EXETER — Tuesday night’s game started like the first meeting. Then it evolved more like the second meeting. Finally, it settled somewhere in between.
Dallas raced out to a big lead, blew it and then recovered in the final four minutes to defeat Pittston Area 58-47 in a District 2 Class 5A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Wyoming Area High School.
Dallas (14-9) advanced to Friday’s semifinals where it will take on PIAA 5A defending state champion Abington Heights (21-3) at a site and time to be announced. Abington Heights demolished North Pocono 71-25 in its opener.
Pittston Area finished the season at 13-10.
“We won by 30 in the first time. The second time we struggled in the first half,” said Dallas junior Luke DelGaudio, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. “We started to mount a comeback, but they overtook us. This game, we took all that work we did in the offseason and they couldn’t keep up with us in the fourth quarter.”
When the team played on Jan. 18, Dallas trampled the Patriots 71-41. Tuesday’s game appeared heading to a similar verdict. Freshman guard Nick Nocito and junior center Jack Farrell paced the offense early as the Mountaineers built a 23-9 lead with more than six minutes left in the second quarter.
Then the game shifted to similarities of the second meeting, won by Pittston Area 50-45 on Feb. 5. The Patriots kept chipping away and overtook Dallas 29-26 on a 3-pointer by Mike George at 5:44 of the second quarter.
“I think we had 11 possessions where we didn’t do anything,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “We talked about that at halftime. It came down to ABCs, fundamentals. And that’s what they did. They maintained their composure against their physicality and that’s what we didn’t do the second time we played them.”
Dallas was able to battle back in front, only to see Pittston Area finish the third with a basket by Brennan Higgins and open the fourth with a drive score by JJ Walsh for a 39-35 advantage.
A short time later, Nocito put Dallas ahead for good 44-41 with a 3-pointer as part of his 20-point game. DelGaudio began to dominate inside, scoring nine of his 16 points. His final points came on a double-pump underneath for a 52-45 lead with 1:11 to play. He then grabbed his 10th rebound on the defensive end for a double-double night.
Farrell would have likely added another double-double if not for missing time due to foul trouble. He finished with 11 points and nine boards.
Dallas is back in the semifinals for a third consecutive year, but with an entirely new cast as it lost seven seniors to graduation.
“We went through two, three starting lineups,” DelGaudio said. “The freshmen have really stepped it up. I don’t see them as freshmen anymore. I treat them like I would a fellow junior or a senior. Their performance has really upped our team.”
District 2 Class 5A Quarterfinal
PITTSTON AREA (47) — Sevion Leak 1 2-2 4, Brennan Higgins 6 3-4 16, Andrew Krawczyk 0 4-5 4, Logan Booth 2 1-6 6, Mike George 5 2-2 15, Adam Penxa 0 0-0 0, Matt Johnson 0 0-0 0, JJ Walsh 1 0-1 2. Totals 15 12-20 47.
DALLAS (58) — Justin Finarelli 2 2-5 8, Sam Nocito 0 0-0 0, Luke DelGaudio 6 4-6 16, Nick Nocito 6 5-8 20, Austin Finarelli 1 2-8 5, Dylan Schuster 0 0-0 0, Bryce Chopyak 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-29 58.
Pittston Area`9`12`16`20 — 47
Dallas`19`4`12`23 — 58
Three-point goals — PA 5 (Booth, George 3, Higgins). DAL 5 (Farrell, N.Nocito 3, A.Finarelli).
