EDITOR’S NOTE: A night full of upsets altered several boys basketball races in District 2 and ended one. While NEPASportsNation.com compiles more complete reports, here is a quick recap of Tuesday’s biggest developments.
Mikey Cumbo, Darius Wallace and Nick Williams combined to lead a huge fourth quarter that allowed Dallas to run away from host Crestwood, 58-36, and clinch a repeat of its Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys basketball title.
Holy Redeemer, in WVC Division 2, and North Pocono, in Lackawanna League Division 2, each clinched no worse than a tie for first place. Abington Heights and Valley View remained tied for the Lackawanna Division 1 lead when the top two Big Schools in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams both lost.
At Crestwood, the Mountaineers trailed early and led by just three before outscoring the Comets, 23-4, in the fourth quarter.
The win, combined with Pittston Area’s 72-49 upset loss at home to Tunkhannock, wrapped up the title for Dallas.
Cumbo had 8 of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. Wallace, who finished with a game-high 21, added seven in the fourth while Williams had six.
Tuesday night’s other highlights included:
Dylan Mateus scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half when Tunkhannock built a 42-20 lead at Pittston Area.
Pittston Area will still wind up as Division 1’s second representative in the WVC Tournament because it has the tiebreaker advantage over Hazleton Area, the only team that can tie the Patriots for second place. Pittston Area won both of the head-to-head meetings.
Luke Gennaro scored 20 of his 27 points after halftime as Hazleton Area won, 72-68, in three overtimes at Wyoming Valley West.
Hazleton Area’s Chris Catrone had 13 of his 16 points during the overtimes after Wyoming Valley West outscored the Cougars, 27-13, in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
Zach Konopke had 30 points in the loss. He scored 14 in the fourth quarter and 7 in overtime.
Holy Redeemer remained unbeaten in WVC Division 2 by shaking off a six-point deficit after one quarter to defeat visiting Wyoming Seminary, 54-44.
The Royals hit a dozen 3-pointers and got 20 points from Jacob Hunter. Mark Atherton had three of the team’s six 3-pointers in the second quarter and four total while adding 14 points.
Jack Novelli, who finished with 23 points, scored 9 in the first when Wyoming Seminary took a 15-9 lead.
Holy Redeemer is at Nanticoke Thursday. A win will give the Royals the division title. A Nanticoke win would create a tie at the top and force a playoff for the title.
North Pocono clinched the tie in Division 2 by building a two-game lead with two games remaining when it defeated Valley View, 46-44, while Wallenpaupack was losing to host West Scranton, 53-45.
A.J. Nemitz scored 14 points and Noah West had 6 assists for North Pocono. That combination clicked on the winning basket with 2.9 seconds left when West hit a cutting Nemitz for a layup.
Danny Nemitz scored half of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as Mid Valley finished off a 68-54, non-league victory over visiting Forest City in a meeting of Lackawanna division leaders.
Tony Battaglia led a balanced Scranton attack with 12 points during a 43-41 win at Abington Heights.
The Comets had been unbeaten in District 2 before losing their last two games by a total of five points, including Friday’s game at Valley View that created the first-place tie.
Blue Ridge junior Connor Cranage needed just 6 seconds to get the 3 points he was seeking for 1,000 in his career.
Cranage hit a 26-footer 6 seconds into the game and finished with 29 points in a 63-50 Lackawanna Division 4 win at Susquehanna.
Cal Talutto scored 11 of his 13 points in the first quarter to get Dunmore started on a 61-35 rout of Riverside in Lackawanna Division 3.
Honesdale edged Scranton Prep, 64-63, in a Lackawanna Division 1-2 crossover and Mountain View nipped Montrose, 46-44, in Lackawanna Division 4 to join Tunkhannock, North Pocono, Scranton and Dunmore in beating teams that entered the night with better league records.
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Tuesday’s scoreboard: Tuesday’s basketball scoreboard – NEPA Sports Nation.
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Return to Basketball – NEPA Sports Nation more-detailed reports on Monday’s action.
