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Holy Redeemer’s Peter Alexis (52) puts up a shot in front of Mikael Owens-Wright of Danville on Friday. With 20 points, Alexis surpassed 2,000 points for his high school career.
Don Carey/the times leader
YATESVILLE — When Danville finally made one of those baskets that could change momentum, it didn’t matter Friday night.
Holy Redeemer had already done too much damage and there was too little time remaining in the PIAA Class 3A boys basketball first-round game.
As expected, Peter Alexis caused the most trouble as the 6-foot-11 senior scored a team-high 20 points, including the 2,000th of his career, and the Royals advanced with a 60-55 victory over Danville at Pittston Area High School.
“We had a great team performance, definitely,” said Alexis, whose 2,000th point on a rebound basket with 4:48 to play gave Redeemer a 48-37 lead. “I missed way too many easy shots and my team was getting a little angry at me. But they kept finding me and kept faithful with me.”
District 2 champion Redeemer (23-4) moves to Tuesday’s second round, facing District 12 runner-up Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter. PET Charter (23-5) defeated District 1 third seed Pope John Paul II 62-56.
District 4 runner-up Danville ended its season at 17-8.
Redeemer took a 13-10 lead on Steve Ruch’s three-pointer at 3:07 and never relinquished it. The Royals built the advantage to 22-12 on Alexis’ inside basket at 5:37 of the second, setting up a spirited but futile Danville attempt to rally back.
“That’s what championship teams do. They don’t let that team get over the hump,” Danville coach Lenny Smith said. “They just kept us at arm’s length. That seven-point lead in the first half, you spend a lot of energy trying to get back into the game.”
The Ironmen pulled within 33-26 at halftime, using a 6-2 burst during the final 1:48 of the second quarter. Redeemer, though pushed its lead back to double digits, 39-28, less than two minutes into the third quarter.
Guard Austin Carr sparked the Royals in that span, turning two steals into layups. Alexis threw down a dunk as well.
“It was good because Danville just got that last-second shot before the half,” said Carr, who added 16 points. “I felt that I needed to come out in the second half and pick up my defense.”
Carr and the Royals did just that. Andrew Andreychik, Danville’s main perimeter threat, had three three-pointers in the first half. He was just 1-of-6 from behind the arc in the final two quarters. That helped Redeemer keep its lead around seven points in the fourth quarter before Danville’s Bret Berg hit a falling jump shot and ensuing free throw with 0.7 seconds to play.
Berg’s three-point play, something the Ironmen could have used earlier to seize the momentum, only made the final outcome look closer.
“The two tapes I saw, they give you baskets,” Redeemer coach Mark Belenski said. “But you have to stop them from scoring. That’s how we stopped them from scoring. Our zone took their threes away. I don’t know how many they had, but they didn’t have many. That was the key.”
DANVILLE (55): Andreychik 6-15 1-1 17, Litz 2-2 0-0 4, Gruss 0-6 0-0 0, Owens-Wright 8-18 4-8 20, Russell 1-6 0-0 2, Berg 2-4 5-7 9, McConnell 1-4 0-0 3, Eveland 0-0 0-0 0, Vitunec 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 10-16 50.
HOLY REDEEMER (60): Lambert 0-0 1-2 1, Carr 5-12 4-7 16, McCarthy 1-4 2-2 5, Ruch 5-9 2-2 13, Alexis 8-17 4-8 20, Simon 0-0 0-0 0, Dunsmuir 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 21-44 13-21 60.
Danville
12
14
8
21
—
55
Holy Redeemer
18
15
11
16
—
60
3-Point Field Goals— DAN 5-20 (Andreychik 4-12, Gruss 0-4, McConnell 1-4); HR 5-12 (Carr 2-5, McCarthy 1-3, Ruch 1-3, Dunsmuir 1-1)