Luke Kopetchny follows through on a block of a shot by North Pocono’s Cole West in Friday’s season opener.
Tom Robinson | For Sunday Dispatch
COVINGTON TWP. — Mitchell Rusinchak showed he was ready for an increased role this season.
Luke Kopetchny proved he was prepared to resume the play that made him an all-state selection as a sophomore.
Rusinchak and Kopetchny opened their junior seasons Friday night by leading the Warriors to a 57-50, non-league victory over host North Pocono.
The game was originally scheduled to be a semifinal in the James Akens Tournament. North Pocono officials, however, learned Wednesday night that Dallas no longer planned to participate in the tournament. The schedule was altered with the Warriors the only team to still get two opening weekend games. They were scheduled to face Pocono Mountain East at North Pocono Saturday night.
Rusinchak hit his first three 3-point attempts, in a span of 3:13 late in the first quarter, and went on to finish 6-for-9 from long distance while scoring a game-high 22 points.
“It felt great,” said Rusinchak, who made some appearances as a starter and was the first player off the bench late last season when the Warriors won their first division title since 1971, finishing first in Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. “I was ready.”
Rusinchak doubled his previous high for 3-pointers in a game.
“What you saw tonight, we see a lot out of him in practice,” Warriors coach Anthony Macario said. “When he’s open, we encourage him to shoot. Like I said before the season started, he is one of the better shooters in our league.
“When he gets going, he can fill it up quickly and he played with a lot of confidence. … He’s ready for that increased responsibility. He played very well on both ends of the floor.”
Kopetchny did his usual bit of everything, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, two blocked shots and two assists.
“He fills up the stat sheet every night,” Macario said. “He took on the task of guarding their best player, Cole West, who is an unbelievable athlete. Luke defended him real well. I thought he kept him in check.”
West and Kopetchny, two of the top all-around football players in District 2, showed similar versatility on the basketball court. West was just one week removed from North Pocono having its perfect season ended in a state quarterfinal football loss.
Kopetchny was difficult to contain, resulting in frequent trips to the line where he shot 9-for-11.
Drew Keating chipped in for Wyoming Area with eight points and seven rebounds, four of them offensive. Shane Pepe and Bruno Pizzano each had four assists.
Anthony Maros was North Pocono’s top scorer with 16 points. West added 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocked shots.
Connor Ruddy, who finished with 11 points, gave the Trojans their only lead when he opened the scoring with a 3-pointer.
Wyoming Area scored the next seven points, the last of which came on the first Rusinchak 3-pointer.
Kopetchny had four of the points when Wyoming Area scored the first six of the second quarter for a 19-10 lead.
Rusinchak hit his fourth 3-pointer 1:21 before halftime and Kopetchny added a three-point play by sinking an off-balance shot while being fouled on a putback.
The three-point play, which came with 25 seconds left in the half, started a 7-0 run. Kopetchny also completed it with a drive for a 31-20 lead.
North Pocono came back with the next eight points as Ruddy made a steal that he converted into two points and also had two assists in a 10-0 run that featured four points by West to get within 31-30 midway through the third.
Wyoming Area then used the game’s longest streak, at 12 points, to produce the night’s biggest lead. The streak featured two Rusinchak 3-pointers and five points by Kopetchny, who turned a steal into a breakaway for a 43-30 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“We played with poise,” Rusinchak said. “We stayed calm against their press.”
The Warriors held on by making all six of their fourth-quarter free throws. Kopetchny made four and Pepe also connected to finish 7-for-11 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line.
