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Sokoloski: Cougars share the spotlight, share success at states

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PIAA swimming: Dallas girls claim silver in Class 2A team standings

<p>BETHLEHEM &#8212; Even when Abington&#8217;s offense awoke with a blistering fourth quarter, Hazleton Area didn&#8217;t flinch.</p><p>The Cougars were that dialed in Saturday afternoon at Bethlehem Liberty High School.</p><p>Hazleton Area answered those 41 fourth-quarter points by Abington with 38 of its own, and the Cougars were never really threatened in their 94-86 victory in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game.</p><p>&#8220;We battled and battled and battled and never broke. I&#8217;ve played in a lot of places, in the NCAA Tournament, but I&#8217;ve never been part of a victory like that,&#8221; said Hazleton Area coach Mike Joseph, who starred at Bucknell in the late 1980s. &#8220;It was as close of a masterpiece of a game that I&#8217;ve been involved in.&#8221;</p><p>District 2 champion Hazleton Area (26-1) advanced to Tuesday&#8217;s semifinals against District 12 champion Lincoln (24-6) at a site and time to be announced. The Philadelphia Public League power defeated D1 ninth seed Neshaminy 77-70 in its semifinals.</p><p>Despite scoring 41 points in the final eight minutes, Abington never got closer than six. Hazleton Area pretty much sealed its first trip to the state semifinals since 1995 with a dunk by Joe Grula for a 89-79 lead with a minute left.</p><p>Hazleton Area came into the game concerned about Abington&#8217;s three-pronged attack. The thinking was to make those three players &#8212; guard Robbie Heath, 6-foot-8 Division I recruit Eric Dixon and 6-6 forward Lucas Monroe &#8212; less effective and force others to pick up the slack.</p><p>&#8220;My guys followed the scouting report to a T,&#8221; Joseph said. &#8220;We wanted some other guys who were never in this stage before make some shots. And for the most part, they didn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><p>The strategy worked pretty much as planned. Monroe was all but eliminated from the offense. Heath was not and used an array of shots for 30 points. Dixon finished with 35 points and 13 rebounds, but was rather quiet for three quarters as Hazleton Area built its advantage to 56-45 entering the fourth quarter.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a monster. He&#8217;s a really big dude,&#8221; said Hazleton Area senior Josh Samec, who like Dixon is 6-8 but has considerably less bulk. &#8220;We wanted to have one in the front, one in the back as much as we could. That was Coach&#8217;s game plan and it worked. It was a good game plan and it definitely worked for us.&#8221;</p><p>Dixon, a junior with about a dozen Division I offers, had 18 points in the fourth quarter, but every time the Galloping Ghosts crept close Hazleton Area galloped away. The Cougars had very few issues with Abington&#8217;s full-court press, navigating it for easy baskets by Da&#8217;Mir Faison that bumped the lead back to 10 twice.</p><p>&#8220;We went over (the press) a lot in practice because we struggled against Scranton and a couple of those earlier teams,&#8221; said Grula, who finished with 19 points. &#8220;We did that a lot in practice and I wasn&#8217;t surprised. We knew what we were doing.&#8221;</p><p>Hazleton Area led wire-to-wire after Samec opened the game with the first of his five 3-pointers on the way to a team-high 33 points. Junior Da&#8217;Mir Faison had eight of his 20 points and six of his 10 rebounds in the opening period. Jeff Planutis, who finished with 18 points, capped the quarter with a pull-up jumper for a 19-13 lead.</p><p>The Cougars topped 90 points for the third time this season. They defeated Wyoming Valley West 94-64 on Jan. 3 and Pittston Area 91-61 on Feb. 13.</p><p><strong>NOTES:</strong> In the other Class 6A quarterfinal games, D12 runner-up Roman Catholic defeated D1 fourth seed Central Bucks West 75-56 and D7 runner-up Pine-Richland edged D8 champion Allderdice 52-50.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PIAA CLASS 6A QUARTERFINALS</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Hazleton Area 94, Abington 86</strong></p><p><strong>HAZLETON AREA (94) &#8212;</strong> Josh Samec 9 10-12 33, Sparky Wolk 1 0-0 3, Jeff Planutis 6 6-8 18, Joe Grula 8 3-3 19, Da&#8217;Mir Faison 7 5-8 20, Scott Shamany 0 0-0 0, Adrian Otero 0 0-0 0, Andrew Vayda 0 1-2 1, Kyle Franek 0 0-0 0, Warren Seigendall 0 0-0 0, Alex D&#8217;Angelo 0 0-0 0, Jacxander Moronta 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 31 25-33 94.</strong></p><p><strong>ABINGTON (86) &#8212;</strong> Robbie Heath 10 6-7 30, Darius Brown 0 2-2 2, Brandon Coffman 0 0-0 0, Lucas Monroe 1 4-5 7, Eric Dixon 13 9-15 35, JP Nolan 1 0-0 2, Xavier Crawford 0 0-0 0, Hasan Whitby 1 0-0 3, Bryan Coffman 0 0-0 0, Dante Knox 1 2-2 5, Anwaar Berry 1 0-2 2. <strong>Totals 28 23-33 86.</strong></p><p><strong>Hazleton Area`19`18`19`38 &#8212; 94</strong></p><p><strong>Abington`13`19`13`41 &#8212; 86</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals &#8212; </strong>HA 7 (Samec 5, Wolk, Faison). AB 8 (Heath 5, Monroe, Crawford, Knox).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jeff Planutis, left, beats Abington&#8217;s Eric Dixon to the basket in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jeff Planutis, left, beats Abington&#8217;s Eric Dixon to the basket in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School 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/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area forward Josh Samec gets the ball down low against Abington in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_5.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hazleton Area forward Josh Samec gets the ball down low against Abington in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Josh Samec sinks a foul shot on an Abington technical foul to maintain an eight-point lead with 1:28 left in the game in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_7.jpg</photo2><caption2>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Josh Samec sinks a foul shot on an Abington technical foul to maintain an eight-point lead with 1:28 left in the game in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_8.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area head coach Mike Joseph calls a play during a timeout against Abington in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_8.jpg</photo3><caption3>Hazleton Area head coach Mike Joseph calls a play during a timeout against Abington in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_9.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joey Grula is congratulated by teammates after being taken out of the game with victory assured in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_9.jpg</photo4><caption4>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joey Grula is congratulated by teammates after being taken out of the game with victory assured in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Da&#8217;Mir Faison shoots between Abington&#8217;s Brandon Coffman, left, and Lucas Monroe in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Da&#8217;Mir Faison shoots between Abington&#8217;s Brandon Coffman, left, and Lucas Monroe in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption5><photoCredit5>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_10.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area head coach Mike Joseph is hoisted up after the Cougars defeated Abington 94-86 at Bethlehem Liberty High School Saturday to advance to the PIAA Class 6A semifinal game against Lincoln on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_10.jpg</photo6><caption6>Hazleton Area head coach Mike Joseph is hoisted up after the Cougars defeated Abington 94-86 at Bethlehem Liberty High School Saturday to advance to the PIAA Class 6A semifinal game against Lincoln on Tuesday. </caption6><photoCredit6>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit6></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area point guard Sparky Wolk beat the fullcourt press by Abington&#8217;s Darious Brown in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo7>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_3.jpg</photo7><caption7>Hazleton Area point guard Sparky Wolk beat the fullcourt press by Abington&#8217;s Darious Brown in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption7><photoCredit7>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit7></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area head coach Mike Joseph shouts instructions to his team against Abington in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo8>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_4.jpg</photo8><caption8>Hazleton Area head coach Mike Joseph shouts instructions to his team against Abington in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption8><photoCredit8>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit8></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joey Grula drives the baseline past Abington&#8217;s J.P. Nolan in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo9>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031818HSBB-Hazleton-Abington_2.jpg</photo9><caption9>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joey Grula drives the baseline past Abington&#8217;s J.P. Nolan in a PIAA Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Bethlehem Liberty High School on Saturday. </caption9><photoCredit9>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit9></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Cougars, Abington combine for 79 points in fourth quarter</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>

PIAA basketball: Hazleton Area boys advance to Class 6A semifinals