Silvio Giardina, Anthony Cencetti and Jack Long each scored at least 18 points Tuesday night as visiting Pittston Area opened the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys basketball season by holding off a comeback attempt by a rising Berwick team, 67-60.
Giardina finished with 22 points, Cencetti 21 and Long 18.
Pittston Area is 3-2 overall and Berwick is 3-3 after the first boys basketball league game in District 2 in any division.
The Patriots opened a 17-6 lead after one quarter when Giardina hit a 3-pointer and another basket while three teammates added four points each.
Sophomore Billy Hanson made three 3-pointers in the second quarter while scoring 11 of his 15 points to pull the Bulldogs back within 26-23 at halftime.
Sean Murphy scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the second half to lead Berwick.
Murphy and Matt Lonczynski offset big third quarters by Cencetti and Long to get the Bulldogs within 44-42 going into the fourth quarter. Murphy, Lonczynski and Jace Degroat all hit 3-pointers in the quarter.
Long had eight points in the third quarter while Cencetti had seven.
The Patriots then secured the win on the free throw line.
Pittston Area was 18-for-22 from the line, including 11-for-15 in the fourth quarter.
Cencetti was 6-for-7 from the line in the fourth quarter while scoring his last 10 points. He finished 9-for-10.
Giardina made the last three of his 7-for-7 day from the line while adding seven points in the fourth. Long had six.
Berwick is on a 27-game Division 1 losing streak, but its three overall wins matches the team’s total from the previous two seasons combined.
The seven-point margin was closer than all but one of Berwick’s 14 divisional games last season.
