The Wyoming Area basketball team, along with coaches and his parents, Ken and Sharon, junior Luke Kopetchny, center, celebrates his 1,000th high school career point against Lake-Lehman on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
With two seconds left in the first half, Luke Kepetchny scored his career 1,000th point against Lake-Lehman on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Mitchell Rusinchak (13) looks to score two of his 11 first-half points against Lake-Lehman.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Shane Pepe scored three 3-point baskets in the first half for the Warriors.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Wyoming Area’s Luke Kopetchny (3) goes up high to take down a rebound against Lake-Lehman at home.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
EXETER — Timing is such a big factor in sports.
And, Luke Kopetchny’s timing was simply impeccable Tuesday night during a 72-26 rout of visiting Lake-Lehman.
There was no need to stop the game to handle the celebration of the Wyoming Area junior’s 1,000th career point.
The game was stopping anyway.
Kopetchny tracked down a loose rebound of his own errant 3-point attempt, made a quick fake to clear a defender, and put up another, draining the shot from deep on the right wing right before the halftime buzzer.
The 3-pointer gave Kopetchny 18 points for the night, exactly what “about 1,000 people” had told him he needed before taking the court on what was already a special day for him.
How special?
Well, as the Black Knights retreated to the locker room and the Warriors lined up at center court for pictures and congratulations, the home crowd behind the Wyoming Area bench sang “Happy Birthday” to Kopetchny.
The milestone scoring night just happened to coincide with his 17th birthday.
Kopetchny’s buzzer-beater did one more thing. It created a running clock by pushing the lead to 50-18 at the break.
“I knew (the clock) was sort of low, but I didn’t know it was that low when I hit that shot,” Kopetchny said.
Kopetchny was done for the night with 2:53 left in the third quarter. His scoring totals stood at 22 points on his birthday and 1,004 for his career. The Warriors were well on their way to coming out of the night with sole possession of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 lead.
“I was pretty nervous because, on my birthday, I really wanted to get it,” Kopetchny said, “especially in a cool moment like that, a buzzer-beating three.”
Kopetchny shook off those early nerves to finish 8-for-22 from the floor, 2-for-8 on 3-pointers, and 4-for-5 from the line.
“I forced up some shots,” Kopetchny said.
Kopetchny broke in as a freshman, and by the end of his all-state season as a sophomore, he knew the 1,000 points were well within reach.
“I always thought about it a little,” Kopetchny said of the milestone. “But after my sophomore year, when I had a lot of points, probably more than I could have expected, I knew it was a realistic possibility.”
As is usually the case with Kopetchny, scoring was not his only contribution.
Kopetchny combined with Bruno Pizzano and Drew Keating as the Warriors destroyed the Black Knights, 48-22, on the boards.
Wyoming Area finished with three players in double figures in both scoring and rebounding. A total of five players scored at least eight points.
“We’re rolling right now,” said Kopetchny, who grabbed 11 rebounds. “That’s how we play.”
Drew Keating also had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots.
Mitchell Rusinchak went 4-for-6 from the floor while adding 11 points and two steals. Bruno Pizzano grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds, along with four assists and two steals. Shane Pepe hit a trio of 3-pointers for nine points and had four assists.
Collin Casterlin came off the bench to contribute eight points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Wyoming Area scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to cap a 26-3 run to a 32-5 lead with 6:30 left in the half. Kopetchny, Pepe, and Rusinchak hit 3-point shots, and Kopetchny turned another rebound of his own miss into a three-point play for the 12-point burst in the first 90 seconds of the quarter.
That completed a streak of 16 straight points in a span of just 2:10.
