Redeemer posts win at Wachovia Arena

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Holy Redeemer had less than 24 hours to deal with the disappointment of its first loss and the Royals already had a chance to do something about it.

Playing in its second showcase event of the weekend, Holy Redeemer broke away at the start of overtime Sunday afternoon to defeat Bethlehem Freedom, 54-50, as part of the Holiday on the Hardwood which brought boys basketball back to the Wachovia Arena for the first time in eight years.

“It’s good to bounce back,” Holy Redeemer junior guard Austin Carr said after the Royals recovered from a 48-26 loss to Abington Heights in the final game of Saturday night’s Backcourt Hoops High School Basketball Challenge at Marywood University. “We knew we needed a big game.”

Carr did his part with 17 points to earn the game’s Most Valuable Player honors. Pete Alexis added 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots for the Royals while Michael Zurek grabbed 11 rebounds.

Mike Prater scored off a steal to rally Freedom (2-2) into a 43-43 tie and neither team scored in the final 2:12 of regulation.

Holy Redeemer (4-1) then scored the first seven points of overtime when Stephen Ruch and Zurek hit 16-footers before Alexis made two free throws and Ruch hit one of two.

“We made the shots at the end,” Holy Redeemer coach Mark Belenski said. “We’ve been struggling to make shots.”

The Holy Redeemer coach said he was concerned about fatigue after a tough win over Holy Cross followed by Saturday’s loss.

“That’s why I ran so many people in and out at the beginning of the game,” he said. “I’m not afraid to go to that eighth and ninth guy.”

Alexis scored twice and blocked two shots in the first 2:26. He finished the first quarter with six points but the Royals still trailed, 15-12.

After Alexis scored the first four points of the second quarter to give Holy Redeemer a 16-15 lead, Carr had seven points in the second quarter to give the Royals a 25-21 halftime lead.

Carr led a seven-point streak to end the half with a 3-pointer to tie the game then a drive at the end.

“That’s what we needed,” Belenski said, “somebody to step up on the perimeter and that hasn’t happened.

“(Sunday) it did with Austin. When it does, teams will have to play Peter one-on-one and he’s tough to guard one-on-one.”

Holy Redeemer allowed just two points in the final 3:40 of the second quarter and first 4:30 of the third quarter to open a seven-point lead.

Jon Payano hit three 3-pointers in the first 2:45 of the fourth quarter to give the Patriots the lead, which then traded hands the rest of the way.

Payano finished with 15 points and Prater added 13 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists.

No official attendance was announced. Throughout the day, there were generally between 350 and 500 fans seated, although the people occupying those seats changed as the teams changed.

HOLY REDEEMER (54): Ell 0 1-2 1, Carr 5 6-8 17, McCarthy 1 0-0 3, Zurek 2 3-4 7, Alexis 7 2-5 16, Frank 0 0-0 0, Ruch 2 5-6 9, Templeton 0 0-0 0, Choman 0 0-0 0, Lambert 0 0-0 0, Desciak 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 18-27 54.

BETHLEHEM FREEDOM (50): Ragland 0 0-0 0, Payano 6 0-2 15, Prater 6 1-3 13, Dickerson 4 1-1 9, Coccia 2 0-0 4, Lococo 0 0-0 0, Taylor 1 0-0 2, L. Giovarelli 2 0-0 4, T. Giovarelli 0 0-0 0, Bonavita 1 1-2 3, Edwards 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 3-8 50.

3-Point Field Goals: Holy Redeemer 2 (Carr, McCarthy), Bethlehem Freedom 3 (Payano 3).

Crestwood 48, GAR 30

Unbeaten Crestwood held its fifth straight opponent to 36 or fewer points while beating GAR, 48-30, in the opening game.

“I am happy with our defense right now,” Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said. “We’re doing a pretty good job on our coverage of guys and rotating.

“And, the big thing is we’re boxing out right now. Being a little smaller, that’s important for us.”

Mike Abramcheck scored 15 points, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, dished out four assists and handled a key defensive assignment inside for the Comets.

“He has given us great energy the first five games,” Atherton said. “He did a great job on the ball and, for his size, he did a great job rebounding.”

John Lasko had four steals to lead a Crestwood defense that forced 23 turnovers and held GAR to 29 percent shooting (12-for-42). Chris Kempinski and Dave Piavis added three steals each.

“Darian Twyman had 11 rebounds for GAR, which did not have a player score more than six points.

The game was tied at 13 with 5:14 left in the first half, but the Grenadiers managed just one field goal for the next 8 � minutes.

CRESTWOOD (48): Lasko 2 1-2 5, Kempinski 0 0-0 0, Vega 6 1-1 14, Jesikiewicz 3 0-1 8, Abramcheck 6 1-3 15, Fazzini 1 0-0 2, Wojnar 1 0-0 3, Piavis 0 1-2 1, Pickett 0 0-0 0, Flannigan 0 0-0 0, Culver 0 0-0 0, Powell 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 4-9 48.

GAR (30): Sharpe 2 2-4 6, Powell 3 0-0 6, D. Twyman 2 0-0 4, Skrepenak 2 0-3 4, Oldziejewski 0 2-2 2, Crawford 2 0-0 5, L. Twyman 0 1-2 1, Wiggins 1 0-0 2, Simmons 0 0-0 0, Kaskey 0 0-0 0, Dempsey 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 5-11 30.

3-Point Field Goals: Crestwood 6 (Jesikiewicz 2, Abramcheck 2, Vega, Wojnar), GAR 1 (Crawford).

St. Alban’s 41, Hazleton Area 38

Hazleton Area overcome a horrendous offensive start to lead during the second and third quarters before falling short against St. Alban’s of Washington, D.C., 41-38.

The Cougars missed their first 14 and 17 of their first 18 shots while falling behind, 15-3, less than two minutes into the second quarter.

D.J. Myers, Tyler Plaska and Adam Davis hit 3-pointers to help Hazleton Area score the last 14 points of the first half for a 21-17 lead.

St. Alban’s went ahead on a goaltending call at the third-quarter buzzer and stayed in front the rest of the way.

St. Alban’s made the most of a 6-foot-9, 6-foot-6, 6-foot-4 frontline to lead in rebounds, 41-36. Glen Thomas had 10 rebounds while Spencer Barks and Doug Spencer had eight each.

Paris Cleveland led Hazleton Area with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Dwain Gilley had 14 rebounds and Christian Laputka had five assists.

ST. ALBAN’S (41): Harrison 1 0-0 2, Cunningham 0 0-0 0, Barks 2 1-2 5, Thomas 3 0-0 6, Coulter 3 3-4 9, Sbily 0 0-0 0, Fornay 2 0-0 4, Zima 4 1-2 11, Shelley 1 0-0 2, Sniezak 0 0-0 0, Spencer 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 5-8 41.

HAZLETON AREA (38): Myers 1 3-4 6, Laputka 2 2-5 6, Cleveland 4 2-2 11, Gilley 1 0-0 0, Radishofski 1 1-2 3, McCann 0 0-0 0, Jimenez 0 0-0 0, Davis 2 1-2 7, Plaska 1 0-0 3. Totals 12 9-15 38.