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SCRANTON — Wyoming Area coach Pete Moses pointed to depth. Scranton Prep coach Andrew Kettel saw the difference as his team’s defense.

Regardless of the root cause or causes, the bottom line Saturday afternoon was that after running with the top-seeded and defending champion Cavaliers for nearly 2½ quarters, the Warriors were no longer able to keep up.

Scranton Prep held Wyoming Area to 14 percent shooting and 12 total points for the first 14:40 of the second half while running away for a 74-53 victory in a District 2 Class 4A boys basketball semifinal game at Scranton High School.

Wyoming Area (15-9) moves to the third-place game, playing Nanticoke Area (19-5) on Tuesday at a site and time to be announced. The winner gets the final D2-4A spot in the PIAA 4A state playoffs.

Wyoming Area was within 41-37 as the midway point of the third quarter approached.

The Cavaliers were up 54-39 before yielding the next Warriors field goal with 5:20 left in the game. The lead went as high as 25 before both teams pulled their starters.

“They did a good job of attacking us and we didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball in front of us,” Kettel said. “We were allowing too many driving lanes and we talked about it at halftime.

“We buckled down and we stopped pressing.”

When Scranton Prep was pressing in the first half, Moses chose to “fight fire with fire.”

The Warriors pressed back and attacked the basket whenever they beat the press in what turned into a fast-paced first half.

After a first quarter that featured three ties and eight lead changes, Scranton Prep made it to the half with a 37-33 lead.

“We started having some real success, breaking the press and getting some layups with (Aaron) Zezza and Sammy (Greenfield),” Moses said. “We were attacking the basket.”

The pace, however, took its toll.

Wyoming Area used one sub for 1:28 in the first half while Scranton Prep rotated eight players freely.

“We have a lack of depth,” Moses said. “Having to play at that pace with five guys creates fatigue and foul trouble.”

Wyoming Area senior center Matt Wright committed his third and fourth fouls less than a second apart with 5:44 left in the third quarter of a four-point game.

Scranton Prep wound up with rebounding advantages of 23-13 in the second half and 45-29 in the game.

Leo O’Boyle and Wes Simons finished with double-doubles for Scranton Prep.

O’Boyle, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, had 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Simons, a 6-6 senior center, had 18 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.

Zezza had 17 points and three steals to lead Wyoming Area. Greenfield had 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Scranton Prep plays Valley View for the title at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS

Northwest 46, Elk Lake 45

Sam Saxe scored inside the lane with 10 seconds left as Northwest edged Elk Lake in a District 2 Class 2A boys basketball semifinal game at Scranton High School.

Third-seeded Northwest (10-14) will play top-seeded Holy Cross (18-6) at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Mohegan Sun Arena for the championship. Both teams locked up PIAA 2A state berth with wins on Saturday. Holy Cross defeated No.4 Old Forge 45-25.

The game was close throughout with Northwest hold a 24-22 lead at halftime and a 36-34 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

Jaxson Yaple paced Northwest with a game-high 22 points. Saxe finished with 14. Tyler Stevens, who had a defensive rebound in the final seconds, and Bryce Koser finished with five each.

Rierdan Reyan led Elk Lake (13-11) with 14 points. Nate Preston added 11.

District 2 Class 4A Semifinals

Scranton Prep 74, Wyoming Area 53

WYOMING AREA (53) — Dylan Melberger 2 0-0 6, Aaron Zezza 7 2-2 17, Kyre Zielinski 3 1-2 7, Sam Greenfield 4 5-8 13, Matt Wright 2 0-0 4, Domnic Deluca 0 0-0 0, Justin Alder 1 0-0 3, Alex Gonzales 0 0-0 0, Daniel Weidl 1 0-0 3, Cole Coolbaugh 0 0-0 0, Nick Rubino 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-12 53.

SCRANTON PREP (74) — Greyson Schermerhorn 2 1-2 7, Brian Boland 1 8-8 10, Leo O’Boyle 8 3-6 20, Alec D’Elia 5 3-6 13, Wes Simons 5 6-7 18, Mario Rotell 1 1-2 4, Michael Greco 0 0-0 0, Nick Genco 0 0-0 0, Brad Stallman 0 0-0 0, Jake Strong 0 0-0 0, Jimmy Casey 0 0-0 0, Sam Bednarz 0 2-2 2, Luke Wesolowski 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 24-33 74.

Wyoming Area`17`16`5`15`—`53

Scranton Prep`20`17`10`27`—`74

Three-point goals — WA 5 (Melberger 2, Zezza, Alder 1, Weidl), SP 6 (Schermerhorn 2, Simons 2, O’Boyle, Rotell).

District 2 Class 2A Semifinals

Northwest 46, Elk Lake 45

NORTHWEST (46) — Tyler Stevens 2 1-2 5, Sam Saxe 4 2-2 14, Matt Saxe 0 0-0 0, Jaxson Yaple 8 4-4 22, Bryce Koser 2 1-3 5. Totals 17 8-11 46.

ELK LAKE (45) — Rierdan Reyan 6 0-0 14, Adam Anderson 1 0-0 3, Kevin Valvano 2 0-0 6, Kobe Jayne 1 1-2 3, Drew Arnold 3 0-0 6, Nate Preston 4 0-0 11, Kyle Vanderfeltz 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 1-2 45.

Northwest`18`6`12`10 — 46

Elk Lake`12`10`12`11 — 45

Three-point goals — NWT 4 (S.Saxe 2, Yaple 2), EL 8 (Reyan 2, Anderson, Valvano 2, Preston 3).

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_basketball-1-1-1-6.jpeg.optimal.jpeg
Warriors slide to D2-4A third-place game

By Tom Robinson

For Times Leader

Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports