Wyoming Area’s Drew Keating (11) hits for two points in second-half action against Cresstwood on Wednesday at Wilkes-Barre Area gym. Keating finished the night with 11 points.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Crestwood’s Ayden Agapito (24) blocks Wyoming Area’s Collin Casterlin’s (1) shot.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
PLAINS TWP. — The baskets kept coming. Seven in a row without a miss.
The stingiest defense in Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball wasn’t deterred Thursday night. Instead, Crestwood made a couple of tweaks, and Wyoming Area’s avalanche of points came to a halt.
Crestwood then methodically pulled away for a 55-41 victory in the WVC Tournament semifinals at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
Division 1 runner-up Crestwood (16-7) moved into the championship game against District 1 champion Dallas, which improved to 20-3 with a 55-34 victory over Holy Redeemer in the other semifinal.
Division 2 champion Wyoming Area (22-3) rode the hot shooting of divisional scoring champion Luke Kopetchny to a 16-7 lead after one quarter. Koptechny scored 14 points in the initial eight minutes. The Warriors’ only miss was a desperation 3-pointer by Kopetchny as time expired.
Kopetchny had just a pair of 3-pointers the rest of the way.
“First of all, I switched Ayden Agapito on him,” Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said. “A little more length. I thought we had a little more help. The other guys helped a little bit better.”
The change had a trickle-down effect.
Crestwood’s defense held Wyoming Area without a field goal until midway through the second quarter when Kopetchny hit a 3-pointer. The offense awoke as four players each had two baskets in the period. And Jack Rodgers did what he does best — rebound instead of chasing Kopetchny all over the court on the defensive end.
Rodgers had a game-high 13 boards as Crestwood outrebounded Wyoming Area 29-18, building an advantage in an area that is usually a strong suit for the Warriors.
“I know I have a limited role, especially offensively,” Rodgers said. “First off, my job is to rebound every time. Defensively, I have to box out every time and I try to crash offensive boards as much as possible.”
Brady Johnson’s inside bucket gave Crestwood the lead for good, 25-23 with 2:04 left until halftime. The Comets went into the locker room ahead 27-24.
“I told our guys we have to get the ball inside the paint,” said Atherton, whose team was 7-for-8 inside the arc in the second quarter. “We got to go to the basket, we have to create a little bit more and free up our shooters a little more.”
Wyoming Area whittled a nine-point deficit in the third quarter down to 44-40 with five minutes left in the fourth when Shane Pepe hit a 3-pointer. The Warriors managed just one point the rest of the way and Crestwood freshman Miles Metz, the WVC’s best free-throw shooter, closed out the game by going 5-for-5 from the foul line in the final 69 seconds.
Agapito finished with 16 points, with all coming after the second quarter as Crestwood outscored Wyoming Area 48-25 over the final three quarters. He also helped out on the boards with seven rebounds.
Kopetchny finished with 25 points, followed by Drew Keating with 11. Wyoming Area shot 3-of-21 from 3-point range after the first quarter.
