Andrew Ferguson fired in 28 points as Scranton Prep went on the road and defeated Middletown, 53-50, March 8 when the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 4A boys tournament opened.
District 2 teams went 2-1 in the opening round with Dallas also winning and Mid Valley losing.
Ferguson and Noah Sorenson had five points each and Matt Cobb added four when Scranton Prep opened a 14-6 lead after one quarter.
Middletown closed within 25-23 at halftime and Ferguson helped Scranton Prep maintain the two-point lead through the third quarter by scoring 12 of the team’s 16 points.
James Pettinato got the Cavaliers through a tight game down the stretch, scoring all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.
Pettinato was 5-for-6 from the line, helping the Cavaliers go 8-for-10 over the last eight minutes. Ferguson made both his attempts while Cobb made one of two.
Tajie Broadie scored 19 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead Middletown.
Dallas 66, Shamokin 46
District 2 champion Dallas broke open the game with a 27-3 second quarter that produced a 51-23 halftime lead.
Shamokin led most of the first quarter, but host Dallas moved in front, then got an Austin Finarelli 3-pointer from nearly 30 feet at the buzzer for a 24-20 lead.
The Mountaineers shot better than 70 percent in the second quarter to break the game open.
Nick Nocito had 16 points while Finarelli and Michael Cumbo added 14 each with all of their points coming in the first half.
Shamokin was led by Jennsyn Shuey with 11 points.
Athens 42, Mid Valley 40
J.J. Babcock scored 14 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and made 3 steals to lead Athens to its first state tournament win since 1957 in the game played at the Lackawanna College Student Union.
Athens limited Mid Valley to 26 percent shooting from the floor.
The Spartans recovered from a 24-16 halftime deficit to lead in the fourth quarter, but fell short.
Gabe Tanner led Mid Valley with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Danny Nemitz added 14 points
Mid Valley scored the first eight points of the second half to tie the game. Tanner had four points and Nemitz made a 3-pointer in a 7-0 run for a 35-32 lead with 4:51 left.
Ryan Thompson’s 3-pointer tied the game and started a seven-point Athens streak.
Nemitz and Tanner each made two free throws to tie the game one more time, but Tucker Brown’s drive with 20 seconds left put the Wildcats ahead, 41-39.
Up three late, Athens fouled Nemitz with 2.3 seconds left rather than let Mid Valley attempt a tying 3-pointer.
MORE CLASS 4A COVERAGE
First-round roundup: https://nepabasketball.com/2021-22/Playoffs/4ABoysPIAA1stRound.
