By Tom Robinson, NEPAElite.com
MANHEIM – NEPA Elite girls teams finished strong Friday after a rough start to the first of three days of Select Events Basketball’s Live at the Nook.
The AAU club’s older teams rallied from big deficits before falling short.
Then, the two 14U teams posted routs at the end of the day to shake off the club’s 0-6 start in which four losses came by six points or less.
NEPA Elite 14U Alers
Emma Coleman and Kayli McHugh each posted double-doubles in the final NEPA Elite game of the day, a 47-8 rout over the Bay State Jaguars Elite Gold in a 2027 Division Pool G game.
NEPA Elite did not allow a two-point basket or offensive rebound in the first half while building a 31-4 lead. It did not give up a 3-pointer or defensive rebound in the second half.
McHugh and Coleman each grabbed 10 rebounds as part of a 38-15 dominance on the boards.
Coleman went 5-for-8 from the floor in the first half on the way to a game-high 17 points. She also finished with three steals.
McHugh grabbed six of her rebounds on the offensive end and led the team with four assists.
Ella Stambaugh chipped in nine points, six rebounds, six steals and three assists.
Jackie Gallagher had eight points, six rebounds and three steals.
NEPA Elite forced five turnovers and had an 8-0 lead before allowing a shot. It scored the game’s first 18 points, holding Bay State scoreless for 7:05.
NEPA Elite had dropped its first game to UBC 2027 Black, 40-35, a team from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., 40-35.
Coleman is from Abington Heights, McHugh from North Pocono, Stambaugh Wyoming Valley West and Gallagher Crestwood.
NEPA Elite 14U Clark
NEPA Elite remained unbeaten through five games on the season and did so with ease, pounding Team Thrill from Baltimore, 63-15, in a 2027 Division Pool C game.
It was the team’s only game of the first day.
NEPA Elite 15U Scoblick
New York Basketball Academy limited NEPA Elite to four points for almost nine minutes at the start on the way to a 37-23 victory over the 2026 Division Pool B Game.
NEPA Elite 16U Rini
Lady Runnin’ Rebels White hit its first eight shots of the second half, three of them 3-pointers, then held off a late NEPA Elite comeback for a 53-50 victory.
NEPA Elite forced 22 turnovers, including 11 in the final 11 minutes when it trimmed a 15-point deficit to one three times.
The hot shooting to begin the second half allowed the Runnin’ Rebels to put together a 14-3 run to a 44-29 lead.
Claire McGrath scored, then Daniella Ranieli hit back-to-back 3-pointers for eight straight points to begin the comeback.
Following a Runnin’ Rebels three-point play, NEPA Elite scored nine straight points with four different players connecting.
Maggie O’Shea, who made a game-high five steals, started the streak with a baseline, pull-up jumper.
Sophia Talutto, who took a mid-court steal in for a layup, and Ella Smith, who hit two free throws after being fouled in transition, then helped cut the deficit to one for the first time.
Smith’s steal and Talutto’s feed set up a McGrath 3-pointer to make it 47-46 with 6:04 left.
Defenses ruled the rest of the way.
McGrath picked a ballhandler’s pocket at midcourt for a steal and drive to make it 49-48 with 3:15 left, then forced a tie-up at midcourt for another turnover with the help of the possession arrow.
Jenna Hillebrand converted her own rebound with 40 seconds left to pull NEPA Elite within 51-50.
Ranielli’s mid-court shot for a potential tie at the final buzzer was online, but caromed off the back rim.
Ella Wilson went 4-for-5 in the first half, hitting both her 3-point attempts, while scoring all of her team-high 10 points. She also led in rebounds with six.
McGrath had seven of her nine points in the second half and also had a pair of steals.
Talutto went 4-for-5 while adding eight points and two steals.
Maggie Coleman led the team with five assists.
Smith chipped in five rebounds, four of them offensive, and two steals.
NEPA Elite’s last lead was 12-11 on a Talutto runner from the left side less than five minutes into the game. The teams were tied at 13, 15 and 17.
The Runnin’ Rebels shot 73.3 percent (11-for-15) from the floor in the second half.
McGrath and Hillebrand are from Scranton Prep. Wilson is from Lake-Lehman, Talutto from Dunmore, Ranieli from Pittston Area, Smith from Wallenpaupack, O’Shea from Scranton and Coleman from Abington Heights.
NEPA Elite 16U Butler
NEPA Elite dropped two games in the 2025 Division Pool I.
Riverside Hawks from New York City won the morning opener, 51-28, and LBA Team Attack from Ashburn, Va. topped NEPA Elite, 26-20, in the afternoon.
The Hawks used a 21-point streak to open a 26-4 lead. They forced 12 first-half NEPA Elite turnovers, 7 of which they converted into layups on the way to a 32-7 lead in the last minute of the half.
NEPA Elite answered with a 12-2 run, featuring six points by Madeleine Walsh, to get to within 15 points for the first of two times in the second half.
Walsh scored 10 of her team-high 12 points in the second half. She also led the team with five rebounds, four of them offensive.
Bella Dennebaum contributed five points, a team-high three assists and two steals.
Dennebaum led NEPA Elite in the second game with 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Walsh is from Abington Heights; Dennebaum is from Scranton Prep.
NEPA Elite 17U Macciocco
Frankie Martinelli hit two first-half 3-pointers, then scored 16 of her 22 points while leading a second-half comeback that fell short when NEPA Elite dropped a 2024 Division Pool O game, 53-47, to the Rockland Raiders Elite from Suffern, N.Y.
Martinelli had nine of the points in a 16-0 run that cut a 19-point deficit to 48-45 with 1:31 left. She finished 9-for-14 from the floor, including 4-for-8 on 3-pointers, and also shared the team assist lead of four.
Mackenzie Perluke added nine points, five offensive rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Layla Hernandez had eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
Ella Cooper had seven points; Lucie Racicky grabbed six rebounds; and Mackenzie Schirg, who had five rebounds, shared the team lead of three steals with Perluke and Jenna Luciani.
Martinelli is from Marian Catholic; Perluke from Wyoming Valley West; Hernandez from East Stroudsburg South; Cooper from Valley View; Racicky from Holy Redeem; Schirg from Lackawanna Trail; and Luciani from Holy Cross.