By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
As point guard on one of District 2’s most balanced offenses, Nick Nocito is responsible for getting the ball into the necessary spots so that the right shots are being taken by the right players.
When the Dallas Mountaineers opened the state tournament March 6, it turned out that taking the ball to the basket himself or getting in back from teammates in scoring position was the best option for Nocito.
The sophomore keyed a second-quarter surge that put the Mountaineers ahead and went on to score 28 points as Dallas defeated Frankford from Philadelphia in the first round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 5A tournament.
For his effort, Nocito was selected as the PNC Bank District 2 Boys Basketball Player of the Week for the period of March 2-8.
With Nocito running the show, the Mountaineers bounced back from a season-low offensive output in a 33-32 loss to Wallenpaupack in the District 2 championship game to tie for their third-highest scoring production of the season.
“That was a rough one to lose,” Nocito said of the district final at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. “We had the lead there at the end and lost it. That was a tough one to come back from, but we had a good week of practice and were able to bounce back to try to make a little run and try to redeem it.”
Dallas trailed by one after one quarter against Frankford in the first-round state game at Berwick. A change on the defensive end got the offense started and Nocito thrived as more transition opportunities opened up. He scored the first eight points of the second quarter to put Dallas ahead to stay.
“We wanted to pick up our defense, so we started some pressure and got a bunch of steals and a bunch of transition points,” Nocito said.
Nocito joins fellow sophomore guard Austin Finarelli in supporting team scoring leader Jack Farrell and giving Dallas three players averaging in double figures in scoring, along with two others, Luke DelGaudio and Dylan Schuster, who often reach that level.
“I’m just trying to get guys where they’re supposed to be and find openings for our guys to score,” Nocito said.
With offensive options to go along with defensive quickness and rebounding, Dallas was able to finish tied for first place in Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference before losing out on a title shot in a division playoff.
The Mountaineers regrouped, ended an eight-year Abington Heights district championship streak in a game that clinched both a title shot at the arena and the state tournament berth.
Nocito’s 28-point effort gave Dallas its second state tournament in three years and just the fourth in school history.
The Mountaineers have since added another and are one of the last eight teams alive in the Class 5A bracket of the state tournament, which the PIAA has suspended as one of the actions taken to try to control the spread of the coronavirus.
That success can be traced, in part, back to a move that coach Mark Belenski made early in the 2018-19 season.
Belenski inserted Nocito and Finarelli, then freshmen, into the starting five, revamping the Dallas lineup.
“I just know we had a rough start to the season last year and coach just wanted to switch things up,” Nocito said. “I think Austin and I went in the lineup and the chemistry just sort of worked out. It was no disrespect to the guys who didn’t start, but they came off the bench and worked through it and it worked out.”
Finarelli’s older brother Justin was the only senior on the team and the three current senior starters, Farrell, DelGaudio and Schuster all had significant roles as well, along with Sam Nocito, Nick’s older brother who usually handles the sixth man role for Dallas this season as a senior.
“We didn’t really talk about. I guess we sort of knew what we were getting into, coming up playing varsity basketball as freshmen,” Nocito said. “That was tough, but the older guys taught us a lot, the juniors that year who are seniors this year and Justin Finarelli, they taught us a lot and helped us to get through it.”
The Mountaineers are now reaping the benefits.
Nick is the son of Joe and Kristine Nocito of Shavertown.
Adam Howanitz from Valley View and Brandon Reed from Riverside also received consideration for the award.
Howanitz had 24 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocked shots in a 70-58 Class 4A win over Athens. The 6-foot-4 freshman post player scored 16 points in the first half.
Reed had 20 points in a 70-57 Class 3A victory over Central Columbia. He scored from well beyond midcourt at the third-quarter buzzer.
