First Posted: 1/6/2015
WEST PITTSTON – Progress, for Wyoming Area, is measured in different ways this season.
The Warriors have won twice – two more times than last season – but they also have shown improvements in other results.
Wyoming Area battled on the boards and ran with GAR Friday night, remaining competitive into the fourth quarter before falling short, 87-59, against the defending champions and current co-leaders of Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference.
“On my bulletin board, I put up the scores from last year’s games – 65-15 and 75-25,” first-year Wyoming Area coach Pete Moses said. “We lost each game by 50 last year.
“We played our hearts out and came in at the half, down 10. That’s night and day from last year.”
GAR (3-0 in the division, 10-2 overall) opened 26- and 36-point halftime leads against Wyoming Area last season.
After the Grenadiers threatened to run away with the first nine points of the second half, the Warriors closed the third quarter with a 12-7 run to remain within 51-37.
GAR finally wore down Wyoming Area, breaking loose with a 38-point fourth quarter. The Grenadiers hit four straight 3-point attempts and used the running game for easier buckets while shooting 15-for-16 to score 34 points in 5:05 to begin the quarter.
Jeremy Zezza finished with 33 points for the Warriors (0-3, 2-10).
A much taller GAR team came up with offensive rebounds on four of its first five possessions, but Wyoming Area used a team approach for effective rebounding and interior half-court defense. The Warriors finished with a 44-42 advantage on the boards.
Evan Musto grabbed nine rebounds, including eight in the first half. Dante DeLuca and Anthony Shaver had eight each. Kyre Zielinski came off the bench for seven rebounds, including six in the second quarter.
Anthony Nardell had team-highs of seven assists and three steals.
Seth Callahan led GAR with 22 points, six assists and six steals. The Grenadiers had five players score in double figures, including Tino Altavilla, who came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers and score 17 points, and Greg Skrepenak, who had 14 points and 16 rebounds.
Wyoming Area lost Anthony Saitta after a collision with DeLuca when both tried to save a ball with 3:01 left in the first quarter and the Warriors ahead, 6-2. Saitta, who appeared to have hit his head, sat up and left the gym on his own, but was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Wyoming Valley West 54, Pittston Area 53
Pittston Area’s fourth-quarter rally fell short Thursday in a 54-53 loss to Wyoming Valley West.
The loss dropped the Patriots to 1-2 in Division 1 of the WVC and 4-7 overall.
Wyoming Valley West outscored Pittston Area in each of the first three quarters to build a 45-37 lead.
Tyler McGarry led the Patriots with 18 points while Joe DeLucca had 14 and Jordan Black 11.
The Spartans were led by Tyler Yankosky with 20 points.
Crestwood 55, Pittston Area 48
Michael Delaney broke loose for 21 points, but it was not enough for Pittston Area, which dropped a 55-48 decision to Crestwood Tuesday night at home.
Delaney had 15 points in the first half on the way to his career-high.
Tyler McGarry added 17 for the Patriots, who trailed 42-29 after three quarters before rallying while Crestwood was going 13-for-23 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Lance Blass scored 19 points and Jason Dotzel added 16 for Comets.
Nanticoke 57, Wyoming Area 24
Nanticoke held visiting Wyoming Area to four field goals in the first three quarters Tuesday night on the way to a 57-24 rout.
The Trojans led the Warriors 15-7 after one quarter, 24-11 at halftime and 45-14 after three quarters.
Anthony Saitta had two of Wyoming Area’s three first-half field goals and led the team with five points.
Pittston Area 64, Tunkhannock 55
Tyler McGarry scored 27 points and Pittston Area erased a big early deficit Monday night to defeat visiting Tunkhannock, 64-55.
The Tigers opened a 26-13 lead after one quarter.
McGarry had 10 points in the third when the Patriots closed a 10-point gap to two.
Pittston Area then pulled out the win by shooting 12-for-14 from the line in the fourth. McGarry and Bernie Kurtinis each went 3-for-4 while Michael Delaney, Jordan Black and Alex McAndrew were 2-for-2.
Austin Yanora hit four 3-point shots and a three-point play while scoring 17 points for Tunkhannock in the first quarter. Pittston Area held him to one basket in each of the remaining quarters on the way to 24 points.
Kurtinitis added 14 points and Black had 11 in the win.
Hanover Area 72, Wyoming Area 51
Hanover Area used a balanced attack to defeat Wyoming Area, 72-51, in the Division 2 opener Jan. 3.
Evan Musto scored 13 points to lead Wyoming Area. Jeremy Zezza added 10.
Four players scored in double figures for Hanover Area.
The Hawkeyes took a 24-13 lead after one quarter. They broke the game open with a 21-4 third quarter for a 61-30 lead.
