Wyoming Area’s Luke Kopetchny scored 15 of the 29 first-half points for the Warriors against Hanover Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Shane Pepe hits a 3-pointer in the first quarter against Hanover Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Drew Keating scores off one of his game-high 16 rebounds.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Bruno Pizzano (21) scores over a Hanover Area’s Ben Kolbicka (23).
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Hanover Area’s Dawin Downey drives the length of the court to score as Wyoming Area’s Shane Pepe defends.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
EXETER — Wyoming Area wasn’t in as good of shape after the first quarter Friday night as it was the first time against Hanover Area.
The Warriors, though, were in even better shape than back on Jan. 9 once the game ended.
Luke Kopetchny scored 26 points and Drew Keating dominated the boards with 16 rebounds as Wyoming Area rolled to a 65-38 victory to clinch at least a tie for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 boys basketball title.
The defending division champion Warriors (12-0 Div. 2, 18-1 overall) also locked up a spot in the WVC Tournament for a third consecutive season. Hanover Area (7-3 Div. 2, 10-8) was eliminated from divisional contention but can still finish in second place and make the WVC Tournament.
In the first meeting, Wyoming Area led by 15 points after one quarter on the way to a 55-46 victory. The Warriors’ lead was just 13-9 after the initial eight minutes Friday.
“We were able to pull away,” Wyoming Area coach Anthony Macario said. “But I felt like we had a lead early but didn’t close out the first quarter well. We really didn’t close out the second quarter well either. We kind of let them hang around. We were able to clean up some things in the second half and pull away with a good win.”
Hanover Area managed to stay close, but a 4-for-15 shooting performance in the first quarter worsened in the second. That allowed Wyoming Area to go on a 7-0 run early in the second with Collin Casterlin coming off the bench to hit two shots. Kopetchny finished off the half with a steal and layup for a 29-15 lead at halftime.
“We didn’t make some shots early and they made some shots,” Hanover Area coach Bill Callahan said. “They kept making shots and we kept missing shots. We were getting (shots), we just weren’t getting things to go in.”
Wyoming Area started the third quarter with an cut to the basket by Bruno Pizzano and a layup by Shane Pepe off a turnover. The Warriors finished off the period with a 3-pointer by Casterlin when Pepe raced in to catch an airball and an inbound steal by Kopetchny — all in the final 10 seconds — for a 50-29 advantage.
Pepe was the only other Warrior in double figures with 10 points. Mitchell Rusinchak helped out on the boards with nine rebounds.
Freshman Angel Tejeda finished with 16 for Hanover Area as he scored in double digits for the fourth time in the last five games. Ben Kolbicka snagged 10 rebounds.
Wyoming Area 65, Hanover Area 38
HANOVER AREA (38) — Jayden Coleman 0 2-2 2, Dawin Downey 1 1-4 3, Noah Sabecky 1 0-0 3, Ben Kolbicka 3 1-2 8, Angel Tejeda 7 2-2 16, Josh Rivera 0 1-3 1, Jaxon Pierce 2 0-0 5, Dewayne Downey 0 0-0 0,Trayvon Lucas 0 0-0 0, Anthony Vargas 0 0-0 0, Conor Richardson 0 0-0 0, Jamal Singh 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-13 38.
WYOMING AREA (65) — Shane Pepe 4 0-1 10, Luke Kopetchny 10 3-6 26, Mitchell Rusinchak 1 0-0 3, Bruno Pizzano 3 0-0 6, Drew Keating 3 0-1 6, Collin Casterlin 4 0-0 9, Noah Kostik 1 0-0 3, Matteo Argenio 0 0-0 0, Donovan Miller 1 0-0 2, Nate Schoener 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 3-8 65.
Hanover Area`9`6`14`9 — 38
Wyoming Area`13`16`21`15 — 65
Three-point goals: HA 3 (Sabecky, Kolbicka, Pierce). WA 8 (Pepe 2, Kopecthny 3, Casterlin, Rusinchak, Kostik).
