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Girls All-Star Classic: Pittston Area’s Alexa Noone wins MVP honors

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8211; Nobody in the Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball could stop Hazleton Area this season and Friday night&#8217;s 49th annual Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic was no different.</p><p>Jeff Planutis, Joey Grula and Josh Samec made the most of one last chance to play together while leading Team Black to a come-from-behind 116-103 win over Team White at Holy Redeemer.</p><p>Planutis put on an offensive show, Grula was the team&#8217;s top rebounder and Samec was its only defensive force.</p><p>As the last WVC team playing together when they reached the Class 6A state semifinals, the Cougars had the shortest layoff. Coaches Chris Gray from Hanover Area and Paul Guido from Holy Redeemer then kept the three together, starting both halves and ending the game.</p><p>&#8220;It was lot of fun playing with all your buddies one last time,&#8221; Planutis said. &#8220;We weren&#8217;t sure who we would play with, but it was awesome playing with those two guys one last time.&#8221;</p><p>Planutis scored 30 points in less than 15 minutes to earn Most Valuable Player honors. Grula had 12 points and nine rebounds while sharing the team lead of three assists. Samec scored nine points, grabbed six of his seven rebounds on the defensive end and blocked five shots.</p><p>&#8220;I saw last year that it was a high-scoring game,&#8221; said Joey Parsons from Dallas, who earned MVP honors from the losing team. &#8220;I figured it would be running and gunning and not a whole lot of defense played, but it was fun.&#8221;</p><p>A total of 10 players scored in double figures in a 40-minute game that did not feature a single foul shot.</p><p>&#8220;We knew a lot of people would come to these all-star games,&#8221; Planutis said. &#8220;Everybody wants some type of show to be put on.</p><p>&#8220;We knew, especially from playing at Hazleton, we like to run, gun, find the open man, hit shots, block shots. We just wanted to put on a show for these people.&#8221;</p><p>The Black outscored the White 65-42 in the second half, including 43-12 in the time the three Hazleton Area players were on the court.</p><p>The Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champions also helped their team to a fast start.</p><p>Planutis had 10 points in the first 3:35 by making his first four shots.</p><p>&#8220;I got a layup, then got a couple 3s going,&#8221; Planutis said. &#8220;My teammates were finding me with an open jumper, then breakaways.&#8221;</p><p>Before heading off to Division I Mount St. Mary&#8217;s for his first official recruiting visit about an hour after the game, Planutis was perfect both from 3-point range and on his dunks &#8211; something not every all-star in the game could say &#8211; in four attempts at each. Two of his dunks were off the double pumping variety as he soared to the rim on the fastbreak.</p><p>Berwick&#8217;s Damon Beckhorn hit three 3-pointers and Joey Judge drained both of his long-range attempts while playing on his home floor to chip in with 13 and 10 points.</p><p>Draig Ruff from Wyoming Valley West scored 17 points to lead the team coached by Pat Toole from Meyers and Pete Moses from Wyoming Area.</p><p>Parsons added 15, joining Ruff with 11 while creating the halftime lead.</p><p>Jawane Buckner from Meyers had 12 points while Khalil White from GAR had 11 points.</p><p>Anthony Hawk from GAR had the game&#8217;s only double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jay Bittner from Dallas also had 10 points.</p><p>Matt McGlynn from Pittston Area edged Samec, 6-5, at halftime in the finals of the 3-Point Contest.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Black 116, White 103 </strong></p><p><strong>BLACK (116) &#8212;</strong> Joey Judge 4 0-0 10, Josh Samec 4 0-0 9, Desmond Cannon 3 0-0 8, Jeff Planutis 13 0-0 30, Joey Grula 6 0-0 12, Bryce Yencha 3 0-0 7, Kenny Marshman 0 0-0 0, Sean Harder 2 0-0 4, Kevin Klusewitz 1 0-0 2, Mike Piscotty 0 0-0 0, Damon Beckhorn 5 0-0 13, Tyler Thomas 3 0-0 8, J.D. Turosky 1 0-0 3, Evan Knapp 2 0-0 4, Evan Turner 3 0-0 6. <strong>Totals 50 0-0 116. </strong></p><p><strong>WHITE (103) &#8212;</strong> Alex Charlton 2 0-0 4, Jawane Buckner 6 0-0 12, Draig Ruff 8 0-0 17, Sam Greenfield 4 0-0 8, Jay Bittner 5 0-0 10, Anthony Hawk 5 0-0 10, Tyler Maddock 0 0-0 0, Nick Kocher 3 0-0 7, Joey Parsons 7 0-0 15, Khalil White 5 0-0 11, Matt McGlynn 2 0-0 6, George Palermo 1 0-0 3. <strong>Totals 48 0-0 103.</strong></p><p>Halftime &#8211; White 61-51. Three-point goals &#8212; Black 16 (Planutis 4, Beckhorn 3, Judge 2, Cannon 2, Thomas 2, Yencha, Samec, Turosky), White 7 (McGlynn 2, Ruff, Kocher, Parsons, White, Palermo).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jeff Planutis, of the Black, dunks during the Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL040718BoysAllStars2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jeff Planutis, of the Black, dunks during the Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic on Friday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL040718BoysAllStars3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock&#8217;s Sean Harder, of the Black, jumps for a shot against Meyers&#8217; Jawane Buckner, of the White, during the Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL040718BoysAllStars3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Sean Harder, of the Black, jumps for a shot against Meyers&#8217; Jawane Buckner, of the White, during the Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic on Friday night. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL040718BoysAllStars1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joey Grula, of the Black, avoids MMI Prep&#8217;s George Palermo, of the White, for a layup during the Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic on Friday night at Holy Redeemer High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL040718BoysAllStars1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Joey Grula, of the Black, avoids MMI Prep&#8217;s George Palermo, of the White, for a layup during the Dr. George P. Moses Senior All-Star Classic on Friday night at Holy Redeemer High School. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Cougars Planutis, Samec and Grula star in WVC Boys Senior All-Star Classic</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Robinson</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Boys All-Star Classic: Hazleton Area players lead the way