H.S. Boys Basketball: Nanticoke defeats Valley View, plays Berwick on Thursday

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Considering all the hard work already done inside, it seemed fine for GAR center Keyshawn Palmer to launch up a 3-pointer.</p><p>He missed, not that many expected the shot to fall, but by that time GAR was well on its way to a 79-42 victory over Tunkhannock in a District 2 Class 3A boys basketball first-round game Wednesday night.</p><p>&#8220;I pulled one at Meyers and I pulled one at Allentown,&#8221; Palmer said of his 3-point shooting career this season.</p><p>Rest assured, Palmer&#8217;s services beyond the arc won&#8217;t be required much more. The 6-foot-4 junior did a number on Tunkhannock in the paint. Actually, all the Grenadiers did as they outrebounded the Tigers 48-26. But Palmer&#8217;s stats were something special &#8212; 17 rebounds and 18 points despite sitting out the final two minutes of the second quarter and the entire fourth quarter.</p><p>&#8220;They have a lot of height,&#8221; GAR coach Jerry Altavilla said of Tunkhannock, &#8220;but Keyshawn being so active &#8230; and not just Keyshawn but (Marquan) Kemp. But Keyshawn can jump. He works so hard.&#8221;</p><p>The second-seeded Grenadiers (16-8) will be right back to work Thursday when they play No. 7 Honesdale (14-10) in a quarterfinal game at 7:30 p.m. at Wyoming Area High School. The Hornets, who feature Loyola of Maryland recruit Ian Langendoerfer, survived overtime against No. 10 Wyoming Area for a 71-66 victory.</p><p>Tunkhannock, the 15th seed, ended its season at 6-17.</p><p>&#8220;We only lose Tony Maloney,&#8221; Tunkhannock coach Scott Pagnotti said. &#8220;We had only one other senior and he was a foreign exchange student and didn&#8217;t really play much. But it&#8217;s hard to replace a guy like Tony, who averaged nearly 19 a game for us. We got a nice young nucleus who took their lumps this year.&#8221;</p><p>The young Tigers didn&#8217;t for the first quarter Wednesday night. Maloney knocked down three 3-pointers as Tunkhannock took a 19-15 lead with a minute left only to have GAR pull to a 19-19 tie after the first eight minutes.</p><p>&#8220;I was worried about our focus before the tipoff to be honest with you,&#8221; Altavilla said. &#8220;The first quarter, we came out a little lax defensively.&#8221;</p><p>Tunkhannock was 8 of 14 from the field in the first quarter, but 3 for 13 shooting in the second quarter launched GAR&#8217;s transition game. Plus, the Grenadiers outrebounded Tunkhannock 16-6 in the period.</p><p>An 11-0 burst midway through &#8212; highlighted by a baseline dunk by Palmer off a lofted pass from freshman point guard Will Johnson &#8212; turned the game completely in GAR&#8217;s favor 33-21. Palmer reached his double-double less than three minutes into the second quarter.</p><p>&#8220;We knew (rebounding) would be the key to the game,&#8221; Pagnotti said. &#8220;We harped all week on how we have to fundamentally box out. We knew we couldn&#8217;t match their athleticism on bit. We knew one through five they had an athletic advantage over us.&#8221;</p><p>Tunkhannock cut the deficit to 33-26 late in the second, but once against GAR&#8217;s transition offense overwhelmed the Tigers. It was so effective even GAR guard Tino Altavilla, who usually hangs out beyond the arc, had two fastbreak layups.</p><p>Sophomore reserve Aaron Hyppolite added 14 for GAR, with 12 coming in the fourth quarter as the starters received a much-needed rest going into Thursday&#8217;s game. Altavilla, Kemp and Johnson all scored 10.</p><p>Maloney finished with 14 for Tunkhannock. Evan Turner added 12.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>GAR 79, Tunkhannock 42</strong></p><p><strong>TUNKHANNOCK (42) &#8212;</strong> Sean Harder 3 1-2 7, Tyler Faux 1 0-0 3, Tony Maloney 4 2-2 14, Ethan Hoefert 1 1-2 3, Evan Turner 6 0-0 12, AC Macko 1 1-2 3, Avery Newhart 0 0-0 0, Mayy Goodwin 0 0-0 0, Avery Billings 0 0-0 0, CJ Brennan 0 0-0 0, Paul DeMarco 0 0-2 0. <strong>Totals 16 5-8 42.</strong></p><p><strong>GAR (79) &#8212;</strong> Keyshawn 8 2-4 18, Marquan Kemp 5 0-0 10, Dajon Rush 3 2-4 8, Tino Altavilla 4 0-0 10, Will Johnson 3 4-6 10, Antwone Easter 2 2-2 7, Aaron Hyppolite 6 2-3 14, Anthony Hawk 1 0-0 2, Khalil White 0 0-0 0, Simon Peter 0 0-0 0, Mufee Burney 0 0-2 0. <strong>Totals 32 12-21 79.</strong></p><p><strong>Tunkhannock`19`8`7`8`&#8212;`42</strong></p><p><strong>GAR`19`20`21`19`&#8212;`79</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals &#8212;</strong> GAR 3 (Altavilla 2, Easter).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">GAR&#8217;s Keyshawn Palmer (0) leaps over Tunkhannock&#8217;s Evan Turner (34) to score Wednesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_GAR-Tunkhannock-BBB-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>GAR&#8217;s Keyshawn Palmer (0) leaps over Tunkhannock&#8217;s Evan Turner (34) to score Wednesday night. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_GAR-Tunkhannock-BBB-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR guard Dajon Rush (10) drives past Tunkhannock&#8217;s Evan Turner (34) for a layup Wednesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_GAR-Tunkhannock-BBB-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>GAR guard Dajon Rush (10) drives past Tunkhannock&#8217;s Evan Turner (34) for a layup Wednesday night. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_GAR-Tunkhannock-BBB-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR&#8217;s Will Johnson (3) drives the left side of the lane for a layup Wednesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_GAR-Tunkhannock-BBB-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>GAR&#8217;s Will Johnson (3) drives the left side of the lane for a layup Wednesday night. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Grenadiers play Honesdale in quarterfinals Thursday</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

GAR runs past Tunkhannock