Pictured above: Chris Walsh
MOUNTAIN TOP – Chris Walsh scored 25 points and led the three most important runs of the game Tuesday night as North Pocono went on the road in the District 2 Class 5A boys basketball quarterfinals and came away with a 53-41 victory over Crestwood.
Walsh did all the scoring when North Pocono strung together seven straight points early in the second quarter to take the lead for good.
After being held scoreless in the third quarter, Walsh scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. He had six straight for an 8-1 run after Crestwood got within three points, then five of the points in a 7-0 run when the Comets got within six with 2:25 to play.
Despite winning the Lackawanna League Division 2 title, North Pocono entered the tournament as just the fifth seed in a seven-team field.
By beating fourth-seeded Crestwood (12-11), the Trojans (14-9) advanced to play top-seeded Abington Heights (19-4). Abington Heights had a bye into the semifinals.
After struggling offensively early, North Pocono went from a 16-point first half to 37 points in the second half.
A.J. Nemitz was held scoreless in the first half, but finished with 11 points, including 7 in the third quarter.
Drew Sechleer scored 9 of his 12 points in the second half to lead Crestwood. Brandon Burbank added 10.
There were just 10 points scored in the first quarter, none in the first 3:31. Each team missed its first four shots.
Crestwood’s Sechleer hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring, then Walsh found Keegan Litts for a layup 14 seconds later to begin the North Pocono scoring.
Walsh hit a go-ahead 3-pointer, but then North Pocono did not score again for the last three minutes of the quarter, which ended in a 5-5 tie.
North Pocono went 2-for-10 in the quarter while Crestwood was 2-for-8.
Crestwood’s last two leads were 7-5 and 9-7 early in the third quarter.
Walsh tied the game, then put the Trojans ahead. He put together the personal, 7-0 run in 1:24 by sandwiching two layups around a 3-pointer.
Burbank’s three-point play with 1:45 left in the second quarter closed the scoring and pulled Crestwood within 16-13 at halftime.
Nemitz made a 3-pointer to give North Pocono the game’s biggest lead to that point, 29-21, with 1:31 left in the third quarter.
Sechleer closed the third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer and hit the first basket of the fourth to cut the deficit to 29-26.
Nemitz scored, Crestwood got one point back with a free throw, then Walsh scored three straight baskets for a 37-27 lead.
Crestwood got back within six just once at 42-36.
That’s when Walsh scored five of the points, including a three-point play with 1:57 remaining, in a 7-0 run that put the Comets away.
North Pocono scored 11 of the game’s last 13 points.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was created from the reporting of Ben Magnotta.
