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SALEM TWP. — A former teammate let Joe Grula know time was running out. The clock was under two minutes, and if Grula was going to get that basket it had to come soon.
So with a quick move and mighty leap, the Hazleton Area senior slammed the basketball through the hoop.
Not that the Cougars needed the points — they already had a victory sewn up over Norristown on Saturday afternoon. Grula, though, wanted to join a couple teammates in the dunk department in Hazleton Area’s 62-45 PIAA Class 6A boys basketball playoff win.
“One of our former teammates (Mike Cusatis) was standing on the sideline,” Grula said. “He was telling me ‘You got a minute and 37 to put one in.’ I just went up and did it. I was feeling left out, I guess.”
Grula, Jeff Planutis (twice) and Da’Mir Faison all had dunks as District 2 champion Hazleton Area (24-1) advanced to the second round on Wednesday. The Cougars will play D11 third seed Pocono Mountain West (18-10) at a site and time to be announced. PM West defeateed D3 runner-up Chambersburg 53-52. D3 seventh seed Norristown finished its year at 18-9.
Grula’s dunk gave Hazleton Area a 62-40 lead in a victory that was as close to wire-to-wire as it gets. Norristown’s Mikeel Allen scored on a layup off the opening tip for the Eagles’ only lead. Planutis came back with a pull-up jumper and Grula followed with a 3-pointer — part of a five basket barrage from behind the arc in the first quarter — as Hazleton Area never trailed from that point on.
Planutis hit the final 3-pointer of the first quarter for a 17-6 lead, but turnovers then because a slight issue in the second period. The Cougars committed seven of their 13 turnovers in the second, allowing Norristown, behind Allen, to move within 27-22 with about two minutes left.
“We were our own worst enemy at times tonight,” Hazleton Area coach Mike Joseph said. “We had some empty possessions because we weren’t taking what they were giving us. The first four or five minutes of the game, we were taking what they were giving us. We were getting wide-open shots, knocking them down. We went away from that for a little bit.”
Faison cut off the mild Norristown run with a 3-pointer to end the half. The Cougars then bumped the lead back to double digits midway through the third quarter and kept it there. However, Joseph let his team know he wasn’t pleased with how the quarter ended despite a 42-30 lead.
The Cougars had a head-scratching 3-point attempt with about 30 seconds left instead of working the clock. Then after that, there were a pair of errant passes resulting in turnovers and a Norristown bucket.
“I made some mistakes,” said Faison, the guy who launched the late-period 3-pointer. “But I’m thankful for my amazing teammates. Even with my mistakes, they kept us in the whole game even with the turnovers I had and the one stupid shot I took. Thankfully, I made it up in the fourth quarter. I made those free throws.”
Faison scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth, including going 7 for 7 from the line. Grula finished with 19 and Planutis had 15.
PIAA CLASS 2A FIRST ROUND
Northwest 69, Muncy 57
Only two of the 32 teams in the Class 2A brackets had losing records going into the first round. Only one — Northwest — survived to make it to the second round.
Behind incredible shooting performances from Jaxson Yaple and Sam Saxe, the District 2 runner-up Rangers defeated D4 champion Muncy in a first-round game at Williamsport High School.
Northwest (11-15) will play D11 champion Moravian Academy (20-6) on Wedneday at a site and time to be announced. Moravian topped D12 third seed Paul Robeson 55-47. Muncy finished its season at 17-8.
Yaple and Saxe both had career games. Yaple hit on four 3-pointers as part of his 29-point performance. Saxe nailed five from behind the arc and finished with 28. Walker Yaple added all seven of his points in the fourth quarter to help Northwest maintain the lead.
PIAA Class 6A First Round
Hazleton Area 62, Norristown 45
NORRISTOWN (45) — Vernon Tubbs 2 1-2 5, Tyler Lyons 3 0-0 8, Mike Dorman 1 1-2 3, Darius Hopewell 3 0-0 6, Mikeel Allen 6 3-4 15, Tyler Tate 1 0-0 2, Jamile Williams 1 1-2 4, Nazir King 1 0-1 2. Totals 15 6-11 45.
HAZLETON AREA (62) — Josh Samec 3 0-0 7, Sparky Wolk 0 0-0 0, Jeff Planutis 6 2-4 15, Joe Grula 7 2-2 19, Da’Mir Faison 3 9-11 16, Scott Shamany 1 0-0 2, Andrew Vayda 0 1-2 1, Adrian Otero 1 0-0 2, Jacxander Moronta 0 0-0 0, Kyle Franek 0 0-0 0, Alex D’Angelo 0 0-0 0, Ramddy Melendez 0 0-0 0, Nikolas Norman 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 14-19 62.
Norristown`6`16`8`15 — 45
Hazleton Area`17`13`12`20 — 62
Three-point goals — NOR 3 (Lyons 2, Williams), HA 6 (Samec, Planutis, Grula 3, Faison).
PIAA Class 2A First Round
Northwest 69, Muncy 57
NORTHWEST (69) — Tyler Stevens 1 3-6 5, Brandon Hardiman 0 0-0 0, Sam Saxe 8 7-9 28, Matt Saxe 0 0-0 0, Jaxson Yaple 10 5-7 29, Bryce Koser 0 0-0 0, Walker Yaple 3 0-1 7. Totals 22 15-23 69.
MUNCY (57) — Kyle Lenhart 0 0-0 0, Nathan Parsley 8 1-4 22, Dylan Wilt 1 0-0 2, Noah Rymsza 3 1-1 7, Tanner Gold 0 0-0 0, Jordan Yaple 0 0-0 0, Matt Coyner 7 4-6 19, Kolby Moyer 2 1-2 7, Levi Messinger 2 1-2 7. Totals 21 7-13 57.
Northwest`8`18`19`24 — 69
Muncy`10`10`13`24 — 57
Three-point goals — NWT 10 (S.Saxe 5, J.Yaple 4, W.Yaple), MUN 8 (Parsley 5, Coyner, Moyer 2).