BETHLEHEM – Tyler Mozeleski scored 21 points Wednesday night when Holy Cross defeated Delaware County Christian, 50-38, in Class 2A boys in the opener of a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association basketball tripleheader at Freedom High School.
The senior from Yatesville made sure the Lackawanna League Division 3 and District 2 Class 2A champion Crusaders never trailed while advancing to the state quarterfinals for the seventh time in 12 years.
Mozeleski scored the game’s first five points and his team’s first seven. He finished 4-for-5 from 3-point range and also grabbed five rebounds, all on the defensive end.
“All the kids did the job defensively and Tyler happened to be the guy with the hot hand offensively,” Holy Cross coach Al Callejas said.
The same was true in the first round March 9 at Marywood University when Mozeleski had a team-high 19 points in a 65-47 victory over Bloomsburg.
Holy Cross was scheduled to play defending state champion Constitution in Saturday’s state quarterfinals.
OLD FORGE GIRLS
The Old Forge girls moved within two wins of reaching the state championship game for the third time in six years when they opened state play March 8 with a 55-20 Class 2A rout of the Girard Academy Music Program in Philadelphia, then followed it up by beating District 3 champion Linden Hall, 32-29, Wednesday.
Old Forge made the state finals in 2014 and 2015 in Class A when the PIAA was four classifications. It switched to six in time for the 2016-17 season.
Abbey Nee made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the first half of the state tourney opener. The Lady Devils then began the second half with nine straight points for a 48-7 lead.
Nee finished with 14 points, Lindsey Welsh added 11 and Olivia Ciullo had 10.
Welsh scored 15 points and Makayla Parker 10 against Linden Hall.
Old Forge overcame an early 8-0 deficit in the defensive battle.
The Lady Devils are scheduled to face Mahanoy Area Friday night in the state quarterfinals.
NOTABLE
Madison Borum followed in her mother’s footsteps when she reached the 1,000-point mark for her high school career.
Borum got there in impressive fashion when the Lake-Lehman senior center scored 35 points in the first round of the state tournament to lead a 65-43 romp over Jersey Shore in a Class 4A girls game March 9 at Pittston Area.
Ruth (Tarnalicki) Borum, scored more than 1,000 points for Pittston Area in the late 1980s.
Nick Prociak scored 14 points when Holy Redeemer opened PIAA play with a 46-42 victory over District 4 champion Wellsboro in a battle of state top-10 Class 3A boys teams at Troy March 9.
Prociak, a senior from Jenkins Township, was the Royals’ leading scorer in the state tournament. He had a team-high 17 points in Wednesday’s 57-47 loss to Trinity at Pottsville’s Martz Hall.
Holy Redeemer led the second-round game 24-22 at halftime with the help of 14 points by Prociak.
Wyoming Seminary had an impressive tournament in its first year under former Wyoming Area coach Pete Moses.
The Blue Knights blew out String Theory School in the first round before losing, 61-59, Wednesday in Class 3A boys at Bethlehem Freedom in a game against Neumann-Goretti, which is trying to win its sixth straight state title and ninth in 10 years.
“I’m proud of the way we played,” Moses said. “I’m proud of the way we approached the game.
“We did not approach this game in any way like the underdog.”
