First Posted: 2/17/2015
WILKES-BARRE — Wyoming Area basketball coach Pete Moses knew how to slow down a fast-paced GAR team.
“I thought our best strategy would be to take the air out of the ball and shorten the game,” he said.
Case in point: Wyoming Area held the ball for two minutes on its first possession and finished with a Jeremy Zezza layup. But it wouldn’t hold up against a talented Grenadier club.
GAR only put seven players in the scoring column, but was able to put its foot on the gas and take a 59-31 win over Wyoming Area in the first round of the PIAA District 2 Class AAA playoffs.
GAR will face West Scranton, a 59-50 winner over Lake-Lehman, on Friday night at a site to be determined.
GAR scored the game’s initial points on the first possession of the game. Wyoming Area proceeded to keep the ball away from the Grenadiers’ stagnant zone defense. The Warriors sat in a 1-3-1 offense and were not going to take a shot until they had an open look.
About one minute into the Warriors’ first possession, GAR coach Paul Brown quickly switched to man. Zezza was able to get a backdoor move and finish.
“I though the clock would be our friend,” Moses said. “We wanted to make sure after the first quarter and after the half we would be in striking distance.”
Zezza led all scorers with 17 points. He had 17 of Wyoming Area’s 20 points through three quarters — 14 of those were finishes at the rim.
GAR would stay in that man defense for the rest of the first half. Brown’s squad also pressed most of the game, which Wyoming Area was able to handle, for the most part.
“Our kids went out and they tried to execute the game plan,” Moses said. “For the most part, we did a good job in the first quarter limiting their possessions.”
The now 19-4 GAR team was held under 60 points for just the sixth time this season. Wyoming Area did it by limiting those possessions and making every one of their own count.
GAR’s Dajon Rush poured in 13 points, while Marquan Kemp contributed 12. The Grenadiers have two players over 6 feet, 5 inches – center Nigebo Francis is 6-8. Wyoming Area’s tallest player on the floor Tuesday night was Evan Musto at 6-2.
“It was tough because we’re all guards,” Zezza said. “But they got frustrated and started playing man against us. They started playing man and we were able to get to the rim.”
Zezza finishes his career at Wyoming Area with a few things in his back pocket. The senior led the entire Wyoming Valley Conference with 21 points per game, including a 43-point performance against Lake-Lehman toward the end of the season.
The Warriors won their first game since the 2012-13 season against Mountain View in mid-December. That same week, they took their rivals, Pittston Area, to overtime and lost.
Zezza’s record-setting night against the Black Knights was in an overtime loss. However, the Warriors have made strides after a winless 2013-14 campaign. And things are only looking up, Moses said.
“We were going to be a different brand of basketball,” he said. “We were going to try and score more and we did. It’s the end of the road for the seniors, but it’s really the beginning of this journey for the program.”
