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D2 basketball: Nanticoke Area falls to Valley View in 4A semifinals

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D2 diving: Dallas’ Jaelyn Shaver, Tunkhannock’s Sawyer Aitken shine at championships

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; If the first basket of the game didn&#8217;t set the tone Saturday afternoon &#8212; an easy layup by Jeff Planutis off the tipoff &#8212; then the second certainly did. Planutis had that one as well on a powerful dunk.</p><p>&#8220;It established a lot to help us get the flow going and the pace,&#8221; Planutis said. &#8220;We established what we wanted to do for the rest of the game.&#8221;</p><p>No doubt. Because from there, Hazleton Area continued to roll all the way to the District 2 Class 6A boys basketball championship game with an 84-33 rout of Delaware Valley in the semifinals at King&#8217;s College.</p><p>&#8220;I thought we had a really good look to us,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Mike Joseph said. &#8220;This is the most stressful game for me as a coach because there&#8217;s no tomorrow if you don&#8217;t win. We&#8217;re not as fortunate as other districts where you can lose a game and continue on.&#8221;</p><p>The Cougars (22-1) will go for their second consecutive D2-6A title when they play Scranton (16-7) at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Mohegan Sun Arena. Only the winner advances to the PIAA 6A state tournament. Scranton held off District 4&#8217;s Williamsport 80-79 in the other semifinal.</p><p>DelVal ended its season at 12-11.</p><p>Planutis, a 6-foot-5 wing player, started a cascade of points that gave Hazleton Area a 22-3 lead after one quarter. He scored six of his 12 in the period. Josh Samec, a 6-8 forward, led the way with eight of his game-high 14 points as the Cougars finished 10 of 17 from the field in the initial eight minutes.</p><p>Meanwhile, DelVal was 1 of 11 from the field and made six turnovers in the first quarter. Things barely improved the rest of the way.</p><p>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Da&#8217;Mir Faison opened the second quarter alley-oop dunk off a pass from point guard Sparky Wolk, who spends the fall as the quarterback on the football team. Planutis later added a two-hand slam, and Wolk&#8217;s 3-pointer ballooned the lead to 36-6 before the quarter was halfway completed.</p><p>&#8220;All season I really haven&#8217;t scored much,&#8221; Wolk said. &#8220;The teams, I don&#8217;t want to say don&#8217;t worry about me, but they don&#8217;t guard me as tight as other people to score. So when I have an open shot, I take it.&#8221;</p><p>Hazleton Area had plenty of them Saturday afternoon and made them, shooting at a 58.3-percent clip through the first three quarters before the game was turned over to the bench. Joe Grula added 13 more points and Adrian Otero, who&#8217;s headed to the University of Maine to play football, added 11 more. In all, 12 Cougars figured in the scoring.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re not grown men yet,&#8221; DelVal coach Kris Holtzer said, &#8220;but length-wise they are bigger than some college teams.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2 Class 6A Semifinal</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Hazleton Area 84, Delaware Valley 33</strong></p><p><strong>DELAWARE VALLEY (33) &#8212;</strong> Dylan Kelly 2 0-0 4, Hassan Keys 1 1-1 4, Blake Gearhart 0 0-0 0, Jackson Shafer 2 1-2 7, Matt Campbell 1 1-2 3, Zach Klapak 1 0-0 2, Tyler McGee 0 2-2 2, Grant Berrios 1 0-2 2, Clay Chelak 2 0-0 4, Tom Raniero 2 0-0 4, Josh Balcarcel 0 0-0 0, Jackson Melnick 0 2-2 2, Infinite Campbell 0 0-0 0, Aiden Oliver 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 11 7-11 33.</strong></p><p><strong>HAZLETON AREA (84) &#8212;</strong> Josh Samec 5 2-3 14, Jeff Planutis 6 0-0 12, Joe Grula 6 0-0 13, Da&#8217;Mir Faison 4 0-0 8, Sparky Wolk 2 0-0 6, Andrew Vayda 0 0-0 0, Scott Shamany 3 0-0 6, Adrian Otero 4 2-2 11, Kyle Franek 1 0-0 2, Jecxander Moronta 2 0-0 4, Warren Seigendall 1 0-0 2, Ramddy Melendez 0 0-0 0, Alex D&#8217;Angelo 2 0-0 4, Nikolas Norman o 2-2 2. <strong>Totals 26 6-7 84.</strong></p><p><strong>Delaware Valley`3`14`5`11 &#8212; 33</strong></p><p><strong>Hazleton Area`22`22`21`19 &#8212; 84</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals &#8212;</strong> DV 4 (Keys, Shafer 2, Chalk), HA 6 (Samec 2, Grula, Wolk 2, Otero).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Josh Samec catches a lob pass in the lane ahead of Delaware Valley&#8217;s Matt Campbell in a District 2 Class 6A boys basketball semifinal at King&#8217;s College on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022518HSBB-HazArea-DelVal_2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Josh Samec catches a lob pass in the lane ahead of Delaware Valley&#8217;s Matt Campbell in a District 2 Class 6A boys basketball semifinal at King&#8217;s College on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022518HSBB-HazArea-DelVal_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Da&#8217;Mir Faison scoops in the ball for two points against Delaware Valley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022518HSBB-HazArea-DelVal_3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Da&#8217;Mir Faison scoops in the ball for two points against Delaware Valley. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022518HSBB-HazArea-DelVal_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joe Grula goes to the basket between Delaware Valley defenders in a District 2 Class 6A boys basketball semifinal at King&#8217;s College on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL022518HSBB-HazArea-DelVal_1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joe Grula goes to the basket between Delaware Valley defenders in a District 2 Class 6A boys basketball semifinal at King&#8217;s College on Saturday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Cougars move to D2-6A title game with 84-33 win</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>

D2 basketball: Hazleton Area slams Delaware Valley