The Pittston Area Patriots hoist up the District 2 Class 5A championship plaque Friday night after defeating North Pocono on Friday night. The district title was only the second in the program’s history, with the other coming in 1978.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Anthony Cencetti (33) gets around a North Pocono defender to score during Friday night’s District 2 Class 5A championship game.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area senior Jack Locker (30) scores two of his game-high 20 points as the Patriots defeated North Pocono for the District 2 Class 5A title Friday night.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Dominic Jannuzzi (42) gets by North Pocono’s Billy Pabst (3) to score on a layup during Friday night’s District 2 Class 5A championship game.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area head coach Al Semenza gives Anthony Cencetti a celebration hug after the Patriots won the District 2 Class 5A championship Friday night.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — About five minutes into Friday game, every Pittston Area starter had scored.
Then what has happened often this season, one of them — could be any of the five — breaks out.
“Everybody can score, all five of us,” Pittston Area senior Ethan Ghannam said. “Any night, it could be somebody else.”
Jack Locker was the guy this time.
Locker scored a season-high 20 points, many coming in the pivotal third quarter as Pittston Area overwhelmed North Pocono 59-26 in the District 2 Class 5A boys championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena. The victory gave the program only its second district title, with the other coming in 1978.
“This is the best feeling I ever felt in my life,” said Locker, one of four seniors in the starting lineup. “These are my best friends since I was 12 years old. We played together through the whole time. I love these guys, they’re my brothers.”
Both teams advanced to the PIAA Class 5A state playoffs on Tuesday. Pittston Area (20-4) will host District 3 sixth seed Lower Dauphin (13-13). North Pocono (18-6) will play District 11 runner-up East Stroudsburg South (19-5) at a time and site to be determined.
The top-seeded Patriots led 26-18 at halftime, but outscored second-seeded North Pocono 24-4 in the third quarter. Locker led the onslaught with 11 of his points that included three 3-pointers. He finished with five treys, tying his season high. Dominic Jannuzzi had six of his 14 points in the period, while Anthony Cencetti netted five of his 13.
“I’m open, I’m going to shoot it,” Locker said. “That’s never going to change.”
JJ Walsh, who scored his 1,000th point a few games back, had just six and none after halftime. But he and Ghannam helped Pittston Area win the rebound battle with six apiece.
The collective effort resulted in North Pocono having its worst offensive game of the season … and Pittston Area having its best defensive showing. The Patriots held Crestwood to 28 points on Jan. 7.
“That’s one of the better performances I’ve see in a district championship game out of a team in a while,” Pittston Area coach Al Semenza said. “I thought we were really good.”
It wasn’t just scoring and defense. Pittston Area was extremely sharp passing the ball, sometimes passing up a good shot for a better one. Many of them came on darting cuts inside for easy baskets.
North Pocono led twice, the last time 4-3 at 6:14 of the first quarter. Pittston Area took the lead on an inside basket by Ghannam. Cencetti followed with a drive to the hoop, Ghannam scored again inside and Walsh finished off the 8-0 run with a layup off a turnover.
North Pocono closed within 20-17 with 5:27 left until halftime, but Pittston Area put on a small burst and then scored 13 points to start the third quarter to take command. The Patriots shot 10-of-14 in the quarter.
The 30-point mercy rule kicked in on the first basket of the fourth quarter when Walsh zipped a pass inside to Jannuzzi for a 52-22 lead.
District 2 Class 5A Championship
Pittston Area 59, North Pocono 26
NORTH POCONO (26) — Ryan Ruddy 4 3-4 11, AJ Nemitz 0 0-0 0, Billy Pabst 1 0-0 2, Chris Walsh 4 0-1 8, Kyle McCullough 1 0-0 2, Noah West 0 0-0 0, Tom Thurber 0 0-0 0, Keegan Litts 0 0-0 0, Nick Osadze 0 0-0 0, Tommy Quinn 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 3-5 26.
PITTTSON AREA (59) — JJ Walsh 2 2-2 6, Ethan Ghannam 3 0-0 6, Jack Locker 7 1-1 20, Anthony Cencetti 6 0-0 13, Dominic Jannuzzi 7 0-1 14, Jack Long 0 0-0 0, Silvio Giardina 0 0-0 0, Ethan Maslowski 0 0-0 0, Matt Mayers 0 0-0 0, Brayden Powers 0 0-0 0, Zach Elko 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 3-4 59.
North Pocono`8`10`4`4 — 26
Pittston Area`15`11`24`9 — 59
Three-point goals — NP 1 (Pabst). PA 6 (Locker 5, Cencetti).
