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EXETER — As frantic as the first 31½ minutes were, the final 30 seconds went by with barely a whimper.

Alex Charlton hit a pair of free throws in that span. Ben O’Connell hit one and Nick Kocher hit another.

And that was it. Dallas had posted a 75-70 victory over Wyoming Valley West in an inaugural District 2 Class 5A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Wyoming Area High School.

“What a great game,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “You have a bunch of athletes against a bunch of basketball players. Kudos to Valley West, but my guys played hard tonight.

The fifth-seeded Mountaineers (12-11) will have to play even harder Friday night as they face top-seeded Abington Heights (20-3) at a site and time to be announced. The Comets defeated Wallenpaupack in their quarterfinal game, 66-26.

“I’ve only see them play one this year,” Belenski said. “Coach has a great program. We’re going to give it our best Friday night.”

Joey Parsons paced Dallas with 25 points, including 12 in the first quarter when the teams combined to make their initial 10 shots. Nick Kocher had eight of his 19 points in the third quarter as Dallas built a five-point lead late only to have Valley West’s Noah Frace nail a 3-pointer and Amistad Hackett convert a turnover into a layup to tie the score 57-57 entering the fourth.

Dallas took the lead for good, 63-62, when Ben Donahue converted a drive midway through the final eight minutes. A 3-pointer by Charlton and a layup by O’Connell finally gave the Mountaineers some breathing room with two minutes remaining in regulation.

Dallas’ worst defense effort of the season came in an 83-79 loss to Valley West on Feb. 4. The Mountaineers, though, decided to play run-and-gun with the Spartans, a scheme they’ve implemented since losing junior guard Jay Bittner for the season. Bittner, Belenski said, was able to reeling in things when they got frenzied.

“My kids like to play that way. I’m not a big fan of it,” said Belenski, who won two state championships with now-closed Bishop O’Reilly. “Toward the tail end of the season, losing Jay Bittner we had to rely on something else.”

Valley West managed to move within 71-68 on a fast break basket by Savion Saunders with 43 seconds remaining. The offense didn’t get another basket until Aaron Austin scored mildly contested underneath at the buzzer.

“We got in foul trouble and it put us in a damper,” Valley West coach Rich Jones said. “We had to keep running people in and out. … It was back and forth, a good game. They ball just didn’t roll our way.

Austin finished with 21 for Valley West, which ended its season at 12-11. Draig Ruff had 15, Hackett 15 and Frace 10. Ruff will be the only player among the six-man rotation returning next year.

Carbondale 49,

Wyoming Seminary 45

Carbondale hit five free throws in the final minute and 14 in the fourth quarter to eliminated Wyoming Seminary from the 3A playoffs.

Seminary, which finished its season at 13-10, moved within 44-42 on a rebound basket by Nicholas Ganter with 31 seconds left. Carbondale responded with four points from the line to seal the win. Seminary got a 3-pointer from Todd Phillips as time expired.

Ganter paced Seminary with 12 followed by Dimitri Gnall with 10. Carbondale will play top-seeded Mid Valley on Friday.x

Holy Redeemer 51,

Montrose 38

Colin Cook and Nick Prociak scored 11 points apiece as the No. 3 Royals pulled away from No. 6 Montrose in the fourth quarter to win a Class 3A quarterfinal at Pittston Area.

Redeemer will face Dunmore in Friday’s semifinals.

Crestwood 44,

Pittston Area 31

A 16-point night by Kyle Gegaris helped the second-seeded Comets take care of the No. 7 Patriots in a Class 5A quarterfinal at Nanticoke. Matt McGlynn scored eight points for Pittston Area.

The Comets advance to Friday’s semifinals to play West Scranton.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Class 3A quarterfinal

Carbondale 49, Wyo. Seminary 45

CARBONDALE (49) — Pat Durkin 1 5-6 7, Mike Zazzera 0 3-4 3, Evan Dearie 1 2-2 5, Giovanni Mustica 5 0-0 10, Bobby Salitsky 4 10-12 18, Bailey Rumford 0 1-2 1, James Henderson 2 0-0 5, Andrew Manarchuck 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 21-26 49.

WYOMING SEMINARY (45) — Tyler Maddock 3 0-0 6, Todd Phillips 3 0-0 7, Jeremy Callahan 1 6-6 8, Johnny Kehl 1 0-0 2, Nicholas Ganter 5 2-5 12, Dimitri Gnall 3 4-6 10. Totals 16 12-17 45.

Carbondale`8`9`12`20 — 49

Wyo. Seminary`4`12`5`24 — 45

Three-point goals — CAR 2 (Dearie, Henderson); WS 1 (Phillips).

Class 3A quarterfinal

Holy Redeemer 51, Montrose 38

MONTROSE (38) — Brendan Buck 3 4-4 10, Jacob Peck 2 1-2 7, Brennan Gilhool 1 2-4 4, Harley Mullins 5 0-0 11, Devin Nash 2 0-0 4, Evan Snyder 0 2-2 2, Andrew Rapisardi 0 0-0 0, Liam McGranaghan 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-12 38.

HOLY REDEEMER (51) — Jason Stachokus 4 0-2 10, Joey Judge 0 6-8 6, James Kosik 2 4-4 8, Colin Cook 3 4-6 11, Luke Nealon 1 0-0 2, Joe Layaou 1 0-0 3, Nick Prociak 3 5-6 11, Bryce Yencha 0 0-0 0, J.D. Turosky 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 19-26 51.

Montrose`10`8`11`9 — 38

Redeemer`15`14`6`16 — 51

Three-point goals — MON 3 (Peck 2, Mullins); HR 4 (Stachokus 2, Cook, Layaou).

Class 5A quarterfinal

Crestwood 44, Pittston Area 31

PITTSTON AREA (31) — Chris Klein 1 5-5 7, Naseem Guillaume 1 4-4 7, Keemar Woodruff 0 0-1 0, Matt McGlynn 3 0-0 8, Patrick Mitchell 2 0-0 4, Trevor Tigue 0 0-0 0, Brennan Higgins 0 2-2 2, Jimmy Pliska 0 0-0 0, Mike Mazurkivich 0 1-4 1, Justin Coyne 0 2-4 2, Joe Cencetti 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 14-20 31.

CRESTWOOD (44) — Kyle Gegaris 5 4-6 16, Lance Blass 4 0-0 8, Kevin Klusewitz 1 0-0 3, Kyle Richards 3 0-0 6, Noah Jackson 1 1-3 3, Sean Murphy 0 0-0 0, Camden Boris 2 1-3 7, Nick Andrews 0 0-0 0, Mike Ayala 0 0-0 0, Mike Kozelsky 0 0-0 0, Evan Knapp 0 1-3 1. Totals 16 7-15 44.

Pittston Area`10`5`7`9 — 31

Crestwood`12`8`7`17 — 44

Three-point goals — PA 3 (McGlynn 2, Guillaume); CRE 5 (Gegaris 2, Boris 2, Klusewitz).

Class 5A quarterfinal

Dallas 75, Wyo. Val. West 70

DALLAS (75) — Collin Pertl 0 0-0 0, Alex Charlton 3 5-5 12, Matt Mathers 1 0-1 2, Joey Parsons 9 5-8 25, Ethan Szczencinski 0 0-0 0, Nick Kocher 6 4-6 19, Ben Donahue 4 2-4 10, Mike Farrell 1 0-0 2, Ben O’Connell 2 1-25 . Totals 23 17-25 75.

WVW (70) — Sean Judge 3 0-0 8, Noah Frace 4 2-3 11, Aaron Austin 6 4-4 21, Draig Ruff 6 3-4 15, Amistad Hackett 5 0-0 10, Savion Saunders 2 0-1 4, Tayshawn Moore 0 0-0 0, Davis Weaver 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 9-11 70.

Dallas`25`15`17`18`—`75

WVW`21`16`20`13`—`70

Three-point goals — DAL 6 (Charlton, Parsons 2, Kocher 3. WVW 8 (Judge, Frace, Austin 5).

Wyoming Valley West guard Sean Judge gets some air going to the basket against Dallas on Tuesday night.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_wvw_dal1_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Valley West guard Sean Judge gets some air going to the basket against Dallas on Tuesday night.

Dallas guard Ben Donahue (left) has the ball come loose as Wyoming Valley West’s Sean Judge tries to grab it.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_wvw_dal2_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas guard Ben Donahue (left) has the ball come loose as Wyoming Valley West’s Sean Judge tries to grab it.

Dallas’ Alex Charlton of Dallas and Wyoming Valley West’s Draig Ruff chase after a stray rebound.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_wvw_dal3_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas’ Alex Charlton of Dallas and Wyoming Valley West’s Draig Ruff chase after a stray rebound.

Dallas guard Ben Donahue has the ball stripped away by Wyoming Valley West’s Noah Frace.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_wvw_dal4_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas guard Ben Donahue has the ball stripped away by Wyoming Valley West’s Noah Frace.

Dallas’ Alex Charlton moves the ball in the backcourt.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_wvw_dal5_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas’ Alex Charlton moves the ball in the backcourt.

Wyoming Valley West’s Savion Saunders grabs a rebound under his basket.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_wvw_dal6_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Valley West’s Savion Saunders grabs a rebound under his basket.

Wyoming Valley West’s Draig Ruff (14) and Dallas Collin Pertl (3) fight for a rebound.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_wvw_dal7_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Valley West’s Draig Ruff (14) and Dallas Collin Pertl (3) fight for a rebound.
Dallas hits critical free throws to pull away

By John Erzar

[email protected]

Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar