WILKES-BARRE — From the opening whistle, Wilkes-Barre Area was off and running, and the Wolfpack didn’t stop until they ran themselves right into the Wyoming Valley Conference finals.
David Jannuzzi’s 25-point performance capped a huge night for Wilkes-Barre Area’s offense, scoring 61 points in the first half on their way to an 87-57 rout of Wyoming Area in Thursday night’s WVC semifinals.
Jannuzzi, only a sophomore but already in complete command of the Wolfpack offense, scored 17 of his 25 in the first quarter, and his court vision and passing led to even more Wilkes-Barre buckets.
“I felt it, in the warmups … once I got going, I knew we would get going,” Jannuzzi said. “I thought (Wyoming Area) gave me a lot of space, I’ve got a lot of shooters on my team too so that made it easier.”
This semifinal, the second of two at Wilkes-Barre Area on Thursday, featured the two top scoring offenses in the conference. It was easy to see why, with a high-paced game played through a lot of transition points going down both ends of the floor.
It just came easier for Wilkes-Barre Area, which scored 30 points in the first quarter and 31 in the second.
“We have a lot of guys who could step up on any given night,” Wilkes-Barre Area coach Jim Lavan said. “Tonight was Dave, he got hot early.”
Jannuzzi was joined in double-figures by teammates Evan Laybourn-Boddie, with 21 points, and Yariel Argueta chipped in 17. The trio combined for seven three-pointers, and the Wolfpack as a whole knocked down 10 triples.
Add in the easy layups created by the Wilkes-Barre defense, knocking away passes and getting running out in transition, and it created an offensive barrage that Wyoming Area just couldn’t keep up with.
“Most nights, I like our athleticism, it’s definitely our strength,” Lavan said. “We’re not the biggest team, but we’ve got some kids with good hands and getting up and down is definitely to our strength.”
Wilkes-Barre Area led 30-11 after one quarter, 61-32 at halftime and 79-46 through three quarters.