Mike Cumbo (23) helped get Dallas off to a fast start on Friday night, but Amir Williams, left, and Neumann-Goretti had a strong response to win.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Angelo Zarola of Dallas chases after the ball in front of Neumann-Goretti’s Khaafiq Meyers in the second quarter Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas’ Austin Finarelli tries to knock the ball away from Neumann-Goretti’s Robert Wright in the fourth quarter on Friday in Bethlehem.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Austin Finarelli led the Mountaineers with 25 points in Friday’s state semifinal loss.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas guard Nick Nocito reaches for a loose ball against Neumann-Goretti’s Khaafiq Meyers during Friday night’s PIAA Class 4A semifinal in Bethlehem.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
BETHLEHEM — Mike Cumbo and Austin Finarelli hit 3-pointers from the left corner.
Nick Nocito scored a layup off a steal and Michael Bufalino scooped up a loose ball for another possession.
Just over three minutes into Friday’s game with perennial state power Neumann-Goretti, Dallas had scored the game’s first 10 points.
Neumann-Goretti, though, didn’t win eight PIAA championships by panicking. Instead, the Saints methodically chipped away at the deficit and seized complete control in the third quarter. The result was a 77-50 victory in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals that ended Dallas’ season and dreams of playing for a state championship.
Instead, District 12 champion Neumann-Goretti (22-4) will head to Hershey on Thursday to play District 7 champion Quaker Valley (27-0), a 67-60 winner over District 12 fifth seed Archbishop Wood.
And Dallas (27-5) headed home with plenty of accomplishments to reflect upon later, including the program’s first District 2 championship since 1984. A pair of 1,000-point scorers led the offense. Finarelli had 25 and Nocito scored 12.
“Very, very tough,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said of his season-ending talk with his team. “A great group of guys like this, they’re going to be remembered in the Wyoming Valley a long time even though they didn’t win the state title.
“They did a lot of special things this year. Won the Wyoming Valley Conference, won the district title, broke the school record of 22 wins. They’re at 27.”
One thing Dallas couldn’t break was Neumann-Goretti’s dominance of the WVC and District 2. The victory gave the Saints a 7-0 record vs. WVC opponents and 11-0 over District 2 foes.
The win didn’t start very well. Dallas’ 10-0 opening surge resulted in a Neumann-Goretti timeout and a reminder.
“I said, ‘Ready to get the game started?’ ” Neumann-Goretti coach Carl Arrigale said. “We saw what we saw on film. They play fast, and we knew they could shoot. We knew they had an awesome lineup. But sometimes convincing kids of that is a whole other thing.
“They had to see it and feel it for themselves.”
The game couldn’t have started better for the Mountaineers. Just over three minutes into the game Dallas was up 10-0.
Neumann-Goretti, though, used an 11-2 run to close the gap, settling for a 19-15 deficit at the end of the first quarter.
Finarelli then started the second quarter with a pair of 3-pointers to give the Mountaineers a 25-15 lead. Again, Neumann-Goretti closed the gap as Bruce Smith came off the bench t0 hit 3-pointers from each corner. The Saints closed the half with n 8-2 run to take a 33-30 lead into halftime.
Everything went awry for Dallas in the third quarter. Neumann-Goretti scored the period’s first five points and closed it with 21 straight for a 62-35 lead. The Saints’ size advantage, particularly 6-foot-8 Sultan Adewale, limited Dallas to one shot on one end of the court and resulted in second and third chances on the other.
Adewale led a 51-24 rebounding edge with 15. Neumann-Goretti also had 22 offensive rebounds among the 51. Dallas subbed in some additional height, but the Saints were out and running in transition throughout the second half.
“You see film and you can’t really tell,” Arrigale said. “You see their size on the roster and they usually lie. But they didn’t have anybody over 6-2, so we knew they were either telling the truth or lying. Either way, we had a major advantage.”
PIAA Class 4A Semifinals
Neumann-Goretti 77, Dallas 50
DALLAS (50) — Austin Finarelli 9 3-3 25, Nick Nocito 5 0-0 12, Jackson Wydra 0 0-0 0, Michael Bufalino 2 0-0 4, Mike Cumbo 4 0-0 9, Angelo Zarola 0 0-0 0, EJ Matushek 0 0-0 0, Zach Paczewski 0 0-0 0, Nick Williams 0 0-0 0, Nick Farrell 0 0-0 0, Cameron Faux 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 3-3 50.
NEUMANN-GORETTI (77) — Khaafiq Meyers 5 0-4 11, Robert Wright 10 1-5 28, Amir Hurst 1 0-0 2, Masud Stewart 3 0-0 9, Sultan Adewale 4 5-6 13, Amir Williams 1 0-0 2, Bruce Smith 4 0-0 10, Matt Goukas 0 0-0 0, Tymair Smalls 0 0-0 0, Luke Bevilacqua 0 0-0 0, Kai Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 6-15 77.
Dallas`19`11`5`15 — 50
Neumann-Goretti`15`16`29`15 — 77
Three-point goals — DAL 7 (Finarelli 4, Nocito 2, Cumbo). NG 11 (Meyers, Wright 7, Stewart, Smith 2).