Saturday, March 4, 2017

Hazleton Area vs Williamsport District 2 6A Boys Championship

Williamsport came into the Mohegan Sun Arena for the 2nd straight year and had a matchup with a team they played earlier this year in the Hazleton Area Cougars. The Cougars won the first matchup, could the Cougars repeat their success or will Williamsport get their revenge. Stanley Scott started the tempo with a dunk early in the game. It would be a back and forth for the most part in the first quarter with each team taking the lead at some point but after Brian Duvall hit a basket to make it a 12-11 lead, Joey Grula hit a three and a Jeff Planutis basket gave the Cougars a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Millionaires started the second quarter on a 9-0 run to make it a Williamsport 5 point lead. Jeff Planutis stopped the bleeding with a three pointer to cut the lead to 2. Williamsport went on a 6-1 run to make it a 7 point lead, but the Cougars weren't finished, they would go on a 6-0 run to make it a one point lead but Marcus Simmons hit a shot just before the buzzer to make it 29-26 at halftime. The Cougars tied the game up at 30 but Stanley Scott gave the Millionaires back the lead. A Jeff Planutis basket tied the game once again but a 6-0 run by the Millionaires made it a 6 point game and would lead 44-37 at the end of third quarter. With the Cougars trailing by 9, Nolan Genasevich hit 1 of 2 free throws and a Joey Grula three pointer cut the lead to 5 but the Millionaires kept answering with 4 straight points by Stanley Scott, highlighted by a dunk that was a bit excessive and was whistled for a technical. Josh Samec would sink both free throws and hit the basket on the possession to cut the lead to 5. After a Rondell Carson basket, Jeff Planutis hit a 3 pointer to cut it to 4. Nolan Genasevich would get the Cougars within 3 but the Millionaires would sink their free throws and Williamsport would take the District 2/4 6A Subregional with a 64-56 victory over Hazleton Area. Stanley Scott had a game high 24 points and Rondell Carson, Brandon Campbell, and Qayyim Ali each added 10 for the Millionaires. Jeff Planutis had 18 points for the Cougars and Josh Samec added 13.

Thoughts on the game: Stanley Scott is impressive. He started the tempo with a dunk to begin the game and then had a game high 24 points. They had a very balanced offense with 3 players scoring in double digits. I was impressed by Hazleton Area despite the loss, Jeff Platnutis had 18 as did Hunter Samec with 13. The game was just as advertised.

Scoring
Hazleton Area
Nolan Genasevich 10
Josh Samec 13
Jeff Platnutis 18
Joey Grula 8
Michael Cusatis 1
Da'mir Faison 6

Williamsport
Stanley Scott 24
Rondell Carson 10
Brian Duvall 4
Brandon Campbell 10
Quayyim Ali 10
Marcus Simmons 5
Al-Tamar Jason 1

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