SCRANTON – Matt Prociak scored 20 points Dec. 18 when Holy Redeemer overwhelmed rival Holy Cross, 58-28, in a game play at the Lackawanna College Student Union.
The game matched ranked Small School boys teams in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
Holy Redeemer lived up to its No. 1 ranking while improving to 3-0 and dropping Holy Cross to 2-2.
Justice Shoats added 14 timely points to the win.
Logan Tierney led Holy Cross with 16 points.
Shoats got the Royals started with seven first-quarter points. Shoats, Jayden Halstead and Darryl Wright all hit 3-pointers for a 15-7 lead.
Holy Redeemer held Holy Cross scoreless for the first three minutes and the last 2:21 of the second quarter on the way to a 27-14 halftime lead.
Shoats had a steal and scored when the Royals opened the quarter with six straight points, then turned another steal into a dunk for the last basket of the half.
Prociak took over in the third quarter, scoring 11 points.
Tierney had six of the seven Holy Cross points in the quarter, which ended with Holy Redeemer in command, 43-21.
Prociak had three baskets and Shoats turned another steal into a dunk in a streak of 12 straight points that carried into the fourth quarter and put the Royals up 50-21.
In other Dec. 18 non-league boys games:
Pittston Area 66, West Scranton 38
Anthony Cencetti led the way with 18 points as Pittston Area handed West Scranton its first defeat following a 3-0 start by a total of 85 points.
Jack Long added 13 points and J.J. Walsh had 9.
Dominic Jannuzzi and Ethan Ghannam combined to lead a strong Pittston Area effort on the boards. Jannuzzi had 7 points and 9 rebounds while Ghannam had 5 points and 10 rebounds.
North Pocono 79, Wyoming Area 50
Kyle McCullough pumped in seven 3-pointers, including four in the third quarter, on the way to a 25-point effort in North Pocono’s road win.
Ryan Ruddy added 24 points and A.J. Nemitz had 17.
Nemitz drained five 3-pointers, including three in the first quarter to get the Trojans out to a 21-12 start.
Ruddy scored 16 points in the middle quarters. He had 8 in the second to help offset Wyoming Area’s Dane Schutter scoring 9 of his 19 in the quarter.
Wyoming Area stayed within 35-27 at halftime, but McCullough had 14 points and Ruddy 8 in the third quarter when the Trojans ran away for a 62-37 lead.
Evan Melberger and Nico Sciandra added 11 points each for the Warriors.
Delaware Valley 56, Pocono Mountain East 47
Jake Brower scored 11 of his 18 points in the second quarter to give Delaware Valley a five-point halftime lead.
Ronny Jason added 15 points and Ryan Doherty had 6 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to help close out the win.
St. Joseph’s Prep 63, Scranton Prep 47
St. Joseph’s Prep broke open the game with a 19-8 third quarter, building a 47-25 lead in the game in Philadelphia.
James Pettinato hit three first-half 3-pointers and finished with 11 points to lead Scranton Prep.
Noah Sorensen scored nine points and Andrew Ferguson had eight.
Cumberland Valley 63, Hazleton Area 54
Cumberland Valley outscored Hazleton Area, 39-19, in the middle quarters.
The Eagles ended the first half on a 19-6 run to a 31-17 lead, then stretched that to 43-22 midway through the third.
The Cougars trailed 51-32 before cutting into the final margin with a strong fourth quarter.
Josin Guerra led Hazleton Area with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
Panther Valley 49, MMI Prep 10
Panther Valley shut out MMI Prep in the third quarter to stretch a 29-6 lead to 45-6.
Nick Pantages led MMI Prep with six points.
CREDIT: Graphic and reporting of Holy Redeemer-Holy Cross game by Ben Magnotta.
