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WILKES-BARRE — String Theory received a dose of reality on Saturday afternoon.
The reality that trying to stop one option on Wyoming Seminary’s offense just opens up opportunities for the others.
With Dimitri Gnall the main focus of String Theory, Jeremy Callahan and Todd Phillips took turns burning the defense in the first quarter as Seminary went on for a 75-41 victory in a PIAA Class 3A boys basketball first-round game at Wilkes University.
District 2 champion Wyoming Seminary (27-2) plays in the second round Wednesday against District 12 champ Neumann-Goretti (20-7), which has won eight of the last nine PIAA Class 3A state championships. Neumann-Goretti trampled District 3 fourth seed Lancaster Mennonite 83-48 in its second-round game.
District 12 fourth seed String Theory (9-16) started the game with a box-and-one defense, with special attention paid to Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3 MVP Gnall. The strategy kept Gnall from scoring but not Callahan and Phillips.
“When other teams focus on one specific player — not specifically Dimitri or specifically myself — it opens up everything for everyone else,” said Callahan, who finished 7 of 9 from behind the arc and with a game-high 25 points. “I think we’re skilled at every position and when teams do that it’s very dangerous.”
Callahan launched in three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Phillips added seven more points, and when Jake Koretz finished off the initial eight minutes with a drive to the hoop Seminary was up 18-9.
“Going into most of these games, most teams are going to focus on Dimitri,” Seminary coach Pete Moses said. “We feel we have a pretty good compliment of players that could be effective. Todd and Jeremy played extremely well. Jake did a good job getting in the lane for us and getting some layups and finishes at the basket.”
String Theory abandoned the special defense against Gnall in the second quarter, allowing the senior to score seven of his 10 points. String Theory made a run at the deficit, cutting it to 22-16 with just under six minutes left until halftime, but the Blue Knights recovered. Gnall finished off the half with a rebound basket for a 32-22 lead.
Callahan then went to work behind the 3-pointer arc in the third, nailing three more. Two treys came in a 12-0 burst that built the lead to 49-29 midway through the period. The Blue Knights hit on their first six shots and finished 9 of 11 from the field in the quarter.
The victory put Seminary in the second round for the fourth time in school history. The Blue Knights failed to advance past that point in 1986, 1992 and 2018.
PIAA Class 3A First Round
Wyoming Seminary 75, String Theory 41
STRING THEORY (41) — Tyler Spann 9 0-0 20, Lamar Thomas 1 0-0 3, Kylil Turner 2 5-6 9, Joel Quinn 0 0-0 0, Debarrin Norman 2 0-2 4, Mark Starchia 0 0-0 0, Haru Mosley 1 0-3 3, Tim Gravelle 0 0-0 0, Jovace Nelson 1 0-2 2, Bryce Garton 0 0-0 0, Ed Cavanaugh 0 0-0 0, Carlos Astacio 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-13 41.
WYOMING SEMINARY (75) — Jake Koretz 3 0-1 6, Todd Phillips 6 1-2 15, Jeremy Callahan 7 4-4 25, Dimitri Gnall 4 1-2 10, Nick Ganter 1 1-1 3, Andy Maddock 0 0-0 0, John Coates 0 0-0 0, Nick Bufalino 1 1-1 3, Ryan Anderson 0 3-4 3, Aidan Murphy 0 0-0 0, Alex Meuser 1 0-0 2, Ethan Meuser 3 0-0 6, Ben Paglia 1 0-0 2, Gavin Flanley 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 11-15 75.
String Theory`9`13`13`6 — 41
Wyo. Seminary`18`14`26`17 — 75
Three-point goals — ST 4 (Spann 2, Thomas, Mosley); WS 10 (Callahan 7, Phillips 2, Gnall)
