BETHLEHEM — Archbishop Wood was visibly bigger at every position on the floor and probably faster, too.
Then the Vikings went to the bench and got even bigger.
Pittston Area’s reward for the first boys basketball state tournament win in school history was a game against the state’s top-ranked Class 5A team, according to the Sunbury Daily Item.
Facing long odds against an opponent that has played in two of the last three state championship games, the Patriots battled deep into the second quarter before the Vikings began running away to what turned into a 72-45 victory.
Patriots coach Al Semenza remembers the moment when Pittston Area started to lose contact with the Philadelphia-area private school team.
“At one point it’s 26-21 and we have a 3-pointer go in and out,” Semenza said.
That 3-point attempt rattled around the rim and backboard almost as long as it took Archbishop Wood to advance the ball the length of the floor for Daeshon Shepherd’s dunk and a seven-point lead with 2:40 left in the half.
By the break, the lead was at 35-23 and the Vikings were well on their way to Friday’s state quarterfinal game with Dallas.
“They’re the better team,” Semenza said. “There’s no question about it.
“It looked like it was going to be 50-0 there for a while, but we came back and cut into that lead and, like I said, that 3-pointer goes down, we can play with the ball a little bit, get off the floor (at halftime) and believe.”
Semenza was well aware that everything needed to go almost perfectly for the Patriots.
He was content, however, when the first shot did not go down after Pittston Area took 1:54 off the clock in the game’s opening possession.
“Even though we didn’t score, I said, ‘this is perfect, it’s nothing-nothing after two minutes, we’re OK’,” Semenza said.
Shepherd led the way for Archbishop Wood with 22 points. He was 7-for-9 from the floor, making all three of his 3-pointers, and 5-for-6 from the line.
Marcus Randolph added 14 points.
Jaylen Stinson, who grabbed nine rebounds, and Rahsool Diggins, who had seven rebounds and four assists, added 13 points each.
From the ill-fated 3-point attempt until the first minute of the fourth quarter, Archbishop Wood outscored Pittston Area, 28-9.
“We fell behind, we had to get out of our game plan a little bit and they’re off and running,” Semenza said.
J.J. Walsh led Pittston Area with 15 points, including 12 in the first half.
Brennan Higgins had seven assists, including six by halftime.
Mike George hit three 3-pointers for nine points. Andrew Krawczyk sat out the whole second quarter with three fouls, but finished with eight points.
Joe Cencetti came off the bench for Krawczyk and shared the team rebounding lead of five with Logan Booth.
“These are great competitors, great kids and I love them,” said Semenza, who was in his first year coaching the Patriots.
Pittston Area finished 18-10.
PIAA Class 5A second round
Archbishop Wood 72, Pittston Area 45
PITTSTON AREA (45) — Logan Booth 0 0-0 0, Mike George 3 0-0 9, J.J. Walsh 6 1-2 15, Brennan Higgins 2 2-2 6, Andrew Krawczyk 3 1-1 8, Matt Johnson 0 0-0 0, Joe Cencetti 1 1-2 3, Adam Penxa 1 0-0 2, Jack Locker 0 0-0 0, Omar Aziz 1 0-1 2, David Behm 0 0-0 0, Brayden Powers 0 0-0 0, Ethan Ghannam 0 0-0 0, Ethan Maslowski 0 0-0 0, Matt Mayers 0 0-0 0, Alex Hoban 0 0-0 0, Connor Manganiello 0 0-0 0, Cole Ferranti 0 0-0 0, Zach Elko 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 5-8 45.
ARCHBISHOP WOOD (72) — Marcus Randolph 5 1-1 14, Rahsool Diggins 5 1-1 13, Jaylen Stinson 2 8-8 13, Muneer Newton 3 1-2 7, Daeshon Shepherd 7 5-6 22, Brennan Kersey 0 0-0 0, Andrew McHugh 0 0-1 0, Mike Knouse 0 2-2 2, John Donahue 0 1-2 1, Dan Prior 0 0-0 0, Dominic Borzacchielo 0 0-0 0, Marcus Dixon 0 0-0 0, Nick Mosco 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 19-24 72.
Pittston Area`13`10`7`15`—`45
Archbishop Wood`17`18`17`20`—`72
Three-point goals — PA 6 (George 3, Walsh 2, Krawczyk), AW 9 (Shepherd 3, Randolph 3, Diggins 2, Stinson).
