Surviving the Storm

The Dallas Mountaineers looked like they were going to blow out the Patriots at the early part of the second quarter. However, the Patriots had other plans. With the Mountaineers up 23-9 early in the second, the Patriots' Logan Booth would hit a three pointer and would begin a 12-0 run and would only trail 23-21.
 The Patriots would take their first lead on a Brennan Higgins basket and would end up leading 37-35 at the end of the third quarter. A big momentum shift would happen when a foul was called against the Patriots and then a player was called for a technical foul. The Patriots were leading 41-39 but the Mountaineers could only tie the game by making 2 of 4 free throws. The Mountaineers would retain the ball and freshman Nick Nocito would hit a three pointer to give the Mountaineers a 44-41 lead. The Patriots would push for a tie at 45 on a basket by Higgins. Luke DelGaudio would give the Mountaineers the lead for good on a basket and they would pull away for a 58-47 victory in the District 2 5A Quarterfinals. The Mountaineers' Nick Nocito led all scorers with 20 points and Luke DelGaudio also added 16 points in the victory. The Patriots' Brennan Higgins led the way with 18 points and Mike George added 13 points. They will play Abington Heights in the District 2 5A Semifinals on Friday at a time and place to be announced. It will be a rematch of last year's District 2 5A Championship that Abington Heights won.

Thoughts on the game: It was a really interesting game. The Mountaineers looked like they were going to blow out the Patriots but the Patriots weren't going down without a fight. Nick Nocito had a really good game with 20 points. For the Patriots, Brennan Higgins had a good game with 18 points, shooting well inside and outside.

Pittston Area
Mike George 13
Brennan Higgins 18
Savion Leak 4
Logan Booth 6
Andrew Krawczyk 4
JJ Walsh 2

Dallas
Jack Farrell 11
Nick Nocito 20
Luke DelGaudio 16
Justin Finarelli 6
Austin Finarelli 5