Hunter propels Holy Redeemer over Holy Cross

After Holy Cross took a two point lead midway through the second quarter, Jacob Hunter went on a roll. He scored 10 staight points just before the halftime buzzer. He finished the game with a game high 28 points as the Royals took the Holy War over the Crusaders 61-54. Zach Perta added 10 points. Hunter on his effort in the second quarter. "Darryl Wright and Zach Perta were putting pressure on their ballhandlers. On offense, they found me open and we practice shooting 90 percent of the time."

Holy Cross started off with consecutive three pointers by Gabe Gonzales and Logan Tierney to make it 6-0. Holy Redeemer went on an 11-2 run to make it a three point lead and took a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Zach Perta started the scoring with a three pointer to make it a seven point Royal lead. However, the Crusaders' Hayden Hosie scored four straight points. Tierney cut the lead down to one with a pair of free throws then Gonzales hit a three pointer to take a one point Holy Cross lead. The Royals' Jacob Hunter scored 10 straight points with the defensive play of guards Perta and Darryl Wright to make it an eight point lead. Cullen Moran hit a three pointer to cut the lead down to 29-24 as we hit halftime.

The Crusaders cut the lead to three with a pair of free throws from Gonzales. However, the Royals answered as Jeff Kozerski scored four straight points to increase the Redeemer lead to seven. However, a basket by Gonzales and a three pointer by Hosie cut the lead to two. Hunter then hit a three pointer to increase the lead to five. Four straight points by Hosie made it a one point game. Wright helped increase the lead with another Royal three pointer. A basket by Hosie made it a two point game but the Royals went on a 7-0 run to end the third quarter with a three pointer by Perta, a free throw by Kozerski and a three point play by George Sabatini as they lead 46-37 at the end of the third quarter. Moran hit a three pointer for Holy Cross. However, the Royals answered with a three pointer by Mark Atherton to increase the lead back to nine. The highlight of the quarter was Jacob Hunter saving a ball from going out of bounds which went to Jeff Kozerski and passed the ball to Perta who finished off the play with a basket. Hunter on the hustle play. "Coach always tells us to hustle. If we hustle, we win games. It's what coach taught me, it's just muscle memory." The Royals cruised from there to take the 61-54 victory at home over Holy Cross. For Holy Cross, Gabe Gonzales had a team high 19 points. Hayden Hosie added 15 and Cullen Moran had 11.

Crestwood Cruises Past Nanticoke

In the first half, the senior starters scored a total of three points. However, they were leading by seven at halftime and came up big in the second half as Brandon Burbank scored all 15 of his points in the second half and Drew Sechleer scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime to give the Comets a 54-42 road victory at Nanticoke.

Crestwood hit three consecutive three point baskets to start off the game, two by Mason Czapla and one by Matt Sklarosky to lead 9-3. The Comets lead 11-4 at the end of the first quarter. Chaz Wright scored consecutive baskets to increase the Crestwood lead to nine. However, Nanticoke got a basket by Gavin Turak, a pair of free throws from Jaidyn Johnson and a basket by Ibn Jordan-Thomas to cut the lead down to three. However, Crestwood outscored Nanticoke 7-3 to end the first half and lead 22-15. Brandon Burbank started off the second half with a three pointer then a Sechleer basket made it a 12 points game. After Jaidyn Johnson made two technical foul free throws, Crestwood went on a 9-2 run to lead by 15. Turak and Johnson cut the lead to 11 but a Burbank three just before the buzzer made the lead 41-27 at the end of the third quarter. Nanticoke attempted to make the comeback in the fourth quarter but the closest they were able to get to was eight after going on a 5-0 run. Crestwood hit their free throws down the stretch and took a 54-42 victory. Jaidyn Johnson had a game-high 18 points for Nanticoke. Gavin Turak added 10.

Turak Leads Nanticoke To Victory Over Valley West

It was a back and forth affair between Valley West and Nanticoke. In the end, it came to down to the Trojans go-to guys in Gavin Turak and Jaidyn Johnson. Turak had a game high 23 points and Jaidyn Johnson added 19 as Nanticoke defeated Valley West 65-60 at home. The victory is their second straight victory after losing to Delaware Valley on Saturday.

The first quarter early on was a back and forth affair but Gavin Turak hit a pair of field goals to make it 8-4 in favor of Nanticoke. However, Valley West answered back with a three pointer by Emmanuel Lewis and a three pointer by Zach Konopke give the Spartans a 10-9 lead. Konopke added a basket to increase the lead to 12-9. However, the Trojans answered with a three pointer by RJ Brogan and a basket by Ethan Spencer. Konopke added a free throw to make it 15-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Konopke hit a three pointer to give Valley West the lead then Kaden Dittus added a basket to make it a three point game at 18-15. The Spartans made it a five point game with a three pointer by Lamar Weatherspoon. Nanticoke answered back with a free throw and three pointer by Turak then a three point play by Jaidyn Johnson gave the Trojans a 23-21 lead. Johnson added another basket to make it a four point lead for Nanticoke. However, a basket by Weatherspoon and two free throws by Konopke and three free throws from Will Wojciechowski gave the Spartans the lead but before halftime, Johnson hit a basket to tie the game up at 28 as we hit halftime. Johnson started off the second half with four consecutive points. However, the Spartans answered and took the lead with three pointers by Lewis and Konopke alongside a pair of free throws by Konopke. Liam Mullery tied the game up with a basket for Nanticoke and took the lead with a basket by Ibn Jordan-Thomas. Turak increased the lead to three but a foul on Nanticoke followed by a technical resulted in four free throws. Lewis hit three of four free throws to tie the game at 40. Turak and Wojciechowski traded three pointers and the Spartans took the lead on a pair of free throws by Konopke at 45-43 as the third quarter came to an end. Mullery gave Nanticoke a lead early in the fourth with a three pointer. However, both teams traded the lead until Gavin Turak made it a four point game with a pair of free throw and a three point play. Valley West ended up cutting Nanticoke's lead to one at points in the game. Late in the game, a technical foul was assessed to Valley West. Turak and Johnson combined to make three of four free throws to make it a four point game. However, a turnover resulted in a pair of free throws by Wojciechowski. In the inbounds play, the Spartans pressed and forced Nanticoke to go out of bounds to get the ball back. However, they were unable to keep the ball inbounds and possession went back to Nanticoke. Mullery hit a pair of free throws to seal the game away as Nanticoke took a 65-60 victory at home. Zach Konopke added a game high 23 points and Will Wojciechowski added 13. The Trojans play at home against Crestwood on Tuesday. The Spartans go to Wyoming Seminary on Wednesday.

Mullery's buzzer beater propels Nanticoke past North Pocono In Battle Of The Trojans

It didn't end up being the setup Nanticoke wanted. However Liam Mullery improvised as he hit a fadeaway shot at the buzzer to give Nanticoke a 50-48 victory over North Pocono. Nanticoke head coach Zach Pientka on the play. "We drew up a set, it didn't work. Liam came up and made a big play. I'm excited for him, he's a guy we want to be a big time shooter for us. Big shooters make big time plays." Liam Mullery when the ball came into his hand. "I gotta put it up, there's two seconds left. The shot went in."

Jaidyn Johnson started off by scoring Nanticoke's first two baskets then Gavin Turak, Jaylin Collins and Ibn Jordan-Thomas helped give the Trojans a 13-2 lead and led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter, Johnson went on an 8-3 run to give Nanticoke a 12 point lead. A Turak three pointer and a pair of Johnson free throws gave Nanticoke a 15 point lead. North Pocono went on a 7-0 run to make cut the Nanticoke lead to nine and the Nanticoke lead at halftime to 28-19.

North Pocono went on a 6-0 run to cut the Nanticoke lead to three. A Liam Mullery three brought the Trojan lead to six. Johnson and Caleb Butczynski helped build the Trojans lead up to 8. However, North Pocono went on an 11-3 run to tie the game up at the end of the third quarter. Matt Sedita gave North Pocono their first lead with a basket early in the fourth quarter. Johnson and Butczynski gave Nanticoke the lead back with a pair of baskets. A pair of free throws by AJ Nemitz tied the game at 46. Chris Walsh hit a layup to give North Pocono a 48-46 lead. The Trojans missed a shot on their end and North Pocono got the rebound with little time left. However, North Pocono missed the front end of a one and one and Nanticoke got the rebound. Mullery tied up the game at 48. On North Pocono's end, they were called for a double dribble with 5.2 seconds left. After they went down the court, Nanticoke called timeout to set up one final play. In the inbounds play, Turak inbounded the ball to Mullery who went for the fadeaway shot and hit the shot at the buzzer to give Nanticoke a 50-48 victory on Opening Night.