Wyoming Area’s Lukas Burakiewicz hits on two of his game-high 25-points on the night against Berwick at home in a PIAA D2 quarterfinal game.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
The Warriors Luke Kopetchny (3) blocks Berwick’s Noah Marquez (2) lay up.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Luke Kopetchny (3) scores on a lay up during first half action against Berwick at Exeter, Tuesday nights. Kopetchny finished with 17-points on the night.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Anthony DeLucca scores on a fast break against Berwick on Tuesday night at home in a D2 quarter final game.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area won a quarterfinal, earning it two chances to advance from the District 2 Class 4A boys basketball tournament into Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state play.
The Warriors will need that second chance after falling to Scranton Prep in Friday night’s semifinals.
Wyoming Area (16-9) will travel to Dallas (18-8) Tuesday night to determine the district’s third and final state berth.
Top-seed and defending champion Scranton Prep (18-6) and Valley View (19-5) will play Friday night at 8 Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza for the district title.
Scranton Prep 66, Wyoming Area 32
Scranton Prep overwhelmed visiting Wyoming Area in a matchup of division champions.
The Lackawanna League Division 1 champion Cavaliers opened leads of 24-4 after one quarter, 45-13 at halftime and 61-21 going into the fourth quarter over the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champion Warriors.
Packy Doherty had nine points in the first quarter and 16 of his 19 in the first half.
Pittston resident Brycen Martin hit all five of his free throws and finished with 13.
Lukas Burakiewicz led Wyoming Area with 12 points.
Luke Kopetchny had the team’s only first-quarter field goal and points. He finished with 10.
Wyoming Area 53, Berwick 51
EXETER — Wyoming Area senior Lukas Burakiewicz spent last season’s District 2 Class 4A quarterfinal game against Berwick sitting on the bench. An injury had ended his season after four games.
Wyoming Area needed every bit of Burakiewicz’s game-high 25 points Tuesday night, especially the last two. His free throws with 11.8 seconds left proved to be the winning margin as the Warriors escaped a frantic fourth quarter with a 53-51 win in the quarterfinals.
“Last season, we played the same team on the same court and I was sitting on the bench for it,” Burakiewicz said. “To come out here and participate in it means a lot to me. Being able to win it means even more.”
Berwick (13-10) nearly pulled off the improbable after Burakiewicz’s free throws gave Wyoming Area a 53-48 lead.
Wyoming Area committed a foul — because Berwick wouldn’t have gone to the foul line yet — with 7.7 seconds remaining. Berwick’s Kaden Hickman then hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to move the Dawgs within 53-51 with 3.3 seconds left.
Berwick’s Julie Howie stole the in-bounds pass and tossed up a hurried 3-pointer from the right corner that was short. Brady McCabe grabbed the rebound, but his shot in a crowd underneath was also off the mark at the buzzer.
“Chaos, chaos,” Wyoming Area coach Anthony Macario said. “The worst possible thing that could have, well almost the worst possible thing that could have happened. Can’t have a turnover in that case. Fortunately, he missed a difficult shot and we were able to escape with one.”
The last-minute frenzy seemed unlikely as Wyoming Area led 31-19 at halftime and prevented Berwick from seizing the momentum in the third quarter and took a 46-36 lead into the fourth.
Wyoming Area led 50-40 on an underhand basket by Luke Kopetchny with under four minutes left. Berwick moved within 50-46 at 2:23 on an inside bucket by Billy Hanson.
Wyoming Area then made two defensive stops, but turned over the ball after them. Howie got Berwick within 50-48 with an inside basket, but Burakiewicz followed with a free throw for a three-point advantage with 51.7 seconds left.
Berwick then missed a shot and Wyoming Area’s Drew Keating grabbed his eighth rebound to set up Burakiewicz’s final two free throws.
The Dawgs outscored Wyoming Area 32-22 after halftime with Howie leading the way. He finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. They played the final 51.7 seconds without Hanson, their leading scorer this season who fouled out.
Koptechny had 17 for Wyoming Area.
Scranton Prep 57, Honesdale 43
Brycen Martin scored 17 points to lead Scranton Prep’s quarterfinal win Tuesday.
