimeter early & often. The 1st quarter featured four lead changes on four consecutive buckets - all threes - with the second straight from Rachael Rose (Prep 2021, USC Upstate signee) putting them up 11-9. An 8-0 run not long after & running into the 2nd quarter, including the second trey from Maria Belardi (Prep 2022) along with another Rose basket, ran it to 19-11. Prep extended their lead to as much as 10 in the 1st half after a Cecelia Collins (Prep 2021, Bucknell signee) free throw made it 26-16, but Dunmore cut their deficit to 6 going into the locker room with four quick points from Ciera Toomey (Dunmore 2023) to end the half.

The hosts came out blazing to start the 2nd half. Moriah Murray (Dunmore 2022, Drexel commit) started it with her second trey of the night, and after Rose responded with a bucket, Dunmore reeled off 13 of the next 15 points - 9 coming from behind the three-point line off the right hands of three different players - to push ahead to a 36-30 lead. Another Murray trey, their 5th of the quarter as a team, gave Dunmore a 39-35 lead through three, and another triple from Mia Blume (Dunmore 2022) gave them their largest lead at 42-35 early in the 4th. It was all Scranton Prep from there though, as their D1 bound seniors played a major role in taking the game over. Rose & Collins teamed up to score 11 in a 13-0 extended run, with Collins knocking down a three to give them the lead for good at 43-42 with 4:50 left along with a steal & layup to push it to 48-42 with under a minute remaining. Blume broke the long Dunmore drought with another three with :38.6 left, and a Prep turnover & missed front end of a 1&1 gave Dunmore two more possessions, but they were unable to convert. On the latter of those two, Collins jumped the passing lane and got another late steal, then canned two free throws with :04.9 left to ice the win.

40 of Scranton Prep's 50 points came from their two D1 signees, as Rachael Rose & Cecelia Collins pumped in 20 points apiece including 7 of the team's 9 made threes (Rose 4, Collins 3). Dunmore got a team high 14 points from Moriah Murray, 9 coming in the 3rd quarter on 3 of her 4 threes, and Ciera Toomey added 10. Mia Blume chipped in with 9, all coming from behind the arc and in the game's last 12 minutes. Dunmore hit 11 threes overall.

Moriah Murray (Dunmore 2022, Drexel commit) paced Dunmore with 14 pts & hit 4 of their 9 threes.

#ThoughtsFromTheBaseline

- This is where the fun starts! Entertaining game to watch for an early-season matchup, but that's to be expected when nearly everyone on the court is a future college basketball player. Let's do that more often!

- Lot of made threes by Dunmore, but Prep was living with it. It was clear with their plan was defensively - commit to weak side help and limit Ciera Toomey's post touches, commit help to Moriah Murray on high ball screens & midpost touches, and make others hit threes to win. Mission accomplished, as they were largely able to do that. The main exception was the 3rd quarter, when Dunmore was able to at least get downhill a few times (often Murray) and make the Prep defenders react to their action. That turned into a couple breakdowns leading to a Murray three, Toomey bucket, Mia Blume three, Elisa Delfino three... you get it. When Dunmore was able to get a post touch or dribble penetration paint touch, it often paid dividends. Prep buckled down again, and that coupled with Dunmore also missing a couple good looks along the way led to a scoreless stretch of over 6 minutes as Prep regained the lead.

Cecelia Collins (Scranton Prep 2021, Bucknell signee) pumped in 20 points, tying for a game high, and made numerous plays at both ends to help Prep recover late.

- About Prep coming back with that 13-0 4th quarter run... Rachael Rose & Cecelia Collins doing Rose & Collins things. It obviously was a complete team effort - especially because you don't hold a high-octane offense scoreless for over 6 minutes without all five being engaged - but the two standout 2021s had their prints all over it at both ends. Collins had a few steals, including two in the closing possessions to help put it on ice for her squad. Offensively, the secondary break paid dividends as they each were able to step into an open three as Dunmore was trying to locate. Rachael's made it 42-40, Cece's gave them a 43-42 lead. Rachael made a big shot a couple minutes later in a 1v1 situation - D1 player making a D1 type play - to extend the lead. You expect them to make those kind of plays, which might be the most telling thing about them. One thing is for sure - USC Upstate (Rose) and Bucknell (Collins) are getting winners.

- First time watching them as a high school team, but this is easy to see. It's really, really tough to play from behind against Scranton Prep. With Rose & Collins along with Maria Belardi and Lizzie Neville (both 2022s), they put 4 guards on the court that are strong with the ball, can handle it, and make good decisions. They did a fantastic job as a team controlling tempo through much of the game, the ball moved crisply especially in the 1st half when Dunmore went 2-3, they didn't turn it over against the Dunmore 1-2-2 (or at any time, really), and they picked their spots with very few forced or bad shots. SUCH a luxury to have that at the high school level. Honestly, Dunmore being able to do it in the 2nd half is a testament to how good they are as well - no short order.

Ciera Toomey (Dunmore 2023), one of the Northeast's premier prospects, finished with 10 points while receiving plenty of defensive attention.

- Quick blip on the radar for a Dunmore squad that's going to win a ton of games this year and may end up running it back with a state tournament berth at stake. Regardless of result, I'm sure they'll take those competitive games in the regular season when they can get them. Looking forward to hopefully catching them again in coming weeks. Thanks to the Dunmore athletics crew for allowing me to check this game out!

- Next time I'm around, someone... please keep me from hitting the Krispy Kreme drive-thru after. I'm trying to get right over here... the hot light is too tempting!