web1_ambrose.jpg

Their view: Thanks to Pelosi for a good State of the Union speech

web1_Ball_Through_Hoop_Web.jpg

Andrejko’s 18 points lead Holy Redeemer to girls basketball division crown

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Maybe somewhere in the long boys basketball rivalry between Wilkes-Barre city rivals GAR and Meyers there&#8217;s been a better finish.</p><p>Then again, maybe not. Because Friday&#8217;s ending was one for the scrapbook.</p><p>Jared O&#8217;Day stole an inbound pass and flipped it to Will Johnson, who converted a layup with 12 seconds left in overtime as GAR defeated Meyers 58-56 in most likely the final matchup between the two schools.</p><p>GAR (12-5 Div. 2, 15-7) locked up at least a tie for first place in Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. Nanticoke Area (11-5 Div. 2, 16-5) would force a special playoff game if it defeats Wyoming Area (1-14 Div. 2, 2-18) tonight.</p><p>There is still a chance &#8212; albeit extremely remote &#8212; that GAR and Meyers can play again in the District 2 Class 4A playoffs. So Friday&#8217;s game was treated as the final basketball meeting before the sports programs merge with Coughlin for the 2019-20 school year.</p><p>&#8220;If I were writing a storybook, that&#8217;s probably how it would end,&#8221; GAR coach Jerry Altavilla said. &#8220;I mean, Jared O&#8217;Day&#8217;s steal and a heads-up to pass it. It might have been one of the greatest plays I&#8217;ve seen in this gym.&#8221;</p><p>Meyers inbounded under its basket after a miss with 17.9 seconds left. O&#8217;Day made a leaping steal of the inbound pass into the backcourt and in one motion made a twisting pass to Johnson, who finished it off with a layup.</p><p>&#8220;After I got it I was looking for Will Johnson because I knew he would finish it at the basket,&#8221; O&#8217;Day said. &#8220;I was confident in him.&#8221;</p><p>Johnson, one of the best players in the area, has played with confidence throughout his career.</p><p>&#8220;Honestly, I&#8217;m thinking make the layup, make the layup, make the layup,&#8221; the senior point guard said. &#8220;Regardless who&#8217;s around you, who&#8217;s next to you, who&#8217;s behind you, go up strong and make the layup.&#8221;</p><p>Meyers managed to get a mid-range jumpshot and a catch-and-shoot inbound look in the final seconds. Neither connected.</p><p>Johnson also saved the day in regulation with a steal in the final seconds. The Grenadiers almost won it then, but Johnson didn&#8217;t have enough time to get a clean pass to Tyler Young, who managed to get off a rushed shot.</p><p>&#8220;I was excited,&#8221; Young said. &#8220;I thought I had it, but the buzzer rang and it didn&#8217;t go in.&#8221;</p><p>Although Meyers&#8217; record wasn&#8217;t impressive, the Mohawks (6-10 Div. 2, 6-15) had won three of their last four games and three earlier losses were by one point.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re certainly a much better team now with the schedule we play and the growing pains we went through,&#8221; Meyers coach Pat Toole said. &#8220;These last four or five games we&#8217;ve come a long way and I told the kids the season is not over. I know this is going to hurt and I&#8217;m not going to sleep tonight, but we&#8217;ll take tomorrow and get ready Sunday to go down to Hanover on Tuesday.&#8221;</p><p>Kendall Brewster and Cole Walker led the Meyers offense throughout. Brewster finished with 22 points, including a jumper from the foul line that led to a 54-54 tie to end the fourth quarter. Walker had 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Blake Masker scored 12, including a pair of free throws to knot the score 56-56 with 1:44 left in overtime, and grabbed seven rebounds.</p><p>Johnson had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead GAR in both categories. O&#8217;Day and Young were strong from beyond the arc with 11 points each and combined six 3-pointers. Curon and Curtis Smith each had seven rebounds.</p><p><strong>Crestwood 64, Wyoming Valley West 46</strong></p><p>The Comets picked up another road win behing Camden Boris, Brad Papura and Ryan Petrosky. Boris scored 17 points while Papura and Petrosky scored 11 and 10.</p><p>Christian Michak had a game-high 20 points to lead the Spartans.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>GAR 58, Meyers 56 OT</strong></p><p><strong>MEYERS (56) &#8212;</strong> Kendall Brewster 8 2-2 22, Keegan Brewster 2 0-0 4, Cole Walker 7 1-3 16, Jordan Diggs 0 0-0 0, Blake Masker 5 2-4 11, Najese Hood 1 0-0 2. <strong>Totals 23 5-9 56.</strong></p><p><strong>GAR (58) &#8212;</strong> Will Johnson 6 9-11 21, Shawn Adamson 0 0-0 0, Jared O&#8217;Day 4 0-1 11, Tyler Young 4 0-0 11, Curtis Smith 3 1-3 7, Curon Smith 4 0-0 8. <strong>Totals 21 11-15 58.</strong></p><p><strong>Meyers`17`11`15`11`2 &#8212; 56</strong></p><p><strong>GAR`13`20`11`10`4 &#8212; 58</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals &#8212;</strong> MEY 5 (Kendall Brewster 4, Walker). GAR 6 (O&#8217;Day 3, Young 3).</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Crestwood 64, Wyoming Valley West 46</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>CRESTWOOD (64) &#8212; </strong>Camden Boris 8 1-1 17, Brad Papura 4 3-5 11, Ryan Petrosky 3 4-6 10, Mike Palmiero 3 0-0 9, Frank Casarella 2 0-0 5, Jacob Zaleski 2 0-0 4, Marcus Vieney 1 1-2 3, Paul Feisel 1 0-0 3, Don Shaw 1 0-1 2, Sean Murphy 0 0-0 0, Adam Gregaris 0 0-0 0, Sean Foley 0 0-0 0, San Balliet 0 0-0 0, Mike Zaleski 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 25 9-15 64.</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>WYOMING VALLEY WEST (46) &#8212; </strong>Christian Michak 6 5-8 20, Tom Federici 4 0-0 10, Danny Gibbons 2 0-0 4, Tyler Gillespie 2 0-0 4, Joey Lombardo 1 0-0 2, Saquan Portee 1 0-0 2, Roland Hamad 1 0-0 2, Anthony Jamison 1 0-0 2. <strong>Totals 18 5-8 46.</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Crestwood`14`14`18`18 &#8212; 64</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Wyoming Valley West`6`9`17`14 &#8212; 46</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Three-point goals &#8212; </strong>CRE 5 (Palmiero 3, Casarella, Feisel); WVW 5 (Michak 3, Federici 2).</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meyers&#8217; Keegan Brewster, right, drives past GAR&#8217;s Jared O&#8217;Day during Friday night&#8217;s game at GAR. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Meyers&#8217; Keegan Brewster, right, drives past GAR&#8217;s Jared O&#8217;Day during Friday night&#8217;s game at GAR. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meyers&#8217; Kendall Brewster, left, tracks down a loose ball ahead of GAR&#8217;s Curon Smith on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Meyers&#8217; Kendall Brewster, left, tracks down a loose ball ahead of GAR&#8217;s Curon Smith on Friday night. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR&#8217;s Curon Smith, right, looks to shoot on Meyers&#8217; Blake Masker in WVC boys basketball action Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>GAR&#8217;s Curon Smith, right, looks to shoot on Meyers&#8217; Blake Masker in WVC boys basketball action Friday night. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Meyers head coach Pat Toole, left, and GAR head coach Jerry Altavilla, third from right, join team captains as referee Bruce Weinstock gives the pre-game talk before the final game between the two city rivals Friday in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Meyers head coach Pat Toole, left, and GAR head coach Jerry Altavilla, third from right, join team captains as referee Bruce Weinstock gives the pre-game talk before the final game between the two city rivals Friday in Wilkes-Barre. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Long-time GAR boys basketball coach John Hopkins is introduced during a timeout during the final meeting between GAR and Meyers Friday night in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_4.jpg</photo4><caption4>Long-time GAR boys basketball coach John Hopkins is introduced during a timeout during the final meeting between GAR and Meyers Friday night in Wilkes-Barre. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR&#8217;s Will Johnson drives to the hoop as Meyers&#8217; Cole Walker defends on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020919HSBB-GAR-Meyers_1.jpg</photo5><caption5>GAR&#8217;s Will Johnson drives to the hoop as Meyers&#8217; Cole Walker defends on Friday night. </caption5><photoCredit5>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>GAR edges rival Meyers in overtime, 58-56</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

H.S. Boys Basketball: GAR edges rival Meyers in overtime, 58-56