By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
DALLAS TWP. – Every time Holy Redeemer seemed to have Dallas close to down and out, the Mountaineers came firing back.
And, each time the Mountaineers appeared like they were on the verge of completing a comeback, Jacob Hunter was there.
Hunter scored 12 of his game-high 30 points in the final 6:38 Saturday night as the Royals held back the hosts to capture the Wyoming Valley Conference Boys Basketball Tournament championship with a 72-65 victory.
The senior guard’s clutch performance helped decide a fast-paced, high-flying game worthy of two highly regarded teams with nearly identical credentials at the top of District 2.
“They’re a great team,” Hunter said. “This game was on our calendar for a long time.
“This was a tournament that we really wanted to win.”
The game matched a pair of state semifinalists from last season – Dallas in Class 4A and Holy Redeemer in 3A. The two regular-season WVC division champions each came in ranked No. 1 in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Basketball Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
On this night, Hunter made sure the Division 2 champs were superior to the Division 1 champions and the top Small School team was able to beat the top Big School team on its home court.
Dallas made sure it was not easy for Holy Redeemer, which has only lost to a pair of Class 6A teams outside the district, to improve the district’s best overall record to 22-2.
“With teams like this, it doesn’t matter how much you’re up,” Hunter said. “They always fight back.”
The Royals led 48-37 in the last minute of the third quarter.
The Mountaineers got back within 54-51 with 5:40 remaining.
Hunter’s 3-pointer from the left corner doubled the lead 25 seconds later.
Jude Nocito’s 3-pointer with 3:36 left reduced the Holy Redeemer lead to a single point.
“They’re not going to fold or quit, especially here in their home gym,” Holy Redeemer coach Paul Guido said.
Mark Atherton added one point to the Royals lead.
Darryl Wright then set up Hunter for a 3-pointer from the left wing and a 63-58 lead with 2:45 left. It was the last of four 3-pointers for Wright, the last of 15 made baskets from behind the arc in the game and made sure the Mountaineers never had the ball while within one possession again.
Zach Perta also made four 3-pointers while scoring 22 points for the Royals.
Wright was 4-for-7, Perta 4-for-8 and the team 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from 3-point range.
Jeff Kozerski had 10 rebounds while Hunter and Perta had 6 each as part of a 38-29 advantage on the boards.
Wright had six assists while Hunter made three steals and both Wright and George Sabatini blocked two shots.
Darius Wallace scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas, going 8-for-8 from the line. He also made three steals.
Michael Bufalino scored 14 points while playing less than half the game before fouling out.
Nick Williams added 13 points and Nocito had 10.
“They’re tough,” Guido said. “I thought maybe we had them down and had a big enough spread on the scoreboard, but Darius is tough.
“Bufalino fouling out was a big help for us because he was a big impact on the game.”
Hunter stayed around long enough to make his even bigger.
Of his 10 baskets, 7 came while the teams were battling in a one-possession game with 2 creating ties, another breaking a tie and 4 adding to slim leads.
Hunter had the first five points of an early 9-0 run to a 9-2 lead.
Holy Redeemer opened a 14-5 lead in the first five minutes with Hunter scoring seven points while the team was starting 6-for-6 from the floor, with a 3-pointer by Hunter and a three-point play by Perta.
Bufalino took over a portion of the game before watching most of the rest of it from the bench.
Between the midway point in each of the first two quarters, Bufalino scored 14 points in 6:41. He hit a 3-pointer, converted three 3-point plays and scored three times off putbacks, including two of the three-point plays.
Bufalino, however, had sat briefly after committing his second foul with 1:40 left in the first quarter. He missed the rest of the half after picking up his third foul with 3:08 left in the second.
Never getting a chance to re-establish himself in the second half, Bufalino sat out the last 6:51 of the third quarter with four fouls and was done for good just 41 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Bufalino’s nine points gave Dallas a 15-14 lead after one quarter.
The Mountaineers led by three midway through the second quarter before the Royals went on a 14-2 run to end the first half and start the second.
Hunter got it started with a 3-pointer and finished the run with the first two baskets of the second half for a 35-26 lead.
Dallas takes a 20-4 record into the District 2 Class 5A playoffs where it is the second seed a year after moving up an enrollment classification.
Holy Redeemer is the top seed and defending champion in Class 3A.
MORE COVERAGE
Holy Redeemer-Pittston Area semifinal: Royals break away from Patriots – NEPA Sports Nation.
Dallas-Nanticoke semifinal: Big fourth sends Dallas into final – NEPA Sports Nation.
