MVPs were chosen at the conclusion of the annual Eugene DeMinico, II Memorial Game, handed out by his father, Dr. Gene DeMinico, center, to Jacob Ivey, left, Pittston Area, and Luke Kopetchny, Wyoming Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s John Jadus (24) blocks a Wyoming Area Drew Keating (11) shot on Saturday afternoon at Exeter.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Within a minute to play in the fourth quarter, Patriot Lucas LoPresto put the icing on the cake to seal the deal in defeating rival Wyoming Area on Saturday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Patriot senior Stephen Barnic hit a 3-pointer in helping defeat Wyoming Area on Saturday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Drew Keating (11) gets a hand on Pittston Area’s Jacob Ivey’s (13) 3-point attempt.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
EXETER — Pittston Area held host Wyoming Area scoreless for 9:34, spanning the first through third quarters, then held on down the stretch to knock off the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champions 42-40 Saturday afternoon in the Eugene R. DeMinico II Memorial Game.
Wyoming Area came from seven down at halftime and eight behind in the third quarter to lead briefly, but Jacob Ivey scored seven points in a late 10-2 run.
Ivey’s 3-pointer put Pittston Area ahead to stay 37-36 with 1:25 left. He then hit three of four free throws in the last 17.1 seconds, giving the Patriots five- and four-point leads before Luke Kopetchny scored for Wyoming Area with under five seconds left and the Warriors out of timeouts.
“We hung in,” Pittston Area coach Al Semenza said. “It was a great high school basketball game.
“They like to go up and down the court, and they like to score. We’re not that potent offensively. We tried to dig in and stay within striking range.”
The Patriots lifted their final regular-season record to the .500 mark at 11-11 and halted a 13-game winning streak by the Warriors (20-2). The win boosted Pittston Area’s hopes of landing the third seed in the District 2 Class 5A playoffs, setting up a quarterfinal draw with 3-19 Nanticoke and avoiding a semifinal trip to likely top seed Abington Heights.
“We had some real ups and downs over the course of the year, but the kids kept battling,” Semenza said. “We had some real close games that we just didn’t finish.
“To come here and play the champs – they have a nice ball club – we knew it was going to be a tough assignment. For our guys to step up and do this on their floor, I’m happy for our kids.”
Ivey and Kopetchny were named Most Valuable Players for their teams.
Kopetchny scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half while Ivey battled foul trouble after taking on much of the responsibility for containing the WVC’s top scorer in the first half.
Pittston Area limited Wyoming Area to one point in the first four minutes, but the Warriors ran off 10 straight points for an 11-5 lead late in the quarter. Drew Keating started it with a putback, Mitchell Rusnichak hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and Kopetchny drove his only basket of the half and the team’s last score until early in the third quarter.
Lucas LoPresto closed the first quarter with a 3-pointer, and Stephen Barnic and Aidan Clarke each hit from long range in the 10-0 second quarter.
