Wilkes-Barre Area’s Matt Egidio (left) and Pittston Area’s Logan Booth try to gain control of the ball Tuesday night before it goes out of bounds.
Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader
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Pittston Area’s JJ Walsh tries to get around Wilkes-Barre Area’s Saquan Portee during Tuesday night’s game.
Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Cole Walker avoids JJ Walsh of Pittston Area.
Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Brennan Higgins looks for an opening around Wilkes-Barre Area’s Jack Gilgallon.
Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Brandon Hall (22) tries to get around Pittston Area’s JJ Walsh.
Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Brandon Hall goes up for a layup during the first quarter against Pittston Area on Tuesday night.
Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader
YATESVILLE — That Pittston Area burst to end the first half Tuesday night carried over to the the second half.
And there was little Wilkes-Barre Area could do about it.
The Patriots straightened out their rebounding issues and got back on track with a 47-38 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys basketball game.
Pittston Area (7-3 Div. 1, 12-6) and WBA (6-4, 9-9) came into the game in a four-way tie for second place in the division. The Patriots remained there with Crestwood and Dallas also winning, while the Wolfpack dropped to fifth.
“We scored six straight to end the half, I’m not quite sure,” said Pittston Area coach Al Semenza, whose team actually used an 8-0 run to pull into halftime tied 26-26. “That kind of got our feet under us and we came out and went back to playing good defense, which we’ve been doing with the exception of the last game.”
The last game was a 60-51 loss to Wyoming Valley West, a team Pittston Area defeated by 29 points about two weeks prior. Things didn’t go well early Tuesday, either. WBA’s Brendon Hall was strong on the boards as the Wolfpack built a 26-18 lead with just under three minutes left in the second quarter.
Pittston Area then went on its 8-0 run capped by Brennan Higgins’ drive to the basket. Higgins opened and closed the third quarter with 3-pointers, giving the Patriots a 36-30 lead entering the fourth. His second trey came off a pass from JJ Walsh, who rebounded his own miss. Those opportunities were rare in the first half as WBA had a 14-7 rebound edge at halftime. The Patriots outrebounded the Wolfpack 19-13 in the second half.
The Patriots pushed their lead to double digits for the first time, 43-31, on a three-point play by Andrew Krawczyk with 5:36 remaining. Krawczyk’s activity on the boards was also key to flipping the momentum in the second half.
“We dug in defensively,” Semenza said. “We did a great job. I’m proud of my guys because it’s been a long two days after getting knocked off. No disrespect to Valley West, but we thought we were the better team going down there. They did a great job and beat us.”
The Wolfpack starters managed just eight points in the second half before the second unit took over in the final minutes. The offensive woes were unexpected as they came in with a four-game winning streak, which included a victory over first-place Hazleton Area, where they averaged 69.3 points.
“I’ll give (Pittston Area) credit for their defense,” WBA coach Pat Toole said. “I’m disappointed with our effort. The league is just brutal. There are no nights off and we’re going to have to work hard now and go up to Dallas and certainly put together a better four quarters than we did tonight.”
Pittston Area 47, Wilkes-Barre Area 38
WBA (38) — Saquan Portee 1 0-0 3, Cole Walker 3 0-2 6, Matt Egidio 1 0-0 3, Brandon Hall 4 0-0 8, Blake Masker 5 0-0 10, Jack Gilgallon 1 0-0 2, Jordan Diggs 0 1-2 1, Talee Swinney 0 0-0 0, Jean Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Shawn Valenzuela 0 1-2 1, Adamis Pena 1 0-0 2, Mikey Senape 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 2-6 38.
PITTSTON AREA (47) — Logan Booth 1 2-2 4, Mike George 2 0-0 4, JJ Walsh 3 2-3 10, Brennan Higgins 6 6-7 20. Andrew Krawczyk 4 1-1 9, Joe Cencetti 0 0-0 0, Matt Johnson 0 0-0 0, Adam Penxa 0 0-0 0, Alex Hoban 0 0-0 0, Dom Januzzi 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-13 47.
Wilkes-Barre Area`14`12`4`8 — 38
Pittston Area`12`14`10`11 — 47
Three-point goals — WBA 2 (Portee, Egidio). PA 4 (Walsh 2, Higgins 2).