All-District 2 boys team

Holy Redeemer's Justice Shoats. (Tim Drewes Photo)

Posted: Apr 10, 2022

Justice Shoats led Holy Redeemer’s rise to state contender status and did all he could to keep the Royals in contention.

In his final game with the Royals, Shoats scored 29 points in a one-point overtime loss in the state Class 3A semifinals to a Devon Prep team that a week later rolled over Aliquippa in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association finals.

Shoats’ many contributions to a season in which the Royals went unbeaten in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 and won a District 2 title make the speedy, high-flying guard NEPABasketball.com’s selection as Player of the Year to lead the all-District 2 team.

Shoats is no stranger to the all-District 2 team. He was a first-team selection two years ago and a second-team choice last season.

Scranton’s Jason Shields is the other repeat performer, landing on the first team for the second straight year.

Shoats, Shields and Coach of the Year Al Callejas from Holy Cross headline the team.

Austin Finarelli and Nick Nocito make Dallas, District 2’s other state semifinalist, the only team with two first-team selections.

Matt Prociak’s presence on the second team makes Holy Redeemer the only other team to have two players recognized.

Hazleton Area’s Josian Guerra and Mid Valley’s Gabe Tanner round out the first team.

Ryan Ruddy from North Pocono, Connor Cranage from Blue Ridge, J.J. Walsh from Pittston Area and Matt Show from Abington Heights join Prociak on the second team.

Each was a major factor in producing team success in addition to his personal accomplishments.

Shields and the Holy Redeemer and Dallas combos all led their teams to division and district titles as well as multiple state tournament wins.

Callejas and Walsh were part of district championships and state tournament victories.

Tanner led a division championship team that also played in a district final at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Guerra’s team, as well as Callejas’, finished tied for first in the divisional regular-season standings only to lose out in a playoff for the title.

Ruddy, whose team was among those playing in the district finals at the arena, joined Cranage and Show in keeping their teams in division title contention until the final week of the regular season.

Shoats moved past 1,500 career points during a season in which he averaged 20.1 points per game while shooting 58 percent from the floor, 36 from 3-point range and 79 from the foul line. The Division 2 Player of the Year two of the past three seasons, who is the defending state Class 2A long jump champion in track and field, also averaged 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.0 steals.

With Shoats leading the way, Holy Redeemer was the only District 2 boys team to go unbeaten in league play.

Shields capped his Scranton career as the two-time Lackawanna League Division 1 Player of the Year while leading a pair of title repeats. He averaged 21.5 points while shooting 45 percent from the floor, 33 percent from 3-point range and better than 70 percent from the line. Shields, who also contributed 6.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists while hitting 2.5 times per game from 3-point range, set school records with 10 made 3-pointers and 43 points in a District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional semifinal rout of Wilkes-Barre Area.

Scranton had the best winning percentage in District 2 with a 23-3 record.

Callejas, who moved past the 500-win mark for his career during the 2019-20 season, kept intact his record of leading Holy Cross to the state tournament in every year the school was able to compete. The Crusaders made it 13 times, but sat out the postseason a year ago because of COVID protocols.

After the team started 4-5, including 0-2 in Division 3 of the Lackawanna League, Callejas guided it through 17 wins in the next 18 games, losing only in a playoff for the division title. Holy Cross won the District 2 Class 2A championship and two state tournament games before giving state finalist Constitution from Philadelphia a two-point game in the quarterfinals.

Finarelli, NEPABasketball.com’s WVC Division 1 Player of the Year, and Nocito, a four-time division all-star, led Dallas to the most wins in District 2 with a 27-4 record. The Mountaineers set a school record for wins and made the state semifinals for the first time ever.

Despite playing with a broken shooting hand, Finarelli averaged 17.4 points in the district final and four state tournament games to finish with team-highs of 20.9 points and 1.9 3-pointers per game.

In his final high school game, Finarelli had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals in a loss to state champion Neumann-Goretti.

Nocito averaged 16 points per game. He had 23 points, including the last 7 of regulation, and 7 assists in a come-from-behind, overtime win over West Philadelphia in the state quarterfinals to give Dallas its deepest state tournament run ever.

Tanner, a sophomore who is the only underclassman on the first team, led the Lackawanna Division 3 champions in points (13.7), rebounds (7.1), assists (2.7), steals (2.1) and blocked shots (1.3) while earning division Player of the Year honors.

Guerra led Hazleton Area’s 19-win team in points (16.2), rebounds (5.7), steals (3.3) and assists (2.3).

Ruddy, a four-year, division all-star, and Cranage, already a two-year selection as a sophomore, were the Lackawanna Division 2 and 3 Players of the Year.

Walsh, a two-time, first-team selection, was also a second-team WVC Division 1 all-star as a sophomore.

Prociak is another repeat first-team division all-star.

Show, a junior, was a first-team all-star in Lackawanna Division 1.

The full all-star team list:

ALL-DISTRICT 2

Coach of the Year

Al Callejas, Holy Cross

Player of the Year

Justice Shoats, Holy Redeemer senior

First Team

Austin Finarelli, Dallas senior

Josian Guerra, Hazleton Area senior