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Long-range shooting helps clinch the second-half title for Tunkhannock.


TUNKHANNOCK &mdash; It didn&rsquo;t matter if there was a hand in his face, it didn&rsquo;t matter if he was guarded by one man or even two, it didn&rsquo;t matter if Dallas was hounding him before he even caught the ball. All that mattered to Tunkhannock&rsquo;s Austin Yanora was that once he started shooting he wasn&rsquo;t going to stop until the game was out of reach.
Yanora came off the bench in the second quarter and drilled eight three-pointers for a game-high 25 points in Tunkhannock&rsquo;s 68-56 win over Dallas at home in Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball action Friday night. 
The Tigers&rsquo; victory earned them the WVC Division II second-half championship. Now they face Dallas again, as the two squads play for the overall division crown at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lake-Lehman High School. Both the Tigers (14-8, 5-2) and Dallas (13-8, 3-4) have clinched a spot in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs. 
&ldquo;You know, every player on this team has his role and when they come into the game they know what they have to do,&rdquo; Tunkhannock coach Bob Miller said. &ldquo;We preach a team-oriented approach here and, credit to his teammates as well, when it looked like he had the hot hand they started making plays to get him the ball.&rdquo;
After a slow first quarter for both teams, Miller juggled his lineup for the second quarter, inserting Yanora and Brian Stephenson into the game in what proved to be an instant spark. 
The Tigers ran off a 15-4 scoring burst behind Yanora&rsquo;s first three and a pair of shots from behind the arc from Stephenson, who finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Tunkhannock picked up some layups inside from 6-foot-10 James Hawk before Yanora&rsquo;s second three of the quarter put the Tigers ahead by 16. A five-point spurt from Dallas made it 30-19 at the half. 
The Mountaineers barely had time to breathe in the start of the third quarter before took an inbounds pass as he rolled to hoop for a two-handed slam. Yanora fired off two more three-pointers before Hawk came through with another double-fisted dunk, firing up Tunkhannock.
Dallas tried to answer with some long-range offense from Bob Saba, who drained three shots of his own from long range before Shane Dunn added another. Just when it looked like Dallas had pulled within reach, Yanora struck from well behind the three-point line and then ended the third with his fourth three-point jumper of the quarter. 
&ldquo;Give credit to Tunkhannock tonight,&rdquo; Dallas coach Doug Miller said. &ldquo;They played with a lot of good energy, came out very fired up. We&rsquo;re going to meet again, though, and will certainly be prepared for them.&rdquo; 
The Mountaineers did manage to outscore Tunkhannock in the fourth, taking advantage after Hawk fouled out. The senior center collected 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots while playing most of the game in foul trouble.
Saba connected again from deep in the quarter and finished the game with a team-high 12 points, while Dunn added 11 points and Chris Ostrum tallied 10. 
Tunkhannock 68, Dallas 56

DALLAS (56): Behm 3 3-4 9, Brace 2 1-3 6, B. Saba 4 0-1 12, Dunn 4 2-4 11, M. Saba 0 0-0 0, Ross 2 0-0 6, Nijmeh 0 0-0 0, Ostrum 3 4-12 10, Fell 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 10-24 56

TUNKHANNOCK (68): Zaner 2 1-4 6, Faux 0 7-10 7, Yanora 8 1-6 25, Soltysiak 0 0-0 0, Franklin 0 0-0 0, Stephenson 5 1-3 13, Hawk 6 0-1 12, Bevan 1 0-0 3, Kristunas 1 0-1 2. Totals 23 10-25 68



Dallas
7
12
16
21
&mdash;
56


Tunkhannock
10
20
24
14
&mdash;
68




3-Point Field Goals&mdash; DAL 8 (B. Saba 4, Ross 2, Dunn, Brace); TUNK 12 (Yanora 8, Stephenson 2, Bevan, Zaner)

Tigers Alive For Division Crown