WILKES-BARRE – With a chance to climb back into a tie for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3 boys basketball lead Feb. 1 in a rematch with Wyoming Seminary, Holy Redeemer pounded the ball inside to Nick Prociak from the start.
“That’s our game plan almost every night,” Holy Redeemer coach Paul Guido said. “Nick played really well against them over there, so we were kind of figuring maybe they were going to double-, triple-team him or maybe throw a little different plan at him to limit him, but they didn’t.”
As a result, Prociak got started on a 20-point, 11-rebound effort as the Royals produced their biggest win of the season and handed the Blue Knights their only conference loss, 61-47.
“It was really pretty much straight man-to-man by both clubs,” Guido said. “They did double-team him later on in the game. In the second half, they brought an extra guy and tried to take the ball out of his hands a little bit, but he’s not selfish.
“He’ll make the right pass out of that double-team and he’ll try to get someone else to hurt them. He did a nice job with that.”
That was an element of the game plan the Royals found themselves without last season when they fell just short of repeating as WVC Division 3 and District 2 Class 3A champions, finishing second to Wyoming Seminary in both cases.
After winning the Most Valuable Player Award at the McGrane Tournament during the holiday week of his junior season, Prociak went out with a foot injury. He returned nearly a month later, but when he hobbled off the floor during one of the showdowns with Wyoming Seminary, he was done for the season with what turned out to be a stress fracture on the top of his left foot.
“It’s one of those things where I thought I’d be back and then was I was cleared the first time; it still didn’t really feel right and I wasn’t the player I usually was,” the 6-foot-7 senior center/power forward from Jenkins Township said.
When he left the lineup the second time, Prociak was reduced to watching and waiting until the off-season when he began preparing for his senior year.
“Prior to him getting hurt, he was having an MVP-type of season for us,” Guido said. “I felt terrible for him, but he did a lot of work in the off-season with the doctors, trainers and rehab people getting his foot back to 100 percent. I’m thrilled that he’s been playing real well and getting the opportunity again.”
And, the Royals are chasing titles again.
An upset loss to Hanover Area this week dropped them back a game behind Wyoming Seminary and needing help from elsewhere in the division race.
Holy Redeemer is also second in the District 2 Class 3A playoff race – once again, to Wyoming Seminary – leaving open the possibility of a rematch of last year’s championship game.
The workouts that got him back on the court for the first time for Valley Thunder AAU games in August are paying off.
“I was working really hard to get back to where I was last year and I think I have,” Prociak said in an interview almost a year after the original injury. “I’m feeling very comfortable. I have to give it to my teammates always passing me the ball in good spots and I’m just able to finish it off.”
That “MVP-type” player that Guido watched more than a year ago is back, contributing 16 points and nine rebounds per game to Holy Redeemer’s 17-3 season.
“I don’t think anything changed,” Prociak said. “Working as hard as I did in the off-season, I just think I’ve become better at the things I used to do.”
