Patriots take DeMinico game

The Pittston Area-Wyoming Area rivalry hit the hardwoods last Saturday night in a game that honored the late Eugene DeMinico in Exeter. But, it wasn’t the exciting rivalry game fans have gotten used to.

The Warriors were unable to stop the Pittston Area offensive attack and the Patriots ran away with a 79-47 victory.

The Patriots offense was running on all cylinders in the first quarter and their defense was just as good as they outscored Wyoming Area, 26-6, in the first eight minutes.

Mike McGarry, Pat Callahan, Aaron Joyce and Dwight Houseman had multiple buckets to give the Patriots an early advantage.

The second quarter wasn’t much different as McGarry, Callahan, Joyce and Houseman continued to pour in the points as the Patriots took a lopsided 44-15 lead into halftime. Greg Noone, Cody Gates, Anthony Bellino and McDermott provided the points for the Warriors in the second quarter.

The Patriots offense didn’t slow down in the third quarter as Jordan Houseman, Steve Skalanka and Nick Musto increased the Patriot lead with their first buckets of the game. Randy McDermott also scored his first points of the game for the Warriors in the quarter as PA led 63-27 after the third stanza.

Matt McDermott heated up for Warriors in the final stanza with seven fourth quarter points. Kevin Bott came off the bench and scored his first points of the night for the Warriors in the fourth quarter.

Joe Coyne, R.J Emmett, Steve Stravinski and Tyler Roman added to the bench points for the Patriots in the final stanza.

Kendrick Wiggins led the Patriots with 12 points and six rebounds, while McDermott was the lone bright spot for the Warriors, notching a game-high 16 points. Wiggins and McDermott were awarded the DeMinico game MVP trophies for their performances.

Callahan had a solid game for the Patriots with 11 points and four assists, and McGarry added 10 points and five assists. Joyce chipped in with eight points and six rebounds for Pittston Area..

Noone had six points for the Warriors, while Gates added five points and Bellino chipped in with four points and six rebounds for WA.

It was the second time the two schools have met to honor DeMinico. Previously Pittston Area and Seton Catholic played in his honor.

PA 55, Redeemer 66

Pittston Area couldn’t overcome the presence of Holy Redeemer’s 6-foot-11 Peter Alexis as it lost a second tough game this week, falling, 66-55, to the Royals at the Thomas R. Kelly Gymnasium in Yatesville on Thursday night.

Every time the Patriots made a run at Holy Redeemer, Alexis was there to score a bucket or block or alter a shot. The Penn State recruit scored 27 points, blocked nine shots and altered numerous others.

The Patriots started the game by trying to hold the ball and force the Royals to come out of its 3-2 zone. But Holy Redeemer simply extended the zone and forced Pittston Area to pick up the action.

The Royals ran out to an 8-0 lead before Mike Blasi scored with 1:34 remaining in the first quarter. The first six minutes proved to haunt the Patriots as they would get no closer than within seven points until later in the game.

Redeemer led 14-6 at the end of the first as Kendric Wiggins and Joe Coyne added buckets to get the Patriots offense on track.

The Royals tried to pull away and led, 27-14, with less than four minutes to play in the first half, but Wiggins got hot and scored five of his nine first-half points in the last three minutes to keep the Patriots within range.

Redeemer scored baskets at each buzzer of the first and second quarter, the second to take a 33-18 lead into intermission.

Pittston Area rallied early in the third behind Pat Callahan who scored five points to get the Patriots within 10 at 34-24. But the Royals scored seven of the next 10 points to keep the lead at 15points at 42-27 entering the fourth.

Callahan, Wiggins and Mike McGarry did their best to mount a PA comeback in the last eight minutes.

The trio scored all 28 fourth-quarter points by the Patriots with McGarry pouring in 16 points, including three three-pointers and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Two free throws from Wiggins and back-to-back triples from McGarry and Wiggins got the Patriots within 44-35 with six minutes left in the game. But Alexis was there with two free throws to stop the 8-2 run.

McGarry buried a three to get the deficit to eight and had a chance to cut the Royals 46-38 lead on the Patriots next possession, but the senior guard missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

The Royals answered with back-to-back buckets around two Wiggins free throws before McGarry drilled another trey to get PA within 50-43 with 3:34 left.

The Patriots wouldn’t get closer until the 1:02 mark when Callahan scored inside and was fouled to get PA within 58-51. Callahan missed the free throw, and the Royals ended with an 8-5 run to end the game.

McGarry led the Patriots with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. Callahan added 17 points, two assists, two steals and two rebounds, and Wiggins chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

PA 43, Crestwood 46

Had circumstances gone differently – particularly in the second quarter – Pittston Area might not have needed a frantic rally attempt Tuesday night.

Nor would the Patriots have been forced to hurriedly shoot a three-pointer in desperate try to force overtime.

That second quarter, when the Patriots missed six relatively easy inside shots, haunted them to the end as Crestwood escaped with a 46-43 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division I boys basketball game.

“We were a little bit distracted. We had a couple guys missing,” Pittston Area coach Alan Keisinger said of the slow start that included 5-for-24 shooting from the field in the first half. “I think our guys maybe lost a little focus.

“I think that explains the first half because even defensively we’ve been really good this year and had some missed assignments.”

The Patriots were without three players, including starter Dwight Houseman. Keisinger declined to explain their absences.

Pittston Area chased a 21-12 halftime deficit that grew to 37-24 with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter.

Senior guard Pat Callahan then led an unexpected comeback with some long-range shooting. His three-pointer with 16 seconds left moved Pittston Area within 44-43.

After Crestwood’s Jonathan Wojnar sank two free throws with 10.8 seconds remaining, the Patriots raced down court and got the ball to Callahan on the left wing, but his shot amid a crowd of players hit off the rim.

Crestwood kept pace with Hazleton Area in the second-half season divisional race with its 16th consecutive victory over Pittston Area.

The Comets appeared on the way to victory behind the three-point shooting of Mike Abramcheck and Eric Jesikiewicz and their usually stingy defense.

Pittston Area’s press changed all that. The Patriots applied it with 3:30 to play and it helped launch the comeback bid.

“I think we didn’t handle that very well,” Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said. “We got into a little of a stop-attacking mode and started throwing the ball around, eating the clock.”

Wyoming Area went ice-cold in the second quarter and Dallas took advantage as the Mountaineers rallied to take a 50-35 win in a WVC Division II game on Friday night in the Back Mountain.

The Warriors led 9-6 after the first eight minutes of play, but managed to score just two second-quarter points as Dallas took a 15-11 lead into intermission.

The Mounts added to its lead in the third quarter before pulling away in the fourth with a 22-14 run in the final stanza.

Ryan Carey scored 10 points to lead the Warriors in scoring. Carey drained two three-pointers and added a two-pointer and two free throws.

Cody Gates and Randy McDermott each added six points for Wyoming Area (1-18 overall, 1-9 D2, 0-4 WVC).

WA 31, Seminary 42

Wyoming Area was outscored in every quarter in a 42-31 loss to Wyoming Seminary on Wednesday night in a WVC exhibition game at Wyoming Area.

Ryan Carey kept the Warriors close throughout the game with a team-high 13 points, including two three-pointers.

Wyoming Area managed just three points in the first quarter in falling behind by four after the first eight minutes.

The Warriors kept pace in the second quarter, but were outscored by the Blue Knights in, 27-21, in the second half.

Anthony Bellino added seven points for WA and Matt McDermott chipped in with six points.

WA 33, Coughlin 50

A rough third quarter on offense led to a 50-33 defeat for Wyoming Area as Coughlin pulled away in a WVC Division II game in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night.

The Warriors played even with the Crusaders in the first quarter as the teams played to a 10-10 tie. Coughlin outscored WA by five in the second quarter and took a 25-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Crusaders then turned up its defensive pressure and allowed just three points in the third, outscoring the Warriors, 11-3, to take control heading into the fourth quarter.

Anthony Bellino led the WA offense with eight points. Cody Gates and Randy McDermott each added seven points for the Warriors.