Holy Redeemer pulls away to defeat Pittston Area and advance to the WVC Championship Game

Pittston Area's gameplan was to limit Holy Redeemer's possessions and the Patriots were working their gameplan well in the first quarter. However, Royals coach Paul Guido decided to go to a more guard oriented lineup in bringing his top reserves, junior guard Mark Atherton and junior center George Sabatini. Sabatini scored eight points in the quarter and the Royals pulled away in the second half to advance the WVC Championship game with a 48-35 victory over Pittston Area. Zach Perta and Jacob Hunter each scored 12 points for the Royals and George Sabatini added 10. "We went smaller to combat their style. George was great. He gave us a huge boost." Holy Redeemer Head Coach Paul Guido said. "Everytime I go out there, I'm just gonna play 100 percent no matter what. I try to help out on the boards. We have the best guards in the conference. Royals junior center George Sabatini said

Zach Perta started off the scoring for Holy Redeemer but a pair of Silvio Giardina three pointers gave Pittston Area a 6-3 lead. Pittston Are spent most of the first quarter with the ball and led 7-4 after the end of the first quarter.

Early seconds of the secod quarter, Jacob Hunter tied the game up with a three pointer. The Royals ended up going on a 7-0 run to lead 11-7 but Jack Long hit a basket and Giardina hit a three pointer to give Pittston Area a 12-11 lead. George Sabatini gave Holy Redeemer back the lead with a three point play. Long answered with a three point play to make it 15-14 Patriots. The first half ended with a Zach Perta three pointer and a Sabatini basket to take a 19-15 lead at halftime.

Pittston Area cut the lead down to one with a basket by Anthony Cencetti and a free throw by Giardina. Holy Redeemer went on a 7-2 run to make it a nine point lead. The Patriots got a three pointer by Cencetti and a basket by Giardina to make it a four point deficit. After Darryl Wright hit one of two free throws. Cencetti hit a pair of free throws to make it a three point game. Just before the buzzer sounded, Jacob Hunter hit a three pointer to make it 33-27 after three quarters of play.

The Royals pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the Pittston Area Patriots 48-35. Holy Redeemer will play Dallas on Saturday night at Dallas High School. Anthony Cencetti had a game-high 15 points and Silvio Giardina added 12 points for the Patriots.