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EXETER — On the night it formally wrapped up the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 boys basketball title, Holy Redeemer left no doubt about its superiority in the division.
Playing a team anchored squarely in the middle of the division at the .500 mark, the Royals used their starters each roughly 2½ quarters and spent the entire second half under the Mercy Rule on the way to a 78-41 rout at Wyoming Area.
The Royals’ dominance was staggering.
“That was something that we talked about,” Holy Redeemer coach Paul Guido said of his team, which lost twice in the last week outside the division. “The way our schedule has gone with Scranton last week and (Allentown Central Catholic) over the weekend; after seeing that kind of competition, we still want to play to that level no matter who the opponent is.
“I felt like that showed for us tonight.”
Holy Redeemer scored the last 19 points of the first quarter and first 12 of the second quarter on the way to a 38-5 lead 3:55 before halftime.
At that point, Matt Prociak already had 18 points and 12 rebounds as he joined Justice Shoats and the other starters on the bench for the rest of the half.
Both returned to play the running clock-shortened third quarter, in which an intrasquad dunk contest broke out at one point.
Moments after slamming an attempt off the back iron, Shoats followed a Prociak dunk with two of his own for three by the Royals in a span of 1:33 for a 58-18 lead.
The lead finally reached its peak at 70-25 when Charlie Floryan opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer.
Holy Redeemer improved to 11-0 in the division with just one game remaining. Second-place Nanticoke has already lost twice and the rest of the division’s teams have lost more.
“Right off the tip our defensive pressure was really good, we were hitting tough shots, driving to the basket, rebounding the ball like crazy,” said Prociak, who had a double-double by the end of the first quarter on the way to 24 points and 17 rebounds.
Prociak grabbed nine of the rebounds on the offensive end in the first 6:15 as Holy Redeemer destroyed Wyoming Area on the boards 56-34, including 48-21 in the first three quarters.
Shoats had 19 points, five steals and four assists.
Zach Perta had seven rebounds while Jeffrey Kozerski and Chris Papciak had six each to add to the rebounding advantage.
Jacob Hunter came off the bench to go 4-for-5 for nine points along with four assists.
Evan Melberger, the only Wyoming Area player to score in the first 15 minutes, led the Warriors with 17 points.
Holy Redeemer 78, Wyoming Area 41
HOLY REDEEMER (78) — Zach Perta 2 0-0 4, Darryl Wright 3 1-2 8, Justice Shoats 9 0-0 19, Jeff Kozerski 3 0-1 6, Matt Prociak 11 2-3 24, Jayden Halstead 1 0-0 2, Jacob Hunter 4 0-0 9, Chris Papciak 1 0-0 2, Charlie Floryan 1 0-0 3, Mark Atherton 0 0-0 0, Louis Lussi 0 0-0 0, Charlie Revitt 0 0-0 0, Henry Rosen 0 0-0 0, Steven Ha 0 1-2 1, Mason Bagusky 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 3-6 78.
WYOMING AREA (41) — Tyler Sciandra 1 0-0 2, Lukas Burakiewicz 1 0-0 3, Matt Little 2 0-2 5, Caden Bonita 1 0-0 2, Brady Noone 0 0-0 0, Matt Rusinchak 0 0-0 0, Evan Melberger 6 0-0 17, Nico Sciandra 1 0-0 2, Dane Schutter 1 2-2 4, Mike Brown 2 2-3 6. Totals 15 4-7 41.
Holy Redeemer`26`18`23`11 — 78
Wyoming Area`5`7`13`16 — 41
Three-point goals — HR 4 (Wright, Shoats, Hunter, Floryan); WA 5 (Melberger 3, Burakiewicz, Little)