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WILKES-BARRE — Halftime was the worst thing to happen to GAR on Friday night.
The Grenadiers lost their momentum, while Holy Redeemer was able to figure out why it couldn’t get any.
And, oddly, the Royals began their comeback the same way GAR built its halftime lead — from beyond the 3-point arc.
Guard Joey Judge drilled a couple 3’s early in the third quarter as Redeemer rallied to defeat GAR 72-62 in the Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball opener for both teams.
Redeemer improved to 1-0 in WVC Division 3 and 3-1 overall as Judge finished with 20 points and Collin Cook had a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds. The duo had 32 of their 39 points in the second half, including 20 in the third quarter when Redeemer outscored GAR 26-8.
“We told them we were going to go through them,” Redeemer coach Paul Guido said. “GAR and in particular that Carson kid shot the ball really, really well. That’s something tough to overcome, but we have some experience and some leadership. So that’s what we’re going to rely on and go through them.”
The Grenadiers (0-1 Div. 2, 1-3) received an incredible shooter performance from sophomore Khairi Carson in the first half. The first-year starter drilled all six of his 3-point attempts as GAR built its lead as high as 12 before settling for a 36-28 advantage at the break.
Meanwhile, Redeemer tried to use its obvious size advantage in the first half. Big guys Nick Prociak and J.D. Turosky had their moments, but not enough to sway the game the Royals’ way.
So the Royals attacked from the perimeter in the third. Judge moved his team within 41-38 with his second 3-pointer of the quarter. Cook followed with a pair of free throws and then gave Redeemer the lead for good when he raced in to score on a rebound. Ironically, the miss came from 3-point range for Prociak, who usually spends his time near the rim but took advantage of an open look.
“We came up into the locker room and we weren’t down,” Cook said, “but we were like, ‘These kids are coming in and just making everything.’ We knew eventually they weren’t going to and we had to keep our heads and work through it.”
Redeemer opened the lead to 54-44 by the end of the third as the Royals ended the period with a 3-pointer and layup by Cook and two free throws by Judge.
“Totally two different halves,” GAR coach Jerry Altavilla said. “The first half, I thought we really found our groove. We struggled in our previous two games, but we started having some good momentum there. I liked what we were seeing. The second half, we just got out of our game.”
GAR couldn’t match up inside with Prociak and Turosky for the most part, although Anthony Hawk finished with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. Carson finished with 27, but an elbow injury suffered in the third curtailed his accuracy. Will Johnson had 13.
Nanticoke 53, Wyoming Seminary 51 OT
Nate Kreitzer scored a game-high 28 points, including seven in overtime, as Nanticoke edged Wyoming Seminary.
Colby Butczynski had 11 for the Trojans. Dimitri Gnall scored 14 and Nick Ganter added 13 for Seminary.
Crestwood 49, Pittston Area 31
Crestwood outscored the Patriots 17-2 in the third quarter to rally for a road win.
Sean Murphy had 11 and Kevin Klusewitz added 10 for the Comets. Matt McGlynn paced Pittston Area with 14. The Patriots scored five points in the second half.
Dallas 85, Wyoming Valley West 39
Alex Charlton had 28 points as Dallas seized control early and rolled past Wyoming Valley West.
Brody Strickland added 11 and Jay Bittner added eight for the Mountaineers.
Draig Ruff paced Valley West with 12.
Berwick 64, Central Columbia 55
Alec Markle led four Berwick players in double figures as the Dawgs defeated Central Columbia in a non-conference game.
Markle finished with 16 points. Joe Norce scored 15, Damon Beckhorn had 13 and Ken Marshman added 11.
GIRLS BASKETBALL Berwick 43, Central Columbia 28
Reese Mensinger scored a game-high 13 points in a non-conference win over Central Columbia.
Megan Dale added nine points while Katie Starr scored six in a winning effort.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Holy Redeemer 72, GAR 62
GAR (62) — Eli Ruiz 1 1-2 3. Khairi Carson 10 0-0 27, Anthony Hawk 4 2-2 10, Will Johnson 4 2-2 13, Khalil White 2 0-0 4, Jared O’Day 0 0-0 0, Simon Peter 2 0-0 5. Totals 23 5-6 62.
HOLY REDEEMER (72) — Bryce Yencha 1 0-0 2, Joey Judge 6 5-7 20, JD Turosky 4 0-0 8, Collin Cook 6 34-4 19, Nick Prociak 5 4-4 14, Eli Tucker 0 0-0 0, Derek Answini 0 0-0 0, Jake Adonizio 1 0-0 2, Sean Wills 3 0-0 7, Jordan Diggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 13-15 72.
GAR`20`16`8`18`—`62
Redeemer`12`16`26`18`—`72
Three-point goals — GAR 11 (Carson 7, Johnson 3, Peter 1); HR 7 (Judge 3, Cook 3, Wills).
Crestwood 49, Pittston Area 31
CRESTWOOD (49) — Sean Murphy 4 0-0 11, Kevin Klusewitz 4 0-0 10, Camden Boris 2 2-2 8, Mike Palmiero 3 1-1 8, Ryan Petroski 3 0-0 8, Evan Knapp 2 0-0 4, Frank Casarella 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 3-3 49.
PITTSTON AREA (31) — Matt McGlynn 5 0-0 14, Brian Miller 3 3-4 9, Naseem Guillaume 3 2-2 8, Keemar Woodruff 0 0-0 0, Brennan Higgins 0 0-0 0, Andrew Krawczyk 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 5-6 31.
Crestwood`11`12`17`9`—`49
Pittston Area`14`12`2`3`—`31
Three-point goals — CRE 10 (Murphy 3, Petroski 2, Klusewitz 2, Boris 2, Palmiero 1); PIT 4 (McGlynn 4).
Dallas 85, Wyoming Valley West 39
WVW (39) — Isaac Sosa 0 0-0 0, Davian Gonzales 0 0-0 0, Dieon Davis 0 0-0 0, Booker Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Justus Simpson 1 3-4 6, Draig Ruff 3 4-4 12, Roland Homad 0 0-0 0, Deron Rhodes 1 0-0 2, Austin Sinkewicz 4 0-0 9, Tyler Gillespie 0 0-0 0, Danny Gibbons 2 0-0 6, Mason Mengygral 0 0-0 0, Matt Stoodly 0 0-0 0, Sammy Solomon 1 2-2 4. Totals 11 8-11 39.
DALLAS (85) — Mike Caravaggio 1 0-0 2, Alex Charlton 11 4-5 28, Ben O’Connell 2 0-0 4, Steve Finarelli 0 0-0 0, Nick Kocher 3 0-0 7, Brody Strickland 4 0-0 11, Matt Mathers 3 1-2 7, Luke DelGaudio 2 0-0 4, Dylan Schuster 2 0-0 5, Andrew Kovalick 1 0-0 3, Jay Bittner 3 2-4 8, Loegan Evanofsky 3 0-0 6. Totals 35 7-11 85.
WVW`10`11`4`14`—`39
Dallas`22`26`24`13`—`85
Three-point goals — WVW 6 (Simpson, Ruff 2, Sinkewicz, Gibbons 2); DAL 8 (Charlton 2, Kocher, Strickland 3,
Berwick 64, Central Columbia 55
BERWICK (64) — Ken Marshman 2 6-7 11, Alex Markle 6 2-2 16, Jarrett Groshek 0 0-0 0, Malik McMillan 0 0-0 0, Damon Beckhorn 4 4-4 13, Connor Hannon 0 0-0 0, Naquan Smith 0 0-0 0, Zach Evans 4 0-0 9, Denver Knorr 0 0-0 0, Kevin Tanribilir 0 0-0 0, Joe Norce 7 1-2 15, Blane Cleaver 0 0-0 0, Eric Montes 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 13-15 64.
CENTRAL COLUMBIA (55) — Eli Morrison 5 0-1 12, Trae Devlin 3 3-3 9, Zander Bradlay 1 0-0 2, Dylan Harris 0 0-0 0, Jared Verse 2 1-5 5, Dominic Coombe 9 3-6 26, Ky Seeholtz 0 1-2 1, Derick Semeteda 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-17 55.
Berwick`13`14`14`23`—`64
Cent. Columbia`15`8`13`19`—`55
Three-point goals — BER 5 (Marshman, Markle 2, Beckhorn, Evans); CC 7 (Morrison 2, Coombe 5).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Berwick 43, Central Columbia 28
CENTRAL COLUMBIA (28) — Eillie Rowe 4 1-4 9, Kristin Kiegerma 3 1-2 8, Alyssa Boyd 2 1-2 5, Lauren Bull 1 2-2 4, Gracia Eikearode 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 5-10 28.
BERWICK (43) — Reese Mensinger 4 4-5 13, Megan Dale 3 3-4 9, Katie Starr 3 0-0 6, Mallory Pinterich 2 0-0 5, Renny Murphy 0 4-4 4, Jadyn Michael 1 0-0 3, Roni Isenberg 1 0-0 2, Emily Novicki 0 1-2 1, Sierra Miedoni 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 12-15 43.
Central Columbia`8`9`5`6`—`28
Berwick`5`11`13`14`—`43
Three-point goals — CC 1 (Kiegerma 1); BER 3 (Michael 1, Pinterich 1, Mensinger 1).
