Crestwood’s Keira Dougherty (33) drives the baseline as Hazleton Area’s Kaitlyn Bindas defends during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Crestwood’s Charlie Hiller (10) pulls down a rebound against Hazleton Area during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball showdown, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Area’s Alexis Reimold (31) and Crestwood’s Cameron Vieney (5) battle for a loose ball along side the Lady Comets’ Charlie Hiller during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Hazle Twp. Hazleton Area’s Kaitlyn Bindas (14) and Crestwood’s Jordan Andrews (14) also are pictured. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Area’s Kaitlyn Bindas (14) drives past Crestwood’s Jordan Andres during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Area’s Mariah Marolo (1) puts up a shot over Crestwood’s Keira Dougherty during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Crestwood’s Keira Dougherty (33) drives the baseline as Hazleton Area’s Kaitlyn Bindas defends during their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 girls’ basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
HAZLE TWP. — For Keira Dougherty and the Crestwood girls basketball team, fresh images of what could be have replaced thoughts of what could have been.
Fully recovered from a knee injury that cost her her junior season, Dougherty put on a dazzling display of guard play in a 63-51 win over highly-touted Hazleton Area before a large, enthusiastic crowd Sunday evening at Hughie McGeehan Gymnasium.
Dougherty scored a game-high 25 points, repeatedly delivered a basket whenever her team needed one and, perhaps most importantly, she calmly and almost effortlessly slithered her way through the Cougars’ vaunted full-court press for layups or to make pinpoint passes to open teammates.
“She’s had some hard times this year, thinking about last year and not being a part of it,” said Crestwood coach Mary Mushock-Namey, who took her team to the PIAA Class 5A semifinals last season despite not having Dougherty in uniform. “She knows what she missed out on last year. And now, she’s playing at the top of her game and there’s no better time to do it. … She proved herself tonight.”
And then some.
Dougherty’s brilliant all-around performance and senior leadership — coupled with the fine, complementary play of her five teammates who saw action in an emphatic victory over a state-ranked Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 rival — helped the Comets atone for a 10-point loss to Hazleton Area last month. That combination also sent them into Wednesday’s regular-season finale against Dallas trying to avenge their only other loss this season. Another payback win would put Crestwood (19-2, 9-2 WVC) into the four-team conference playoffs as the Division 1’s second representative with Hazleton Area as the probable No. 1. Another showdown between the Route 309 rivals also would be closer to reality.
“I definitely think having Keira back, especially in big games like this, that is the most important thing for us. … This is definitely the greatest game she’s had all year,” Crestwood junior forward Charlie Hiller said. “Having her back and us playing as a team is what we really need moving forward.”
For Dougherty, beating a Cougars team coming in on a 14-game winning streak and off a record scoring outburst against Dallas, also eased the sting of watching Crestwood lose to the Cougars by double digits three times last season. She felt helpless from the sideline, unable to duplicate her magic from a Comets win over Hazleton Area during her sophomore year and throughout that season.
Sunday, the old Keira Dougherty was back in her pre-injury form.
“I remember this game here (at Hazleton Area) last year being the first game that was really emotional for me not being able to play,” she said. “That’s when I really knew, like, ‘OK, I’ve got to work even harder to get back on the court.’”
Dougherty didn’t score in a sloppy first quarter for both teams. But she handled the press well enough to get her team into its half-court sets and make the way for teammates Jordan Andrews to net five points and Cameron Vieney and Jackie Gallagher to contribute four apiece.
“Their secondary kids made plays, even when they weren’t scoring,” Cougars coach Joe Gavio said. “We did a pretty good job against Gallagher and Hiller, but I thought Andrews played well, (Norah) Sklarosky played well and Vieney played well. She didn’t score against us the last time.”
Alexis Reimold scored 10 of her 12 points in the opening quarter, including a basket that gave Hazleton Area its biggest lead of the night (16-10). However, Hiller countered with a basket and then a free throw and Andrews buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 16 entering the second period.
The teams were tied at 20, 22 and 24 early in the second quarter, with neither team able to gain separation. Turnovers continued to plague Crestwood; while Hazleton Area was unable to rediscover the shooting touch from the Dallas game just three nights earlier.
“We missed a ton of layups … and that frustrates you after a while,” Gavio said. “We were just throwing the ball at the basket. We played very tight, trying to score a bunch of points all at once.”
The Cougars’ 51 points on the night were 56 fewer than the 107 they scored against Dallas on Thursday; their two 3-pointers were 14 fewer than the 16 they drained against the Mountaineers. They also shot just 25% from the floor (19-of-76). Only three Hazleton Area players scored more than two points: Bindas (22), Reimold (12) and Mariah Marolo (7).
A Bindas basket gave the Cougars (18-2, 9-1) a one-point lead at the 2:25 mark of the second quarter, before Dougherty’s fast-break basket and Sklarosky’s baseline jumper put Crestwood back on top.
Dougherty finished with 11 of her team’s 16 points in the second quarter, which ended with the Comets taking a 32-29 lead into the locker room. It was only the third time in two seasons that Hazleton Area trailed at halftime.
“We didn’t let the pressure get to us,” Dougherty said. “We had a big crowd for our last game against them, and we know what happened (a 63-53 loss). … When we broke the press tonight, we just calmed down and played our game.”
Bindas’ pull-up jumper early in the third quarter put Hazleton Area ahead for the final time, before the Comets ran off 13 of the next 17 points for a 45-37 lead entering the fourth quarter. Dougherty swished two 3-pointers and made a spinning layup to highlight the surge. She also fed Gallagher for a bucket following a steal, a nod to Crestwood’s aggressive man-to-man defense that applied sufficient pressure to force rushed, off-balance Hazleton Area shots. If a Cougar found a lane to the basket, the 6-foot-1 Hiller often stood tall, blocking eight shots.
“We’ve had so many blowouts this year, but they aren’t as much fun as these kinds of games in this kind of atmosphere,” Mushock-Namey said. “This is exactly why you play the game — to put on a show in front of a lot of fans like this. … My heart was pounding. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”
Crestwood made enough free throws and Hazleton Area (18-2, 9-1) missed too many shots in the fourth quarter to keep the Comets comfortably ahead the rest of the way. The latter prevented the Cougars from getting into their press, where they tend to force turnovers in bunches and cash those into easy baskets. Their feeding frenzy never materialized.
Not Sunday.
“We looked gassed for some reason,” said Gavio, who used 10 players compared to six for Crestwood. “It just wasn’t one of our better performances.”
Fortunately for the Cougars, only monumental upsets in their final two regular-season games would keep them out of the conference playoffs.
“Maybe a loss sometimes is not such a bad thing,” Gavio said. “I give them credit (because) they played pretty well. … I do think we’ll be seeing them again (in a potential WVC championship game). … Let this one sting a little bit. Now you better be ready to do your thing if you see them again. Now they know they can beat you.”
While the Cougars were getting ready to lick their wounds against Berwick and Wilkes-Barre Area to end their regular season, Crestwood had a bye Monday and its home showdown against Dallas on Wednesday.
“I’m going to go in there (her team’s locker room) now and tell them they have four hours to celebrate this win, but then you start looking forward to Dallas,” Mushock-Namey said.
Which was OK with Dougherty and her teammates.
“Everyone doubted us, but we knew that we could do this,” she said, after knocking off Hazleton Area, one of the state’s top Class 6A teams according to several websites. “That’s why we’re not celebrating here like we won a championship. We’ve believed in ourselves the whole time. … We know we’ve got to keep working.”
Do that, and another special postseason could be on the horizon for the Comets.
With their team leader playing a more meaningful role.