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Stormwater fee roils Harveys Lake: Residents question council on joining WVSA plan

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Tunkhannock’s Tommy Traver leaving door open for return this season

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Even when the deficit swelled to nine with four minutes left Tuesday night, Coughlin kept battling.Those opportunities, though, will soon come to an end.Faced with the program&#8217;s termination come the conclusion of the season, Coughlin nearly pulled off a comeback as Pittston Area held on for a 57-56 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 boys basketball game.Coughlin freshman Prince Allen nailed a long-distance 3-pointer from the left side with two seconds left, but the Crusaders couldn&#8217;t foul in time as the clock expired.Allen and 6-foot-3 sophomore Brandon Hall, who had a monster game of 21 points and 18 rebounds, gave a glimpse of the future of basketball in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. Coughlin, GAR and Meyers will merge their programs next season under the banner of the Wilkes-Barre Area Wolfpack.&#8220;He was all over the floor,&#8221; Coughlin coach Mike Day said of Hall. &#8220;This was sort of the first game where he was a point forward. He had the ball in his hands, he was really involved in the game creating for himself and for his teammates.&#8221;While Allen and Hall could be building blocks for the new team, the Coughlin starting seniors &#8212; Aaron Bennett and Tony Egidio &#8212; won&#8217;t have the opportunity to don the Carolina blue and black. Instead, they&#8217;re trying to make Coughlin&#8217;s final season a memorable one. And while Coughlin&#8217;s record &#8212; 2-6 in the division and 3-9 overall &#8212; isn&#8217;t impressive, this is a program which was 4-40 over the past two seasons.&#8220;As a team, we&#8217;ve really matured,&#8221; Egidio said. &#8220;We have a lot of returning players this year. We were hoping for a better start to the season, but we&#8217;re not giving up or anything. We&#8217;ll just keep working. But there is a lot of pride in it, I guess you can say.&#8221;The pride showed after Pittston Area (5-3, 9-5) scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter &#8212; four on inside baskets by JJ Walsh and a 3-pointer by Mike George &#8212; for a 49-40 lead. Egidio battled inside for a rebound basket and later, when the Patriots looked like they would ease away again, he scored on another rebound.Hall followed with an inside basket off a steal by Shawn Valenzuela, moving Coughlin within 56-53 with 1:11 to play. The Crusaders, though, couldn&#8217;t get over the hump.&#8220;They are much better than their record says,&#8221; Pittston Area coach Alan Kiesinger said.Pittston Area received 22 points from Brennan Higgins. Andrew Krawczyk grabbed seven boards. The Patriots now have three more wins than last season when they finished 6-17.&#8220;Growing pains,&#8221; Kiesinger said. &#8220;There are going to be nights where you don&#8217;t execute as you should. It&#8217;s just that lack of expierence. We had two guys coming back who did start games for us. The other three guys were JV players and JV only. The first off the bench is a freshman who never played high school basketball before and our seventh guy is a JV only guy from last year.&#8221;Wyoming Sem 41, Berwick 19 Dimitri Gnall scored 10 points and Nick Ganter added nine as the Blue Knights bullied the Bulldogs.Sem&#8217;s defense held Berwick to five points in the first half and five in the final quarter as the Blue Knights improved to 7-0 at the top of the WVC Division 3.Zach Evans scored 11 of his team&#8217;s 19 points as the Bulldogs dropped to 0-8 in Division 2.Hazleton Area 72, Valley West 50 Da&#8217;Mir Faison scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the first half as the co-WVC Division 1-leading Cougars rolled to a 21-point halftime lead and cruised to victory.Kyle Franek added 11 points for the Cougars, who improved to 8-0 and remained in a first-place tie with Crestwood entering a showdown between the two Friday.Dan Gibbons and Christian Michak each scored 14 points for the Spartans, who fell to 1-7 on the league season.Nanticoke Area 50, Hanover Area 34 Nate Kreitzer scored 14 points, Trahjan Krupinski added 13 and the Trojans used a big third quarter to pull away.Colby Butczynski scored seven of his 11 points as Nanticoke Area turned a nine-point halftime lead into a 41-27 advantage by the end of the third quarter, while Krupinski finished with three baskets in the period.Asad Whitehead led the Hawkeyes Area with 14 points. Northwest 56, Meyers 47The Rangers shot their way past Meyers, making nine 3-pointers.Tyler Stevens, Sam Saxe, Jaxson Yaple and Bryce Koser all had 12 points to lead Northwest.Cole Walker had 13 points for the Mohawks.Crestwood 56, Dallas 43The Comets beat Dallas behind Camden Boris&#8217; performance.Boris scored 18 points to lead Crestwood.Luke DelGuadio had a game-high 20 points for the Mountaineers. Holy Redeemer 55, Tunkhannock 44The Royals leaned on Nick Prociak to beat Tunkhannock.Prociak had 20 points to lead Holy Redeemer. Collin Cook was right behind him with 15.GAR 60, MMI Prep 53Will Johnson exploded for 36 points to push the Grenadiers past MMI Prep.Curtis Smith also turned in a solid performance for GAR, scoring 13 points.The Preppers had four players in double-digit scoring. Matt Marchetti had 16, Keefer Hoover had 14, Mason Marchetti had 12 and Marcus Kassick had 10.Pittston Area 57, Coughlin 56 PITTSTON AREA (57) &#8212; Logan Booth 2 3-4 8, Mike George 3 2-2 7, Sevion Leak 2 0-0 4, Brennan Higgins 7 7-9 22, Andrew Krawczyk 3 2-2 8, JJ Walsh 3 0-0 6. Totals 20 12-15 57. COUGHLIN (56) &#8212; Aaron Bennett 3 4-5 11, Tony Egidio 5 0-0 10, Matt Egidio 2 0-0 6, Prince Allen 3 0-0 8, Brandon Hall 10 1-1 21, Shawn Valenzuela 0 0-0 0, Damon Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 5-6 56. Pittston Area`10`15`17`15 &#8212; 57 Coughlin`14`10`16`16 &#8212; 56 Three-point goals &#8212; PA 3 (Booth, George, Higgins), COU 5 (Bennett, M.Egidio 2, Prince 2).Wyoming Sem 41, Berwick 19 BERWICK (19) &#8212; Devon Smith 0 0-0 0, Brayden Boone 0 0-0 0, Jarrett Grodek 1 0-0 2, Jake Seeley 0 0-0 0, Miles Doll 0 1-2 1, Naquan Smith 1 0-0 2, Zach Evans 3 4-6 11, Tashjee Taylor 0 0-0 0, Peyton Williams 0 0-0 0, Eric Montes 1 1-2 3. Totals 6 6-10 19. WYOMING SEM (41) &#8212; Jake Koretz 1 0-0 2, Todd Phillips 1 2-2 5, Jeremy Callahan 2 1-1 5, Dimitri Gnall 4 2-2 10, Nick Ganter 3 3-4 9, Andrew Maddock 0 0-0 0, John Coates 0 0-0 0, Nick Bufalino 2 0-2 4, Ryan Anderson 0 1-2 1, Aidan Murphy 0 0-0 0, Alex Meuser 1 0-0 2, Ethan Meuser 1 1-2 3, Ben Paglia 0 0-0 0, Gavin Flanley 0 0-0 0, Jackson Amend 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-15 41. Berwick`2`3`9`5 &#8212; 19 Wyoming Sem`13`13`12`3 &#8212; 41 Three-point goals &#8212; BER 1 (Evans); SEM 1 (Phillips).Hazleton Area 72, Valley West 50 VALLEY WEST (50) &#8212; Dan Gibbons 5 0-0 14, Saquan Portee 2 0-0 4, Roland Hamad 1 2-2 4, Jahmeal Patterson 1 0-0 2, Tom Federici 0 0-0 0, Tyler Dalley 0 0-0 0, Christian Michak 4 2-2 14, Tyler Gillespie 4 1-2 9, Brandon Littman 0 0-0 0, Sadig Ransom 0 0-0 0, Cole Gorham 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 1-6 50. HAZLETON AREA (72) &#8212; Kevin Gil 1 0-0 3, Andrew Vayda 1 0-0 3, Sparky Wolk 1 1-2 5, Scott Campbell 3 1-2 8, Alex D&#8217;Angelo 2 0-0 6, Kyle Franek 4 0-0 11, Jawardt Nieves 0 0-0 0, Jecxander Moronta 3 0-0 6, Nikolas Norman 0 0-0 0, Ramddy Melendez 4 0-0 8, Da&#8217;Mir Faison 7 1-3 15, Warren Seigendall 3 1-4 7. Totals 31 4-11 72. Valley West`9`8`13`20 &#8212; 50 Hazleton Area`24`14`17`17 &#8212; 72 Three-point goals &#8212; WVW 9 (Gibbons 4, Michak 4, Gorham); HAZ 6 (D&#8217;Angelo 2, Vayda, Campbell, Franek, Gil).Nanticoke Area 50, Hanover Area 34 NANTICOKE AREA (50) &#8212; Nate Kreitzer 5 3-5 14, Colby Butczynski 3 5-5 11, Trahjan Krupinski 6 0-0 13, Jake Krupinski 2 5-6 9, Dylan Szychowski 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 13-16 50. HANOVER AREA (34) &#8212; Lamarr Nelson 2 0-0 4, Khairi Carson 2 0-0 5, Evan Materna 0 0-0 0, Justin Kopka 3 0-0 6, Asad Whitehead 4 6-7 14, Joe Curcio 1 0-0 2, Kyle Bohlin 0 0-2 0, Todd Kolbicka 1 0-0 3. Totals 13 6-9 34. Nanticoke Area`10`14`17`16 &#8212; 50 Hanover Area`8`7`12`7 &#8212; 34 Three-point goals &#8212; NAN 1 (Kreitzer); HAN 2 (Carson, Kolbicka).Northwest 56, Meyers 47MEYERS (47) &#8212; Cole Walker 6 0-0 13, Blake Masker 5 1-1 11, Kendall Brewster 4 0-0 10, Jordan Diggs 3 0-0 9, Keegan Brewster 2 0-0 4, David Kasper 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 1-1 47.NORTHWEST (56) &#8212; Tyler Stevens 4 1-2 12, Sam Saxe 5 0-0 12, Jaxson Yaple 3 3-5 12, Bryce Koser 4 4-4 12, Walker Yaple 2 3-4 8. Totals 17 11-15 56.Meyers`6`13`8`20 &#8212; 47Northwest`10`15`16`15 &#8212; 56Three-point goals &#8212; MEY 6 (Diggs 3, Kendall Brewster 2, Walker); NW 9 (Stevens 3, J. Yaple 3, Saxe 2, W. Yaple).Crestwood 56, Dallas 43CRESTWOOD (56) &#8212; Camden Boris 5 4-5 18, Mike Palmiero 5 1-2 11, Sean Murphy 2 5-8 10, Jacon Zaleski 2 4-7 9, Ryan Petrosky 1 2-2 5, Brad Papura 1 1-2 3, Sean Foley 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 17-26 56.DALLAS (43) &#8212; Luke DelGaudio 9 2-4 20, Jack Farrel 4 2-4 11, Dylan Schuster 2 1-2 6, Justin Finarelli 1 4-5 6, Sam Nocito 0 0-1 0, Austin Finarelli 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-16 43.Three-point goals &#8212; CRE 7 (Boris 4, Jacon, Petrosky, Zaleski); DAL 2 (Farrell, Schuster). Holy Redeemer 55, Tunkhannock 44TUNKHANNOCK (44) &#8212; Tyler Faux 7 1-2 18, Avery Billings 5 3-6 13, Ryan Harder 3 0-0 7, Jack Chilson 3 0-0 6, Nick Reposa 0 0-0 0, Erik Bennett 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-8 44.HOLY REDEEMER (55) &#8212; Nick Prociak 10 0-1 20, Collin Cook 4 4-5 15, Jared Pointkowski 3 1-2 7, Justice Shoats 2 2-3 7, Derek Answini 2 0-0 6, Jake Pizzolotta 0 0-0 0, Matt Prociak 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-11 55.Tunkhannock`4`12`13`15 &#8212; 44Holy Redeemer`14`14`15`12 &#8212; 55Three-point goals &#8212; TUNK 4 (Faux 3, Harder); HR 6 (Cook 3, Answini 2, Shoats).GAR 60, MMI Prep 53GAR (60) &#8212; Will Johnson 14 6-8 36, Curtis Smith 4 5-7 13, Shawn Anderson 2 0-0 4, Jared O&#8217;Day 1 0-2 3, Tyler Young 1 0-1 2, Tyreek Green 1 0-0 2, George Placencio 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 11-18 60.MMI PREP (53) &#8212; Matt Marchetti 5 3-3 16, Keefer Hoover 5 2-3 14, Mason Marchetti 5 1-3 12, Marcus Kassick 4 2-3 10, Dave Antolick 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 9-14 53.GAR`12`17`16`15 &#8212; 60MMI Prep`8`12`19`14 &#8212; 53Three-point goals &#8212; GAR 3 (Johnson 2, O&#8217;Day); MMI 6 (Matt Marchetti 3, Hoover 2, Mason Marchetti).<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Coughlin&#8217;s Prince Allen tries to keep the ball in play as it starts to roll out of bounds after a battle with Pittston Area players for a rebound Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Coughlin&#8217;s Prince Allen tries to keep the ball in play as it starts to roll out of bounds after a battle with Pittston Area players for a rebound Tuesday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area&#8217;s Brennan Higgins goes to the basket while Coughlin&#8217;s Brandon Hall (40) and Tony Egidio defend Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou4_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Pittston Area&#8217;s Brennan Higgins goes to the basket while Coughlin&#8217;s Brandon Hall (40) and Tony Egidio defend Tuesday night. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou5_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area&#8217;s Sevion Leak passes the ball away from Coughlin defenders Matt Egidio (left) and Anthony Egidio on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou5_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Pittston Area&#8217;s Sevion Leak passes the ball away from Coughlin defenders Matt Egidio (left) and Anthony Egidio on Tuesday night. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou1_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area&#8217;s Mike George tries to force his way between Coughlin defenders Aaron Bennett (20) and Damon Jones on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou1_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>Pittston Area&#8217;s Mike George tries to force his way between Coughlin defenders Aaron Bennett (20) and Damon Jones on Tuesday night. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Coughlin&#8217;s Aaron Bennett tries to knock the ball away from Pittston Area&#8217;s JJ Walsh on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_pit_cou2_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>Coughlin&#8217;s Aaron Bennett tries to knock the ball away from Pittston Area&#8217;s JJ Walsh on Tuesday night. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Patriots fend off tremendous effort by Crusaders&#8217; Hall to hang on at the end</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

WVC boys basketball: Pittston Area wins battle with fiesty Coughlin