Vally View’s TJ Noto (left) and Crestwood’s Marcus Vieney go after a lose ball during Tuesday’s District 2 Class 5A semifinal game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Crestwood’s Ryan Petrosky drives toward the basket between Valley View’s Adam Howanitz and Eli Yusavage. Petrosky scored a game-high 23 points in the District 2 Class 5A semifinal win.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Crestwood’s Marcus Vieney drives past Valley View’s Colin Skeen on the way to the basket.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Crestwood’s Mike Zaleski (front) and Valley View’s Sean MacKinder battle for the ball during Tuesday’s District 2 Class 5A semifinal game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Crestwood’s Ryan Petrosky drive toward the basket while surrounded by Valley View defenders in the first quarter of Tuesday’s District 2 Class 5A semifinal game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
WRIGHT TWP. — Crestwood has been a perennial power in Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball over the years. Yet when it comes to the District 2 playoffs, the Comets have experienced nothing but heartache.
Crestwood has been seeded no lower than fourth in either the Class 3A or 5A district playoffs from 2010-20, but has no championships to show for it. Heartbreaking losses, including five by four points or less, have ended promising seasons prematurely.
Crestwood, though, made certain they would get another crack at that elusive title on Tuesday night, using a harassing defense to rout Valley View 71-48 in a District 2 Class 5A semifinal game.
Top-seeded Crestwood (16-1) will play second-seeded Abington Heights (13-3) at 8 p.m. Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena for the championship.
Friday’s game is a rematch of the 2019 title contest won by Abington Heights. But unlike that game where both teams advanced to the state playoffs, only the winner goes this year. The PIAA decided because of the COVID-19 pandemic to limit state playoff to district champions only.
“It’s different this year. Every game is win or go home,” said Crestwood senior guard Ryan Petrosky, who scored a game-high 23 points. “And we know that and don’t want to stop playing. We want to keep winning.”
That mantra was evident from the opening tip. Crestwood’s defense forced nine turnovers in the first quarter as fourth-seeded Valley View (10-6) was unable to handle the in-your-face pressure. The Cougars shuffled in a couple new guys, yet nothing worked.
On the other end of the court, Petrosky scored 11 of his points in the first quarter as Crestwood shot 7-of-11 from the field for a 21-4 lead. The Crestwood offense-defense combo resulted in the Comets having no rebounds in the first quarter. They didn’t really need them, either.
“That and the last one against West Scranton I thought we played the same way,” Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said. “I thought our kids came out focused with a lot of energy.”
Crestwood’s power supply remained effective in the second quarter, creating six more turnovers to take a 34-14 lead into halftime. Valley View had 21 turnovers total when both coaches cleared the bench in the latter portion of the fourth quarter.
Petrosky was the high scorer Tuesday, but Crestwood showed the balance elsewhere that has made it a difficult opponent. Mike Zaleski had 12, Paul Fiesel and Jacob Zaleski had nine each and Marcus Vieney completed the starting lineup with seven.
“It’s nice because every possession you know someone can rip off a guy, beat a guy to the basket, hit a three,” Petrosky said. “When we share the ball well we usually win a lot of games.”
Now comes the biggest of the season as Crestwood will be going for its first district championship since 2009 when it won its fifth in a six-season span.
“It’s tough,” Atherton said. “Abington dominated for so many years. They had some good teams and had a good run. We’re excited to be back.”
District 2 Class 5A Semifinals
Crestwood 71, Valley View 48
VALLEY VIEW (48) — Colin Skeen 0 1-1 1, Zack Kovalchick 4 0-0 8, Adam Howanitz 5 5-6 15, Sean MacKinder 0 0-0 0, TJ Noto 0 0-0 0, Eli Yusavage 3 2-2 11, Logan McConnell 1 2-2 5, Riley Jones 1 0-2 2, LV Pagula 0 2-2 2, AJ Kucharski 0 2-2 2, Cory Bushta 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 14-17 48.
CRESTWOOD (71) — Mike Zaleski 3 4-4 12, Ryan Petrosky 6 9-12 23, Marcus Vieney 2 3-3 7, Paul Feisel 4 0-0 9, Jacob Zaleski 3 2-4 9, Tyler Orsick 0 0-0 0, Nick Ruggeri 1 3-4 5, Joe Gzemski 1 0-0 2, Brenden Dennis 1 0-0 3, Sam Ballet 0 1-2 1, Zayne Dunsmuir 0 0-0 0, Adam Wood 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 22-29 71.
Valley View`4`10`13`21 — 48
Crestwood`21`13`14`23 — 71
Three-point goals: VV 4 (Yusavage 3, McConnell). CRE 7 (M.Zaleski 2, Petrosky 2, Feisel, J.Zaleski, Dennis).