Carbondale and Dunmore took advantage of fast starts to win Tuesday’s District 2 Class 2A boys quarterfinals.
The Chargers protected enough of their lead to pull off a 54-45, road upset of rival Lakeland.
The Bucks never slowed down, turning their home-court game with Wyoming Seminary into a Mercy Rule rout, 61-20.
In a bracket reduced to six teams from seven because Montrose chose not to enter its three-win team, Carbondale was entered despite going winless in Lackawanna League Division 3. Two of those losses came against Lakeland, the team the Chargers defeated to earn a shot at top-seeded Holy Redeemer in a game that has been moved to Saturday at 7.
Dunmore endured a late-season, four-game losing streak in which it averaged less than 41 points per game and has come back to build up momentum heading into what is now a Saturday 3 p.m. semifinal at second-seeded Riverside. The Bucks, who split their two league meetings with Riverside, have averaged 62.7 points while winning their last three games.
Carbondale 54, Lakeland 45
Carbondale opened leads of 15-2 after one quarter and 25-9 at halftime.
Killian Bannon and Tyler Donato led the way with 14 points each.
Jay Allen, who had two 3-pointers to fuel the big first quarter, finished with 10 points.
Billy Hazelton scored all 12 of his points for Lakeland in the third quarter.
Antonio Hazelton had 12 in the fourth quarter, 18 in the second half and a game-high 22 total for the Chiefs.
Carbondale (6-12) did not start playing until Dec. 30 and won back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 8.
Dunmore 61, Wyoming Seminary 20
Dunmore shut out Wyoming Seminary in the first quarter then put up 23 points in the second to take a 33-8 halftime lead.
The Bucks, who sat out the 2021 postseason because of COVID, built the lead to 52-16 after three quarters then held the Blue Knights to four points in the fourth.
Adriel DeNaples scored 15 points and Kevin Walsh 12 for Dunmore, which got points from 12 players.
DeNaples made two of his three 3-pointers and scored eight points in the second quarter while Walsh was adding seven.
Antek Evan led Wyoming Seminary with six points.
