Pittston Area made the trip to Blue Ridge for a Saturday night non-league boys game and members of J.J. Walsh’s extended family came in from New Jersey anticipating a special night.
Walsh did not disappoint.
The senior guard scored 20 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead the Patriots to their seventh straight victory, 67-47.
“I knew because I had family coming in and my coach told me how much I had before my last game,” said Walsh, who entered the game needing 18 to reach the milestone.
Walsh got there when he hit his only 3-pointer of the night from the right side late in the third quarter.
“It was nice,” Walsh said. “The Blue Ridge coach (Wes Parks) let us stop the game and do the thing with the ball (presentation) and take pictures.”
Walsh had six points in each of the first two quarters as Pittston Area took leads of 17-10 after one quarter and 40-23 at halftime.
While Walsh was getting to the basket, freshman Silvio Giardina came in to launch 3-pointer. Giardina scored 15 points on five, first-half 3-pointers, making four of them in the second quarter.
Walsh added one more third-quarter basket after his milestone 3-pointer and Pittston Area (17-4) took a 54-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
Blue Ridge (13-7) was led by Connor Cranage with 10 points. Coleman McCain hit three 3-pointers while adding nine points.
