By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
HAZLE TWP. – Until the rest of its game caught up, Dallas relied on shooting.
There was plenty on which the Mountaineers could lean.
Nick Nocito went 6-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half on the way to a 30-point effort that led Dallas past Nanticoke, 69-46, Thursday night in a Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament boys semifinal at Hazleton Area.
Dallas will play Hazleton Area in a rematch of the Division 1 playoff game it won, 58-39, Tuesday. The title game is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Wilkes-Barre Area.
The Mountaineers ran into early foul trouble because of their difficulty in keeping the Trojans out of the lane Thursday.
Nocito had plenty of help in a shooting performance that made sure none of Dallas’ issues mattered.
The senior guard made all four of his 3-point attempts in the first quarter and was one of four Mountaineers to hit at least twice from long distance in the first half when they drained a dozen shots and connected on 60 percent of their attempts.
“We were sluggish defensively,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “Thank God we made our shots.”
Nanticoke often traded its two points for Dallas’ three and the Trojans did not make enough shots, failing to capitalize on the Mountaineers’ foul trouble by going just 8-for-18 from the line in the first half.
Nocito made the most shots, finishing 7-for-11 on 3s.
“Nick Nocito is our floor leader,” Belenski said. “He knew what had to be done. Tonight, he decided to score because he knew we needed him to.”
Austin Finarelli added 13 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals.
Finarelli, Michael Cumbo and Angelo Zarola all made two 3-pointers in the first half, which ended with Dallas in front, 46-31.
Cumbo was 2-for-3 while scoring eight of his nine points.
Zarola came off the bench to hit both his attempts.
Chris Johnson went 8-for-9 from the floor to lead Nanticoke with 24 points. Jaidyn Johnson made his first three shots to score Nanticoke’s first 6 points on the way to finishing with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
There were seven lead changes and two ties in the first 6:20.
The lead changed hands again early in the second quarter.
Chris Johnson scored the first five points of the quarter, including a three-point play in transition for a 22-21 lead.
Finarelli tipped in a teammate’s airball to put Dallas right back in front and ahead to stay 6:08 before halftime.
Cumbo and Nocito each hit twice from beyond the arc during a 16-4 burst that took less than three minutes and allowed Dallas to open up a 42-29 lead.
Then, after Chris Johnson’s drive to complete his 12-point quarter, Dallas dealt a crushing blow by scoring twice in the last three seconds of the first half.
Cumbo scored on a rebound, then Finarelli stole the in-bounds pass, turned and hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer.
The Dallas defense then caught up with the offense, holding Nanticoke to 15 second-half points while allowing the Mountaineers to win comfortably.
The game was delayed 35 minutes early in the fourth quarter when Jude Nocito, Nick’s younger brother and the only freshman on the Dallas roster, suffered an apparent left shoulder injury and was eventually taken away on a stretcher.
When the game resumed, Dallas finished out the victory, improving to 20-3 to become the first District 2 team to reach 20 wins this season.
“Only good teams win 20 games,” Belenski said. “I tell the guys every year, ‘if you’re a good team, you’ll win 20 games’.
“That’s one of my goofy goals, along with districts and the state tournament.”
The Mountaineers have already won the Division 1 title by going 12-2 in WVC play, then winning Tuesday to improve to 2-1 in the season series with Hazleton Area (19-5).
Dallas is ranked No. 1 among Big School boys teams in the My City Mortgage Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams. Hazleton Area is ranked fourth.
Nanticoke fell to 13-10 by losing for just the third time in the last 15 games.
