Pittston Area’s J.J. Walsh trys to get past Dylan Schuster of Dallas during a boys basketball game on Thursday night.

Pittston Area’s J.J. Walsh trys to get past Dylan Schuster of Dallas during a boys basketball game on Thursday night.

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DALLAS TWP. – Dallas flipped the tables Thursday night.

Barely.

The Mountaineers never trailed but had to hold off several rally attempts by Pittston Area for a 49-48 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys basketball game.

Jack Farrell made the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation with 8.6 seconds left to all but seal the win. Pittston Area had no timeouts remaining when Andrew Krawczyk canned a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining and time expired.

“Our kids played hard. I’m proud of my kids,” Pittston Area coach Al Semenza said. “I’m not happy how we rebounded down the stretch, but my guys are battling. Down six or seven at halftime and to get right there. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Pittston Area tied the score five times in the second half, with the last, 33-33, coming with 6:57 left in the fourth quarter on two free throws by Brennan Higgins.

Krawczyk’s 3-pointer was one of four baskets behind the arc for the Patriots, who fell to 6-2 in the division (11-5 overall) and out of a first place tie with Hazleton Area. Back on Jan. 3, Pittston Area recorded 10 3-pointers in its 66-59 victory over Dallas, including eight by J.J. Walsh.

“They got us the first time and this time we played aggressive defense,” said Dallas coach Mark Belenski, whose team improved to 5-3 in the division at 12-4 overall.

Walsh had one trey on Thursday, but it was a big one. His basket from the right side of the arc moved Pittston Area within 46-45 with 28.5 seconds left. After Farrell hit a pair of free throws with 26.5 seconds left, Pittston Area misfired on a 3-pointer. Farrell grabbed his 12th rebound, resulting in his trip to the foul line with 8.6 seconds on the clock.

“Quite honestly, it came down to boards,” Semenza said. “They beat us up on the offensive boards. They missed shots and got second shots down the stretch.”

Dallas held Pittston Area to 11 rebounds in the last three quarters while winning the battle on the boards, 30-17. The Patriots’ shooting in the first half didn’t help matters as they were 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) from the field.

Dallas busted out of the gates to a 5-0 lead as Pittston Area missed its first six shots. A 6-0 run started and ended by Farrell gave the Mountaineers an 11-6 lead after one quarter. The Mountaineers finished off the second quarter with baskets by Austin Finarelli and Luke DelGaudio to take a 22-15 advantage into halftime.

Pittston Area was able to tie the score twice in the third quarter, with Logan Booth’s two free throws knotting the score 30-30 with 34 seconds left. But Dallas backup big man Logan Evanosky scored his only basket of the game on a second-chance opportunity as the Mountaineers regained the lead going into the fourth.

Logan Booth led the Patriots with 15 points. Brennan Higgins added 14.

Pittston Area 53, Nanticoke 30

The Patriots began Tuesday as part of a three-way tie for the WVC Division 1 lead and ended the night in a two-way tie after Hazleton Area defeated Crestwood, 62-57, in a game between the other two teams that had been sharing the lead.

Brennan Higgins scored 15 points to lead Pittston Area’s home win.

J.J. Walsh added 13 points and Logan Booth had 12.

Nanticoke led 12-5 after one quarter.

Pittston Area dominated from there, taking a 25-18 halftime lead, then building it to 35-22 after three quarters.