Holy Redeemer’s Zach Perta (1) knocks away a ball from Pittston Area’s Anthony Cencetti at midcourt in the third quarter of Wednesday’s WVC semifinals.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Matt Walter, center, tries to fight for room against Holy Redeemer’s Mark Atherton (30) and Jacob Hunter (10) under the basket on Wednesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Anthony Cencetti (33) drives for two of his team-high 15 points in Wednesday’s WVC semifinal matchup against Holy Redeemer.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Silvio Giardina and Holy Redeemer’s Darryl Wright (2) chase after a loose ball in the fourth quarter on Wednesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Anthony Cencetti (33) slips advancing the ball as Holy Redeemer’s Zach Perta (1) defends on Wednesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — Holy Redeemer was glad Pittston Area made things miserable Thursday night.
Not completely miserable, but just enough to test the Royals’ patience until a breakout occurred that led to a 48-35 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball semifinal game at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
Division 2 champion Redeemer (21-2) will put its 16-game winning streak on the line at 7:30 p.m. Saturday when it travels to Division 1 champion Dallas (20-3) for the WVC championship game.
Division 1 runner-up Pittston Area (14-8) lost its fourth in a row. The Patriots will be the third seed in next week’s District 2 Class 5A playoffs.
Pittston Area’s halfcourt offense kept Redeemer from getting into transition and running with any continuity in the first half where there were five lead changes in the second quarter.
But that was OK for future use.
“Some of that we knew they were going to try to do,” Redeemer coach Paul Guido said. “It’s tough to play that style. But I said to (Pittston Area) coach (Al) Semenza after the game … I thanked him for doing that because I think a game like that will help our team. We haven’t played a game in that style this year.”
Redeemer finally got the tempo where it desired midway through the third quarter. Zach Perta turned a steal into a layup and Jacob Hunter outletted another steal to Darryl Wright to complete a fastbreak for a 28-20 lead.
“We like to go fast,” Wallace said. “It was definitely different at first. We hadn’t seen said any like that this year. But as Coach just said in the locker room we’re going to see that if we want to go on a state run. So having that experience helped us.”
Another steal-to-layup by Perta completed an 8-2 run for a 37-27 lead early in the fourth. A 7-0 run concluded with a 3-pointer by Hunter made it 44-28 with just under three minutes to play.
Pittston Area led 7-4 after one quarter. The Patriots worked the ball until Silvio Giardina finally shook the pesky defense from Wright for a couple 3-pointers. The Patriots’ final lead was 15-14 with 3:05 left in the second quarter on a three-point play by Jake Long.
“It puts a lot of pressure on your offense,” Guido said. “If you come down and take a quick shot and maybe it’s not a good shot, they’re going to take the ball and hold it for 45 seconds or a minute or something.”
George Sabatini provided a spark off the bench for Redeemer in the second quarter, scoring eight of his 10 points. Hunter and Perta scored 12 each.
Pittston Area’s Anthony Cencetti scored all 15 of his points in the second half. Giardina ended up with 12.
WVC Semifinals
Holy Redeemer 48, Pittston Area 35
PITTSTON AREA (35) — Giardina 4 1-2 12, Long 2 1-1 5, Walter 0 0-0 0, Clarke 0 0-0 0, Cencetti 4 6-9 15, Burnett 0 0-0 0, Ivey 0 0-0 0, Barbieri 0 0-0 0, McGarry 1 0-0 3, Lynn 0 0-0 0, Bilbow 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-12 35.
HOLY REDEEMER (48) — Perta 4 3-4 12, Wright 1 4-5 6, Lussi 0 2-3 2, Hunter 4 0-0 12, Kozerski 1 0-0 2, Sabatini 4 2-3 10, Ha 0 0-0 0, Casey 0 0-0 0, Spiccioli 0 0-1 0, Atherton 0 0-0 0, Rosen 0 0-0 0, Dubaskas 2 0-1 4. Totals 16 11-17 48.
Pittston Area`7`8`12`8 — 35
Holy Redeemer`4`15`14`15 — 48
Three-point goals — PA 5 (Giardina 3, Cencetti, McGarry); HR 5 (Hunter 4, Perta)
