H.S. Boys Basketball: Crestwood tops Pittston Area in defensive battle

YATESVILLE — Two stingy defenses controlled Thursday night’s game between Crestwood and Pittston Area, but the Comets put together just enough of a run with their offense to secure victory.

Crestwood did the majority of its scoring in the second half, erasing a halftime deficit with a big third quarter before ultimately holding on for a 46-38 victory over the Patriots.

Trailing by five heading into the break, the Comets managed to turn the tide with a 16-5 edge in the third quarter, finding just enough room against the Pittston Area defense to pull ahead in a game where scoring was at a premium.

The Patriots fought back and cut the lead down to just three points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t string together enough scores to pull off the comeback.

“I thought we came out with more intensity,” said Crestwood coach Mark Atherton, referring to his team’s performance in the second half. “We did a better job with our traps, taking away some pretty good angles.”

The minutes flew off the clock in the first half, with each team taking their time probing the defense, trying to find open looks that neither Pittston Area nor Crestwood were really giving up.

Pittston Area’s halftime lead stemmed largely from their edge from the outside, thanks in large part to the efforts of guard Chris Scavo. Scavo had three three-pointers and 11 total points in the first half, taking advantage of what little space he could find.

Crestwood’s burst of success coming out of the locker room wasn’t necessarily due to a lapse in the Patriots’ defensive intensity, but more due to the Comets using their own pressure to create turnovers and find open baskets in transition.

Errant passes were turned into layups, and transition opportunities led to open shots from beyond the arc as the Comets opened the third quarter on a 14-1 run.

“I thought our offense was a little stale, I give Pittston a lot of credit for that, but then our defense helped the offense get going,” Atherton said.

Most notably for Pittston Area was the way Scavo, the team’s most effective scorer, was taken out of the equation by Crestwood’s defense. He was held scoreless in the second half, and the Patriots didn’t make any more three-pointers after he knocked down three of them early.

In the final quarter, a few timely defensive plays helped Pittston keep it close, getting within a possession of tying things up.

The Comets were able to keep the game at arm’s length with the help of the free throw line, which had not been kind to them for most of the night.

They finished just 5-for-16 from the stripe, but Chaz Wright sunk one to stretch the game back to two possessions. After the Patriots came up empty on their next trip down the floor, Matt Sklarosky made a pair to effectively put the game away.

Sklarosky led the Comets with 12 points, eight coming in the second half. Ayden Agapito added 10 points (eight of them after halftime) for Crestwood, which improved to 7-3 with the win.

Pittston Area dropped to 4-5 with the loss, its second in a row. Scavo’s 11 points were a team high, with Matt Walter chipping in eight points and Paul Jordan McGarry adding six.

Crestwood 46, Pittston Area 38

CRESTWOOD (46) — Sechleer 2 0-0 4, Porro 0 0-0 0, Czapla 3 1-2 8, Johnson 2 0-2 5, Sklarosky 5 2-2 12, Wright 2 2-8 7, Jennings 0 0-0 0, Barna 0 0-0 0, Agapito 5 0-2 10. Totals 19 5-16 46

PITTSTON AREA (38) — Lopresto 1 1-2 3, Barnic 0 0-0 0, Walter 4 0-0 8, Scavo 4 0-0 11, McGarry 2 2-2 6, Lynn 1 2-3 4, Bilbow 3 0-0 6. Totals 15 5-7 38

Crestwood`5`11`16`14 — 46

Pittston Area`7`14`5`12 — 38

Three-point goals: CRE 3 (Czapla, Johnson, Wright), PA 3 (Scavo 3).