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Luzerne County overdoses spanned generations in 2017

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D2 basketball: Mrochko’s hot start leads Hazleton Area into girls 6A title game

WILKES-BARRE &#8211; Jay Bittner did everything but get to the last offensive rebound for Dallas Friday night.Matt Mathers took care of that.Bittner scored 27 points and Mathers scored his only basket on a tip-in in the final second to lift the Mountaineers over upset-minded Crestwood and into the PIAA Class 5A state boys basketball tournament with a 52-50 District 2 semifinal victory at King&#8217;s College.Dallas will play defending champion Abington Heights March 2 at 8 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena for the district title. The Mountaineers won for the 20th time, but were in danger of having their season end earlier than anticipated against a team they had clobbered 61-25 on Feb. 2.Crestwood erased an early 10-point deficit and had leads of 46-39 with 3:37 remaining and 48-42 with 2:13 left.&#8220;That was scary,&#8221; Bittner said.Sixth man Brody Strickland provided a defensive spark, Alex Charlton hit a 3-pointer and Bittner tied the game twice in the last two minutes on a long 3-pointer and a strong drive to the basket.The Mountaineers called their last timeout with a minute left and held the ball for the last shot.That turned into the last three shots.&#8220;We were going to hold &#8216;til 10 (seconds), then send everybody to the boards,&#8221; Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. &#8220;That&#8217;s what happened.&#8220;It was exactly what we were trying to do.&#8221;Charlton tried first from long range, then Strickland and Mathers got to rebounds.Strickland could not hit the rim from a tough angle on the baseline, but as Bittner crashed in from the wing, Mathers beat him to the rebound.Mathers also beat the clock.&#8220;I knew I had to put it right back up while I was still in the air,&#8221; Mathers said.The advantage of playing in a college gym was that the Mountaineers did not have to wait to celebrate. The light on the backboard, signaling time ran out, clearly came on as Mathers&#8217; shot was already up around the rimDallas players said there was no need to even look for officials as they started their celebration with on-rushing fans from their student section.Bittner went 6 for 9 from 3-point range, was 8 for 12 from the floor and made all five of his free throws. He also had three assists, forced two fourth-quarter turnovers and got to a key late offensive rebound.&#8220;My teammates got me open the entire game,&#8221; Bittner said.Joey Parsons added 10 points and four assists before fouling out.Crestwood hit 10 of its first 13 shots to begin the second half.Sean Murphy had 14 points and Camden Boris added 13 to lead the Comets.Dallas 52, Crestwood 50CRESTWOOD (50) &#8212; Ryan Petrosky 2 4-5 9, Sean Murphy 4 5-8 14, Camden Boris 5 0-2 13, Evan Knapp 3 1-1 8, Mike Palmiero 3 0-0 6, Frank Casarella 0 0-0 0, Kevin Kluzewitz 0 0-0 0, Brandon Nieminski 0 0-0 0, Adam Gegaris 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-16 50.DALLAS (52) &#8212; Alex Charlton 3 0-0 7, Nick Kocher 0 0-0 0, Joey Parsons 4 1-3 10, Matt Mathers 1 0-0 2, Jay Bittner 8 5-5 27, Brody Strickland 1 2-2 4, Ben O&#8217;Connell 0 0-0 0, Jack Farrell 0 2-2 2. Totals 17 10-12 52.Crestwood`7`15`18`10`&#8212;`50Dallas`15`9`9`19`&#8212;`52Three-point goals &#8212; CREST 6 (Boris 3, Petrosky, Murphy, Knapp), DAL 8 (Bittner 6, Charlton, Parsons).<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

D2 basketball: Dallas’ Mathers scores game-winner in final second vs. Crestwood