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Lake-Lehman back in girls basketball district finals after beating Berwick

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The shooting was excellent. The rebounding was just fine.</p><p>Yet, a red flag kept waving for Holy Redeemer in its District 2 Class 3A boys basketball semifinals Friday night. Turnovers &#8212; 11 in all in the first half &#8212; kept the Royals from distancing themselves from Mid Valley.</p><p>Once corrected, Redeemer found itself back in the D2-3A championship game for a third consecutive season.</p><p>A error-free third quarter led to a double-digit lead and eventually a 62-41 victory for Redeemer, which will play Wyoming Seminary once again for the championship at 8 p.m. Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena.</p><p>&#8220;Three times (playing at the arena) in three years on varsity,&#8221; said Redeemer senior Collin Cook, who is 10 points shy of 1,000. &#8220;This is the one I wanted to get back to because we lost to Sem last year and it was a heartbreaking loss.&#8221;</p><p>Redeemer (20-3) and Seminary (24-2) split their two games during the Wyoming Valley Conference season. Both locked up state berths with wins Friday. Seminary defeated Lakeland 67-46 in the nightcap at King&#8217;s College.</p><p>Cook and freshman Justice Shoats paced Redeemer with 18 points each. Senior Nick Prociak added 10.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s something we look for every night,&#8221; Redeemer coach Paul Guido said. &#8220;We talked about our offense starting with B &#8212; balance. That&#8217;s something very important for us. It makes it tougher for teams to scout us, it makes it tougher for teams to prepare for us.&#8221;</p><p>Redeemer shot 10 of 16 from the field in the first half, with Cook knocking down three 3-pointers in the first quarter. But those turnovers &#8212; some caused by pesky Mid Valley guard Shane Rosencrans and some self-inflicted &#8212; prevented the Royals from gaining any traction.</p><p>Derek Answini started the second quarter with a 3-pointer, giving Redeemer a 18-10 lead. Just three minutes later, Mid Valley closed within 20-19 before the Royals went into halftime ahead 28-23.</p><p>&#8220;We had 11 turnovers at the break and that&#8217;s not something we&#8217;re accustomed to,&#8221; Answini said. &#8220;We usually take care of the ball and that&#8217;s something we emphasized at halftime. We came out and didn&#8217;t (turn over the ball) in the second half.&#8221;</p><p>The shooting cooled off in the third quarter, but with the turnover issue eliminated Redeemer was able to open a 44-33 lead. A 3-pointer by Cook and a rebound basket by Prociak to start the fourth pretty much ended Mid Valley&#8217;s hopes.</p><p>The Spartans, who finished the season at 15-9, made just one shot by the midway point of the fourth. By then, Redeemer&#8217;s lead had ballooned to 55-35.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2 Class 3A Semifinals</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Holy Redeemer 62, Mid Valley 41</strong></p><p><strong>MID VALLEY (41) &#8212; </strong>Shane Rosencrans 3 2-3 8, Colin Hazelton 3 0-0 6, Vinny Talluto 2 0-0 4, Mike Miller 7 5-6 18, Tyler O&#8217;Connor 1 0-0 2, Craig Mercanti 1 0-0 2, Brendan Kucharski 0 0-0 0, Mark Longo 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 17 7-9 41.</strong></p><p><strong>HOLY REDEEMER (62) &#8212;</strong> Derek Answini 1 0-0 3, Justice Shoats 7 3-5 18, Jared Piontkowski 4 1-1 9, Collin Cook 5 3-4 18, Nick Prociak 4 2-3 10, Mason Mendygral 0 4-4 4, Josh Andrejko 0 0-0 0, Alex Rymar 0 0-0 0, Zev Kornfeld 0 0-0 0, Jake Pizzolato 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 21 13-17 62.</strong></p><p><strong>Mid Valley`10`13`10`8 &#8212; 41</strong></p><p><strong>Holy Redeemer`15`13`16`18 &#8212; 62</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals &#8212;</strong> HR 7 (Answini, Shoats, Cook 5).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Jared Piontokowsk drives between Mid Valley players for a basket in a District 2 Class 3A semifinal game Friday night at King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv2_faa-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Jared Piontokowsk drives between Mid Valley players for a basket in a District 2 Class 3A semifinal game Friday night at King&#8217;s College. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv4_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Nick Prociak tries to get around Mid Valley&#8217;s Brandan Kucharski during Friday night&#8217;s District 2 Class 3A semifinal game at King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv4_faa-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Nick Prociak tries to get around Mid Valley&#8217;s Brandan Kucharski during Friday night&#8217;s District 2 Class 3A semifinal game at King&#8217;s College. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv5_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Mason Mendygral is fouled by Mid Valley guard Tyler O&#8217;Connor during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 3A semifinal game at King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv5_faa-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Mason Mendygral is fouled by Mid Valley guard Tyler O&#8217;Connor during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 3A semifinal game at King&#8217;s College. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv1_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Nick Prociak (44) and Jared Piontokowski (32) battle for the ball with Mid Valley&#8217;s Colin Hazelton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv1_faa-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Nick Prociak (44) and Jared Piontokowski (32) battle for the ball with Mid Valley&#8217;s Colin Hazelton. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv3_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Holy Redeemer guard Justice Shoats, center takes a loose ball away from Mid Valley&#8217;s Vinny Talluto and Collin Hazelton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_hr_mv3_faa-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Holy Redeemer guard Justice Shoats, center takes a loose ball away from Mid Valley&#8217;s Vinny Talluto and Collin Hazelton. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Royals fight past Mid Valley in D2-3A semifinals</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>

H.S. Boys Basketball: Holy Redeemer advances to D2-3A championship