The packed field for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys basketball title was thinned out a bit Saturday night. But it was a big loss — four-time defending divisional champion Hazleton Area.
Hazleton Area’s 56-53 loss to Crestwood knocked it out of a five-way tie for first place. Now the remaining four squads will play for the championship starting today with semifinal games.
Pittston Area will play Wilkes-Barre Area at 7 p.m. at Wyoming Area High School. Crestwood will play Dallas at 7 p.m. at Nanticoke Area High School. The championship game is 7 p.m. Wednesday at a site to be determined.
All four teams finished 10-4 in the division. Hazleton Area has won six of the last eight Division 1 championships, yet despite finishing 9-5 the Cougars will go down as placing fifth in the division. They were 9-1 at one point, only to lose their last four games.
Admission for all playoff games will be $5 for adults and $3 for students. League passes won’t be accepted. The divisional playoffs will have no bearing on the District 2 playoff seedings as they are determined solely on regular-season games.
Pittston Area defeated WBA twice this season, 50-47 on Jan. 9 and 47-38 on Jan. 28. Brennan Higgins had the hot hand both times for the Patriots, scoring 15 points in the first meeting and 20 in the second game. Three-point ace JJ Walsh had four 3-pointers in the three-point win, but WBA curtailed the damage the second time around by having short but speedy Saquan Portee chase him all over the court.
Had Pittston Area taken care of business on Thursday, there would be no need for the playoffs. But the Patriots stumbled badly in an 80-46 loss to Crestwood, a team they defeated 45-34 on Jan. 17. They were also upset 60-51 on Jan. 25 by Wyoming Valley West, which finished 2-12 in the division and 4-18 overall.
Blake Masker was WBA’s top scorer in both games with Pittston Area, scoring 18 and 10 points. However, he suffered an ankle injury in a 51-48 victory over Crestwood on Feb. 4 and has missed the last two games. Cole Walker had 16 in the first game.
Dallas started 2-3 in divisional play, including a 44-41 loss to Crestwood on Jan. 7. The Mountaineers avenged the setback by defeating Crestwood 68-54 on Jan. 25. Four players reached double figures in the victory — Jack Farrell (18), Luke DelGaudio (17), Austin Finarelli (14) and Nick Nocito (12). Farrell and DelGaudio combined for 22 points in the loss to the Comets, while Finarelli scored six and Nocito had five.
Jacob Zaleski scored 14 and Mike Zaleski had 12 in Crestwood’s win over Dallas, a victory that was part of a five-game winning streak to start divisional play. But the Comets lost three of the next four to fall back to the pack. Ryan Petrosky led the way in the loss to Dallas with 17 points.
The WVC Division 1 girls championship game between Dallas and Hazleton Area will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at Holy Redeemer.
