Holy Redeemer rolls to 6th straight win

Steve Bennett, The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·12 min read

Feb. 25—WILKES-BARRE — With 3:07 left in the first quarter, Holy Redeemer guard Justice Shoats checked into Wednesday night's pivotal Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 matchup against Wyoming Seminary.

Up to that point, Holy Redeemer missed its first eight shots from the floor and trailed by eight points. Shoats, who did not play Tuesday night against Wyoming Area due to disciplinary reasons, had the penalty carry over to Wednesday and did not receive the starting nod, per team rules.

Shoats combined with Matt Prociak to score 38 points as Redeemer defeated Wyoming Seminary, 65-45 at Holy Redeemer, handing the Blue Knights their first loss of the season. Seminary (10-1 overall, 8-1 league) holds a two-game lead in the standings ahead of Lake-Lehman and Redeemer (9-8, 7-3). Wyoming Seminary hosts Lake-Lehman tonight, while Holy Redeemer is scheduled to play at Dallas.

"He missed school (Tuesday) and if you miss school you miss a game and you can't start the next game," Holy Redeemer coach Paul Guido said of Shoats. "I know he doesn't like coming off the bench. The way he plays its gives confidence to his teammates. It is a nice opportunity for our other guys to play those minutes out there and continue to grow our program. It's nice to have him out there."

Zach Perta and Shoats combined to score Redeemer's final eight points of the first quarter to tie the game. More significantly, their on-the-ball pressure made it difficult for Wyoming Seminary to get anything going on the offensive end. The Blue Knights took too many bad shots, weren't patient on offense and turned the ball over seven times in the first half, leading to some easy Redeemer buckets.

"I think we took too many 3s from the volleyball line," Wyoming Seminary coach Pete Moses said. "I think we have to commit to getting the ball to Ethan (Meuser) in the paint. That always has to be the strategy. Their ball pressure made it really hard to get into our offense."

The Royals continued to keep the pressure up in the second quarter, increasing their lead to 12 points at the 2:21 mark. Prociak scored six of his 18 points in the quarter, and the Royals did a good job of taking the ball to the basket, scoring six of their 11 points in the paint.

"For as good as our defense was, it was our offense," Guido said. "We finished in the lane, we didn't take bad shots and we made our free throws. We wanted to extend the defense and push at them."

Disaster struck for Wyoming Seminary near the end of the first half when point guard Jake Koretz went down on his left ankle scrambling for a loose ball. Koretz, who came into the game averaging 24.1 points per game, spent the second half with his left ankle wrapped in ice.

"I hope maybe to have him back in a couple of weeks or sooner," Moses said. "I don't think we are going to see him (Thursday). I don't want him limping around on Saturday. We still want to be competitive in district play. We have to wait and see what the trainer and doctor say."

With Koretz out for the remainder of the game, Meuser ran the point for the Blue Knights and Seminary was able to stay within four points until the Royals went on a 10-5 run to close the third quarter. An Alex Rymar 3-pointer gave the Royals a 12-point lead and seemingly ended any hopes of the Blue Knights coming back.

Holy Redeemer is on a six-game winning streak and Guido hopes the team is starting to click. With some added time to get in some practices as well as review film, he feels the team is better than it was at the beginning of the season.

"The past week or 10 days some of our early losses have been helping us out," Guido said. "Just looking at film. Seeing the things we did well and the things we did poorly. We want to continue to do the good things well and eliminate the bad things."

Holy Redeemer 65, Wyoming Seminary 45

Wyoming Seminary (45)

I. Stull 3 1-3 10, E. Meuser 2 5-5 9, J. Koretz 3 0-0 7, G. Flanley 3 0-0 6, J. Herron 3 0-0 6, D. Ostroski 1 2-2 4, A. Maddock 1 0-0 3, J. Amend 0 0-0 0, J. Coates 0 0-0 0, C. Wood 0 0-0 0, P. Evan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 8-10 45.

Holy Redeemer (65)

J. Shoats 9 2-2 20, M. Prociak 8 2-2 18, Z. Perta 4 0-0 8, A. Rymar 1 2-2 5, J. Pizzolato 1 0-0 3, A. Hajkowski 1 0-0 2, M. Carty 1 0-0 2, P. Khoudary 1 0-1 2, C. Wills 1 0-0 2, D. Wright 1 0-0 2, P. DelBalso 0 1-2 1, M. Rosen 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28 7-9 65.

Wyoming Seminary 8 11 14 12—45

Holy Redeemer 8 18 16 23—65

3-point goals: I. Stull (Sem) 3, A. Maddock (Sem) 1, J. Koretz (Sem) 1, J. Pizzolato (HR) 1, A. Rymar (HR) 1.

Wyoming Area 56, Hanover Area 51

At Wyoming Area, Jesse Mikaliczyk led the Warriors with 15 points in his team's victory.

Matt Barber tallied a game-high 17 points for Hanover in the narrow loss.

Wyoming Area 56, Hanover Area 51

Hanover Area (51)

M. Barber 6 3-4 17, M. Gonzales 4 1-2 12, M. Merth 4 0-0 11, A. Flemming 2 1-2 5, E. Noe 1 0-0 3, T. Kolbicka 1 0-0 3, R. Bohlin 0 0-0 0, J. Zola 0 0-0 0, C. Hummer 0 0-0 0, J. Curcio 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 5-8 51.

Wyoming Area (56)

J. Mikoliczyk 6 3-4 15, E. Melberger 2 8-10 13, M. Sorick 4 0-0 12, D. Schutter 4 0-0 10, N. Elko 1 1-4 3, J. Greenfield 1 0-0 2, J. Wiedl 0 1-2 1, N. Winnick 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 13-20 56.

Hanover Area 5 14 16 16—51

Wyoming Area 5 17 14 20—56

3-point goals: M. Merth (HA) 3, M. Gonzales (HA) 3, M. Barber (HA) 1, T. Kolbicka (HA) 1, E. Noe (HA) 1, M. Sorick (WA) 4, D. Schutter (WA) 2, E. Melberger (WA) 1.

Tunkhannock 47, Berwick 37

At Berwick, Ben Chilson paced Tunkhannock with 20 points in its Wednesday night win.

Bulldog's Sean Murphy tallied a team-high 10 points in the loss.

Tunkhannock 47, Berwick 37

Tunkhannock (47)

B. Chilson 8 0-0 20, R. Harder 3 7-9 14, J. Chilson 3 1-1 7, S. Macko 1 2-2 4, D. Mateus 1 0-0 2, J. Brown 0 0-0 0, C. Trochak 0 0-0 0, M. Kuzma 0 0-0 0, Totals 16 10-12 47.

Berwick (37)

S. Murphy 4 0-0 10, I. Tripp 3 0-2 7, M. Doll 3 0-1 7, T. Taylor 3 0-0 6, M. Lonczynski 2 0-0 5, J. Montes 1 0-0 2, B. Boone 0 0-0 0, R. Steele 0 0-0 0, Totals 16 0-3 37.

Tunkhannock 7 20 11 9—47

Berwick 10 9 13 5—37

3-point goals: B. Chilson (Tunk) 4, R. Harder (Tunk) 1, S. Murphy (Ber) 2, I. Tripp (Ber) 1, M. Lonczynski (Ber) 1, M. Doll (Ber) 1.

Girls

At GAR High School, Vanessa Luna and Gloria Adjayi each scored 15 points to lead Wilkes-Barre Area past Hazleton Area, 53-51, in a Division 1 girls basketball game.

Olivia Wolk led Hazleton Area with 17 points and Carley Krizansky added 13.

Wilkes-Barre Area 53, Hazleton Area 51

Hazleton Area (51)

O. Wolk 5 5-6 17, C. Krizansky 5 3-5 13, B. Boretski 3 0-0 9, J. Mrochko 2 5-9 9, L. Kringe 1 0-1 2, J. Franek 0 1-2 1, Totals 16 14-23 51.

Wilkes-Barre Area (53)

V. Luna 7 1-3 15, G. Adjayi 7 1-6 15, H. Cook 4 0-0 8, S. Ardo Boyko 3 1-2 7, D. Moore 1 1-2 3, R. Holden 1 0-1 3, E. Leonard 1 0-0 2, Totals 24 4-14 53.

Hazleton Area 11 13 12 15—51

Wilkes-Barre Area 14 17 14 8—53

3-point goals: O. Wolk (Haz) 2, R. Holden (WB) 1. JV: HA, 38-32. (HA: Kennedy 13, Tihansky 11; WBA: Chandler 12).

Dallas 66, Crestwood 51

At Dallas, Julia Kocher led the Mountaineers with a game-high 19 points in Wednesday night's win.

Dallas 66, Crestwood 51

Dallas (66)

J. Kocher 9 0-1 19, V. Spaciano 5 0-1 10, B. Hill 4 1-2 10, D. Wallace 3 1-2 9, A. DelGaudio 3 2-4 8, C. Charlton 3 0-0 6, N. Evanosky 1 1-2 4, Totals 28 5-12 66.

Crestwood (51)

J. Glowacki 6 1-1 17, J. Weiss 5 3-6 13, J. Johnson 2 0-0 5, B. Kijek 2 0-0 5, C. Hiller 1 3-6 5, H. Jardine 1 1-3 3, I. Caporuscio 1 1-2 3, G. Pasternick 0 0-0 0, C. Collins 0 0-1 0, Totals 18 9-19 51.

Dallas 13 16 25 12—66

Crestwood 9 8 19 15—51

3-point goals: D. Wallace (Dal) 2, B. Hill (Dal) 1, J. Kocher (Dal) 1, N. Evanosky (Dal) 1, J. Glowacki (Crest) 4, J. Johnson (Crest) 1, B. Kijek (Crest) 1.

Berwick 30, Pittston Area 20

At Berwick, Katie Starr led the Lady Bulldogs on Wednesday night.

Kallie Booth paced Pittston with 9 points.

Berwick 30, Pittston Area 20

Berwick (30)

K. Starr 6 3-9 15, R. Murphy 2 2-3 8, E. Ouimet 1 1-2 3, G. Starr 1 0-4 2, J. Nevel 1 0-0 2, R. Andreas 0 0-0 0, Totals 11 6-18 30.

Pittston Area (20)

K. Booth 2 4-8 9, A. Callahan 1 0-0 3, A. Butcher 1 0-0 3, M. DeMarco 1 0-0 3, T. Baiera 0 2-2 2, J. Zaladonis 0 0-0 0, L. Zambetti 0 0-0 0, B. Lieback 0 0-0 0, T. George 0 0-0 0, K. Tigue 0 0-0 0, Totals 5 6-10 20.

Berwick 7 2 10 11—30

Pittston Area 5 2 10 3—20

3-point goals: R. Murphy (Ber) 2, A. Butcher (PA) 1, K. Booth (PA) 1.

Nanticoke Area 65, Hanover Area 16

At Hanover, Riley Baird and Claire Aufiero combined for 24 points — 12 each — in the Lady Trojans' win on Wednesday night.

Hannah Sawalski paced Hanover with 8 points.

Nanticoke Area 65, Hanover Area 16

Hanover Area (16)

H. Salwoski 3 0-0 8, I. Curcio 0 3-4 3, M. Elick 1 0-0 3, P. Engleman 1 0-2 2, B. Slusser 0 0-0 0, K. Gist 0 0-0 0, M. Murphy 0 0-0 0, Totals 5 3-6 16.

Nanticoke Area (65)

R. Baird 4 0-0 12, C. Aufiero 5 1-2 12, L. Casey 4 2-2 10, E. Cullen 4 0-0 9, A. Rakowski 2 1-2 5, K. Albert 2 0-0 4, B. Biehl 1 0-0 3, G. Reed 1 0-0 3, S. Lukowski 1 0-0 2, J. Kotch 1 0-0 2, B. Felici 1 0-0 2, T. Thomas 0 1-2 1, J. Baron 0 0-0 0, G. Nalepa 0 0-0 0, S. Heffron 0 0-0 0, Totals 26 5-8 65.

Hanover Area 4 4 5 3—16

Nanticoke Area 24 24 11 6—65

3-point goals: H. Salwoski (HA) 2, M. Elick (HA) 1, R. Baird (NA) 4, G. Reed (NA) 1, E. Cullen (NA) 1, B. Biehl (NA) 1, C. Aufiero (NA) 1.

Holy Redeemer 53, Tunkhannock 37

At Tunkhannock, Mia Ashton lead Holy Redeemer with 13 points in the team's win on Wednesday night.

Lady Tigers Lexi Corby and Alaina Ritz each tallied a game-high 14 points on the night.

Holy Redeemer 53, Tunkhannock 37

Holy Redeemer (53)

M. Ashton 5 2-2 13, L. Skoronski 5 0-2 10, A. Atherton 3 3-4 10, J. DelBalso 3 0-0 6, A. Corridoni 3 0-0 6, K. Spade 1 1-1 3, A. Curley 1 0-0 3, N. Yencha 1 0-0 2, I. Granteed 0 0-0 0, J. Santuk 0 0-0 0, Totals 22 6-9 53.

Tunkhannock (37)

L. Corby 6 0-0 14, A. Ritz 4 6-7 14, S. Stephens 1 5-10 7, M. Iddings 1 0-2 2, A. Brown 0 0-0 0, A. Williams 0 0-0 0, Totals 12 11-19 37.

Holy Redeemer 16 11 11 15—53

Tunkhannock 6 11 15 5—37

3-point goals: A. Atherton (HR) 1, M. Ashton (HR) 1, L. Corby (Tunk) 2.

Millville 28, Northwest Area 27

At Northwest Area, Olivia Savage posted a game-high 15 points to lead Millville.

Morgan Hermanofski led the Lady Rangers with 11 points.

Millville 28, Northwest Area 27

Millville (28)

O. Savage 5 1-2 15, J. Dodge 5 0-0 10, L. Davidson 1 1-2 3, A. Michael 0 0-2 0, E. Kakaley 0 0-2 0, M. Henrie 0 0-0 0, E. Klines 0 0-0 0, Totals 11 2-8 28.

Northwest (27)

M. Hermanofski 3 3-4 11, C. Miner 2 1-4 6, K. Miner 2 0-0 6, K. Crawford 1 0-1 2, C. Crawford 1 0-0 2, M. Miller 0 0-0 0, Totals 9 4-9 27.

Millville 7 13 3 5—28

Northwest 9 6 6 6—27

3-point goals: O. Savage (MIL) 4, M. Hermanofski (NW) 2, K. Miner (NW) 2, C. Miner (NW) 1.

Contact the writer: sbennett@citizensvoice.com; 570 821-2062; @CVSteveBennett