Area gas tops U.S. average

No worries for Williams, Djokovic in 1st round

First Posted: 2/18/2015 HANOVER TWP. &#8212; Hanover Area learned a lesson Wednesday night.
Have a similar start Saturday against Holy Cross and things will get ugly very quickly.
The Hawkeyes shook off a sluggish start against four-win Blue Ridge, taking control in the second quarter for a 66-44 victory in the first round of the District 2 Class 2A boys basketball playoffs.
Sixth-seeded Hanover Area (15-8) plays third-seeded Holy Cross (18-5) in the quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined. Blue Ridge, the 11th seed, ended its season at 4-19.
&#8220;They&#8217;re the top dog,&#8221; Hanover Area senior guard Jake Barber said of Holy Cross. &#8220;I saw they were picked to win it.&#8221;
The Red Raiders, who lost by 27 to Hanover Area earlier this season, certainly didn&#8217;t play like a four-win team at the start. Senior Austin Darrow was torching the Hawkeyes with jumpers from near the four line. Hanover Area didn&#8217;t help matters by shooting 3 of 19 from the field.
End result &#8212; an unexpected 10-6 Blue Ridge lead after the first quarter.
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t come out and play. No emotion, no energy,&#8221; Hanover Area coach Steve Harnishfeger said. &#8220;We could get smoked early (against Holy Cross). We&#8217;re better than this. But who knows? They&#8217;re kids, they&#8217;re emotional playing their last game here, maybe I chalk it up to that. We have to play better.&#8221;
Hanover Area labored early in the second quarter as well. The Hawkeyes finally took the lead for good, 15-12, on a three-pointer by Barber. And even that shot came with some trepidation as Barber&#8217;s shot hit hard off the rim bounced as high as the backboard and then plummeted in.
From there, Hanover Area started to roll. Senior guard Tyler Major came off the bench to sink a three-pointer and a jumper from the baseline, giving the Hawkeyes their first double-digit lead 28-18.
Major finished with 13 points. Reserve Nick Minich added eight. The contributions of the two will be critical with starter Bobby Kerestes (broken elbow) out for the season.
&#8220;We told (Major) before the game we thought we would need him on the offensive end,&#8221; Harnishfeger said. &#8220;He gave us the spark we needed.&#8221;
Meanwhile, Darrow&#8217;s hot shooting flickered out. The 6-foot-4 senior did all he could to keep Blue Ridge within striking distance and finished with a game-high 26 points. But he and 6-2 Ty Herbert were the only players doing anything on the boards, where the Red Raiders were outmatched. Four Hanover Area players had at least five rebounds, led by a game-high 10 by Brandon Chafin.
Chafin added 11 point for a double-double. Barber finished with 17.
Hanover Area has lost in the D2-2A quarterfinals the past three seasons. Holy Cross has played for the D2-2A championship in six of its seven years of existence, winning the crown four times.
The victory also snapped a three-game losing streak that cost Hanover Area a crack at the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II title. The final two setbacks were by two points each.
&#8220;Three straight,&#8221; Barber said. &#8220;We had the last possession (against Nanticoke), but couldn&#8217;t get the shot to fall. It sucks when you&#8217;re on the losing end of it. But it doesn&#8217;t affect the playoffs. It&#8217;s a new season we&#8217;re starting.&#8221;
District 2 Class 2A first roundHanover Area 66, Blue Ridge 44BLUE RIDGE (44) &#8212; Jarred Mils 1 0-2 2, Mike Allen 2 0-0 4, Austin Darrow 12 2-5 26, Ty Herbert 2 1-1 5, Austin Cardoza 1 0-2 2, Jeff Marrow 1 0-0 3, Tyrell Cheeseboro 0 0-0 0, Nick Folk 0 0-0 0, Eric Peters 0 0-0 0, Kyle Donovan 0 1-2 1, Dominick Rogers 0 0-0 0, Nolan Hausser 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 5-15 44.
HANOVER AREA (66) &#8212; Jake Barber 7 0-0 17, David Torres 1 0-0 2, Tony Marcincavage 3 2-2 9, Brandon Chafin 4 2-4 11, Tom Kriton 3 0-0 6, Nick Minich 4 0-0 8, Tyler Major 5 0-0 13, John Morgan 0 0-0 0, Lius Rivera 0 0-0 0, Andrew Vallaro 0 0-0 0, Dan Marcincavage 0 0-0 0, Roy Sowalski 0 0-0 0, Brian Dellatore 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 4-6 66.
Blue Ridge`10`10`14`10`&#8212;`44
Hanover Area`6`26`24`10`&#8212;`66
Three-point goals &#8212; BR 1 (Marrow); HA 8 (Barber 3, T.Marcincavage, Chafin, Major 3).

Hawkeyes shake off slow start