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By JAMIE PIERCE Times Leader Sports Correspondent
Wednesday, February 09, 2000 Page: 5B
EXETER – Hanover Area forward Josh Oravic felt great after nailing a
three-pointer to pass the 1,000-career point mark in Tuesday’s WVC Division II
battle with host Wyoming Area.
But, reaching that milestone wasn’t even the 6-foot-3 senior’s most
exciting moment of the night.
That came when Oravic’s baseline jumper fell through the net as time
expired to hand the Warriors a 55-53 defeat, their first of the second half.
“Scoring 1,000 points felt good, but I really haven’t thought about it too
much,” said Oravic, who finished with a game-high 23 points and five steals.
“The last shot felt better. I knew once I got the ball that there was no way
I was giving that shot up.”
The loss, combined with a 59-48 Crestwood victory against Dallas on
Tuesday, ties the Comets and Warriors atop the division at 5-1. Hanover
improves to 3-3.
Behind nine fourth-quarter points from Oravic and Dave Plisko (19 points),
the Hawkeyes extended a one-point halftime advantage to a 43-38 lead heading
into the fourth.
After going into its stall early in the period, Hanover began to turn the
ball over and Wyoming Area took advantage with an 11-2 run.
A layup from Andy Castanaro and a David Tracy three-pointer evened the
score at 45-45 two minutes into the fourth. Two Plisko free throws temporarily
gave the Hawkeyes the lead, but consecutive layups from Joe Falzone, Steve
Buzinski and P.J. Sciandra put the Warriors ahead, 49-45.
From there, the game belonged to Oravic. His jumper with 2:28 remaining
pulled the Hawkeyes within 49-47. Following two Sciandra foul shots, Oravic
buried another jump shot to stay within two.
He then recovered a loose ball after Plisko knocked it free and found
Plisko for an uncontested layup to knot the game at 51.
After the Warriors missed the front end of a one-and-one on the ensuing
possession, Oravic nailed two free throws to give the Hawkeyes a 53-51 lead.
Falzone put in a layup with just 11 seconds left to tie the game before
Oravic’s jumper gave Hanover a last-second victory.
“We have been on the wrong end of some heartbreakers this year,” Ryan
said. “It is good to finally get one to go our way. We are finally coming
around and this is going to be a tough team to beat in two weeks.”
Sciandra led the Warriors with 14 points. Hazleton Area 56 Berwick 37
HAZLETON – Jonathan Veet led Hazleton Area with 19 as the Cougars downed
visiting Berwick.
Chris Leib added 16 for the Cougars, while Jerry Waltman led Berwick with
13.
Wyoming Valley West 96 Pittston Area 55
YATESVILLE – Phil Bonczewski scored 27 points to lead Wyoming Valley West
over host Pittston Area.
Brian Mattes scored 25, Matt Hopple added 12 and P.J. Piskorik had 10 for
the Spartans.
Pat Roman and Phil Castellino each scored 14 to lead the Patriots. Bishop
Hoban 76 Bishop Hafey 68
WILKES-BARRE – Mark Williams led all scorers with 25 points as Bishop Hoban
defeated visiting Bishop Hafey.
J.C. DeRojas added 18 points, Mike Augustine had 12 and Ryan Miller had 11
for the Argents.
Frank Stish had 20 points, Matt Chapman added 15 and Matt Quinn 13 for the
Vikings. GAR 52 Wyoming Seminary 41
KINGSTON – Kevin Brown scored a game-high 19 points and Anthony Harris
added 18 to lead GAR past host Wyoming Seminary.
Joel McAndrew led the Blue Knights with 14 points. Meyers 69 Northwest
Area 44
SHICKSHINNY – Jim McGavin poured in 16 points and Dale Rapson added 13 to
lead Meyers over host Northwest Area.
Ryan Sirak had 11 points for the Rangers. Nanticoke Area 66 Lake-Lehman
43
NANTICOKE – Luke Malishchak and Todd Bargella scored 17 points each to lead
Nanticoke Area past visiting Lake-Lehman.
Russ Mosier had 15 points for the Black Knights. Crestwood 59 Dallas 48
WRIGHT TWP. – Dan Lemke scored 26 points to lead host Crestwood past
Dallas.
Joe Dorzinsky scored 11 for the Comets and teammate Gerald O’Hara added 10.
Chuck Suppon led Dallas with 26.
Coughlin 63 Tunkhannock 44
TUNKHANNOCK – Coughlin’s Paul Vecerkauskas scored 24 points in a victory
over host Tunkhannock.
Mike Lucchino added 10 for the Crusaders.
Jeff Papi scored 15 for the Tigers and Bart Blankers added 10.
Seton Catholic 82 Bishop O’Reilly 61
KINGSTON – Sean Healey scored 25 to lead Seton Catholic past host Bishop
O’Reilly.
Joe Tracy added 23 for Seton and teammate Jim Dessoye scored 12.
Jason Thompson led the Queensmen with 18 and Mike Regan added 11. Ebenezer
Faith Christian 64 Memorial Baptist 42
PLYMOUTH – Mark Rockwell poured in a game-high 29 points, including five
three-pointers, but it was not enough as Ebenezer Faith Christian defeated
Memorial Baptist.
Joe Wascavage had 23 points for Ebenezer. Girls Game Ebenezer Faith
Christian 33 Memorial Baptist 18
PLYMOUTH – Maria Worlinsky poured in a team-high 12 points to lead host
Ebenezer Christian past Memorial Baptist.
Melissa Slingerland had 12 points to lead Memorial Baptist.