TUNKHANNOCK – Evan Turner’s dominance in the paint carried the Tunkhannock attack Friday night.
It also disrupted Pittston Area’s.
Turner scored 28 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and kept the two biggest Patriots players in foul trouble while leading the Tigers to a 67-56 victory in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1-2 crossover game.
Mike Mazurkivich fouled out and Patrick Mitchell sat often because of fouls. Playing without the two 6-foot-5 seniors further disrupted the Patriots, who were playing their second full game and will complete the season without Alex McAndrew. The junior point guard and team scoring leader has a torn anterior cruciate ligament and additional damage in his right knee.
“The foul trouble killed us,” Pittston Area coach Alan Kiesinger said. “Not having Pat and Maz in the game did not help.
“Turner’s a handful and we needed those two guys in the game at all times to neutralize him.”
Turner not only drew fouls, he converted the free throws.
The 6-foot-3 junior center had a career-high scoring effort by going 10-for-18 from the floor and 8-for-11 from the line.
“He played very well tonight,” Tunkhannock coach Spencer Lunger said after the game. “The games that we’ve won, we’ve gotten him going in the first couple of minutes and tonight was the same.”
Turner made all five of his foul shots in the first quarter when he scored 15 points, including Tunkhannock’s first 13. When other Tigers got involved, Tunkhannock scored 12 straight points in the last two minutes of the quarter for a 22-6 lead.
Playing stretches without Mitchell and Mazurkivich did not just hurt Pittston Area’s ability to defend Turner.
Mazurkivich hit all four shots he took in the middle two quarters when Pittston Area outscored Tunkhannock by 12 to close within, 45-41.
The Patriots never got any closer. Mazurkivich played just 2:19 in the quarter before fouling out with 3:39 remaining and the Tigers ahead, 54-48.
Mitchell picked up his fourth foul with 7:01 left.
“Even offensively, that hurt us as well,” Kiesinger said of never being able to put the two big men on the floor at the same time in the last 12 minutes.
Chris Klein led Pittston Area with 13 points.
Klein and Naseem Guillaume scored on consecutive three-point plays 36 seconds apart to start a 10-point streak to end the third quarter and bring the Patriots within four for the only time after the first six minutes of the game.
Mazurkivich and Matt McGlynn added 10 points each and Mitchell had eight. Guillaume came off the bench to contribute six points and seven rebounds.
Matt Goodwin hit three straight 3-pointers in a span of 2:02 early in the second half for Tunkhannock and finished with 11 points.
Tyler Faux had a game-high nine assists and Sean Harder added five more assists to go along with eight points and six rebounds.
Harder was 6-for-8 from the line in the final 2:16.
Tunkhannock used its first win over a Division 1 opponent, after three losses, to improve to 6-4 in the WVC and 10-6 overall.
Pittston Area is 2-6 and 5-9.
Wyoming Area 51, Coughlin 30
Mikey Bonita scored 11 of his game-high 14 points in the third quarter when Wyoming Area pulled away for the WVC Division 1-2 victory over visiting Coughlin.
Bonita’s effort helped the Warriors turn a 14-9 halftime lead into a 32-19 advantage.
Sam Greenfield added 13 points.
Wyoming Area is 13-2 overall, including 8-2 in the WVC to keep it within one game of the Division 2 lead.
Dallas 72, Wyoming Area 37
Jay Bittner hit four 3-pointers to score 25 points Wednesday and lead Dallas to the home-court win in the WVC Division 1-2 crossover game.
The Mountaineers outscored the Warriors by at least seven in every quarter.
Kyre Zielinski led Wyoming Area with eight points.
Hazleton Area 74, Pittston Area 59
Host Hazleton Area opened a 15-point lead after one quarter on the way to Wednesday’s WVC Division 1 win.
The Cougars, who are unbeaten in the WVC, got off to a 25-10 start.
Naseem Guillaume made all 11 free throws while leading Pittston Area with 18 points. Patrick Mitchell added 14.
The week ahead
Wyoming Area is at Pittston Area Tuesday in a WVC Division 1-2 crossover that will also be the 12th annual Eugene R. DeMinico II Memorial Game.
DeMinico, a Pittston Township police officer and decorated veteran for his service in Iraq, was killed in a motorcycle accident in November, 2005. Proceeds from the game benefit the Hughestown K-9 Unit.
Both teams also have crossover games Friday.
Wyoming Area hosts Division 1 leader Hazleton Area.
The Wyoming Area game is in the middle of a stretch of Pittston Area games against the top three Division 2 teams. The Patriots, who were scheduled to host second-place Meyers Saturday night in a make-up game, will play at first-place GAR Friday.
