J.J. Walsh drilled six 3-pointers in regulation and Anthony Cencetti made his first five free throw attempts of overtime Saturday night as Pittston Area battled past visiting Tunkhannock, 58-56, in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys game.
Walsh finished with 26 points.
Cencetti added 14, hitting two 3-pointers and going 8-for-10 from the line, including 5-for-6 in overtime.
Ethan Ghannam added 12 points and key late-game rebounds as the Patriots improved to 5-2 in the division to move into a three-way tie for second place. Pittston Area is 10-3 overall after winning its third straight.
Ben Chilson scored 20 points to lead Tunkhannock (1-3 and 6-5). Dylan Mateus added 13 points and Garret Yuhas had 11.
Walsh hit three of his 3-pointers in the first quarter while scoring 11 points to help the Patriots an 18-11 lead.
After hitting another 3-pointer in the second quarter, Walsh finished the half with 16 points, but Tunkhannock pulled even at 25-25 behind 13 first-half points, including 8 in the second quarter, from Chilson.
Pittston Area opened the lead to 40-35 going into the fourth quarter.
Tunkhannock again recovered.
Dylan Mateus hit a tying runner in the lane with 34 seconds left and, when a short Pittston Area jumper at the buzzer bounced off the rim, the teams headed to overtime tied, 48-48.
Walsh hit the first basket of overtime and fed Ghannam on a pick-and-roll to put Pittston Area ahead again, 52-50.
Chilson hit two free throws in between those plays, then Yuhas nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to put the Tigers up, 53-52, with 1:28 left.
Cencetti was fouled after grabbing a rebound with 49.3 seconds left. He made both the tying and go-ahead free throws.
Dominic Jannuzzi blocked a Tunkhannock 3-point attempt on the next possession and Ghannam was fouled after controlling the rebound.
Ghannam made the first of two free throws for a two-point lead with 33.3 seconds left.
Cencetti hit two more with 10.3 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.
Those free throws wound up being necessary when Chilson drained a 26-footer with 4.3 seconds left.
Cencetti made the first of two free throws with 2.5 left and, when two Tigers both went after the rebound, they were unable to control the ball well enough to get a final shot.
In other Saturday boys games:
Holy Redeemer 73, Hanover Area 49
Zachary Perta made five 3-pointers while scoring 23 points as Holy Redeemer remained unbeaten in WVC Division 1 and moved a half-game in front of Nanticoke going into their meeting Monday night at Nanticoke.
Justice Shoats added 18 points and Matt Prociak 15 for the Royals.
Perta had eight points in the first quarter, but the Royals led just 13-12.
Jake Zola had seven points for Hanover Area in the second quarter and the Hawkeyes remained within 45-36 before the Royals broke the game open in the fourth quarter.
Melikah Gonzalez also scored 11 points for Hanover Area while Andrew Fleming had 10.
Old Forge 53, Dunmore 30
Old Forge entered the day in last place in Lackawanna League Division 3 but held second-place Dunmore without a first-quarter field goal and without a basket inside the arc in the first half.
While the defense was dominating, Ayden Davitt scored 13 of his 21 points as the Blue Devils opened leads of 18-3 after one quarter and 30-11 at halftime.
Joe Macciocco scored 9 of his 15 points in the third quarter to help the Blue Devils maintain their lead.
Dunmore played without Kevin Walsh, the team’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder.
Adriel DeNaples had six points to lead the Bucks.
Scranton 45, Executive Education 36
Scranton held host Executive Education, a team with three District 11 titles in its three-plus year existence, scoreless for all but the last 14 seconds of the fourth quarter to rally for the win.
Jason Shields scored 22 points and helped the Knights outscore the Raptors, 16-4, in the fourth quarter. Shields pushed his career total to 976 in the game.
Arvel Chandler, who added 10 points, opened the fourth quarter with a layup then the go-ahead 3-pointer to make it 34-32.
Josh Williams battled inside, leading the way as Scranton remained even on the boards against a taller opponent with two National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I players in the lineup.
Drexel commit Kobe Magee led Executive Education with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Scranton jumped out to a 10-5 lead and was up 13-9 after one quarter.
Shields had 15 first-half points to keep the Knights up 24-23.
Executive Education took its lead by holding Scranton to five points in the third quarter.
The Knights topped that by giving up only four late points in the fourth.
Hazleton Area 69, Lancaster McCaskey 58
Josian Guerra went 10-for-15 from the floor while scoring 31 points when Hazleton Area ran its overall winning streak to 8 games with the victory at the Reading Shootout.
The scoring was just part of the all-around effort by Guerra, who had eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Guerra made all four of his 3-point attempts, helping the Cougars shoot 57 percent from 3-point range.
Chris Catrone was 2-for-3 from long distance, Sammy Guzman made his only attempt and Eliud Lopez was 1-for-2. Hazleton Area finished 8-for-14.
Catrone had 12 points.
Lopez dished out five assists.
The Cougars broke open a three-point game with a 20-12 fourth quarter.
Scranton Prep 54, Pottsville 46
Scranton Prep overcame a five-point deficit after one quarter and took control in the second half of the non-league, road win.
The Cavaliers handed the Crimson Tide just its second loss in the last eight games.
Andrew Ferguson led the offense, hitting three 3-pointers while scoring 17 points.
Robert Rossi scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half.
Matt Cobb went 3-for-4 at the line in the fourth quarter to finish with nine points.
Carbondale 67, Susquehanna 54
Jay Allen scored 14 of his 21 points in the first quarter to get Carbondale started toward its non-league win at Susquehanna with an early 18-5 lead.
The strong start helped the Chargers withstand 19 second-half and 23 total points by Susquehanna’s Colton Stone.
Tyler Donato added 16 points for Carbondale while Preston Casey had 10.
Spencer Beamer had 11 points, 4 assists and 3 steals for Susquehanna. Stone led the Sabers with eight rebounds.
Elk Lake 62, Wyoming Seminary 45
Matt Mowry scored 21 points and Wyatt Casselbury added 15 to lead host Elk Lake to the non-league win.
Isaiah Stull, Phil Evan and Jake Novelli all scored 10 points for Wyoming Seminary.
Nanticoke 63, Berwick 48
Chris Johnson scored 20 points and Jaidyn Johnson added 17 as Nanticoke won the non-league game for its fourth straight victory.
Owen Brown chipped in with 12 points.
Sean Murphy scored 18 points for Berwick. Matt Lonczynski added 11.
Lakeland 33, Forest City 31
Lakeland edged Forest City in the non-league game, preventing the resurgent Foresters from winning their third straight.
East Stroudsburg South 66, Honesdale 26
East Stroudsburg South overpowered Honesdale in the non-league game.
MORE SATURDAY COVERAGE
North Pocono-West Scranton game story: https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/HSGames/GameNPWest.
Dallas/Lake-Lehman game story, Nick Nocito’s 1000th point: https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/HSGames/BoysDallasLL.
