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<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; The strategy was sound Friday night. The execution was just a tick off.</p><p>And a tick off against Abington Heights, ranked second in the state in Class 5A, adds up little by little.</p><p>Abington Heights led wire-to-wire, but never galloped far enough from Crestwood until the final minute for a 43-36 victory in the District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena.</p><p>Abington Heights (23-2) won its seventh consecutive district title and all three D2-5A championships since the PIAA expanded to six classifications in 2016-17. The defending 5A state champion will be making a 13th consecutive trip to states and plays District 1 fourth seed Penncrest (19-6) in the first round of the state playoffs on March 8.</p><p>Crestwood (20-7) last won a district title in 2009 in Class 3A and will be making its first state playoff appearance since then. The Comets get District 12 third seed Frankford (13-13) also on March 8.</p><p>&#8220;I thought our kids did a great job,&#8221; Crestwood coach Mark Atherton said. &#8220;Every quarter we lost, it was by a point, a couple points. It seemed like we never got whacked in a quarter, but we could never win in a quarter. That&#8217;s kind of what it is when you look at it.&#8221;</p><p>Crestwood trailed 5-4 after the first quarter and 16-11 at halftime. The slow-down pace was obvious at the end of the half when Crestwood point guard Sean Murphy dribbled away over a minute before his team put up a shot. Abington Heights knew what was up as well &#8212; as Jack Nealon, who was guarding Murphy, took time to fix his hair and stretch out his right thigh.</p><p>&#8220;It was hard when we transitioned and slowed the ball down at the end of the quarters,&#8221; Murphy said. &#8220;And then we were trying to speed it back up. We held the ball well, because they didn&#8217;t come out and play defense. I thought that was good and we got the last shot off always, but it&#8217;s a shame we couldn&#8217;t score when we had to.&#8221;</p><p>Crestwood cut the deficit to 18-17 at 5:39 of the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Ryan Petrosky, who finished with 15 points. But without the shots falling consistently &#8212; Crestwood shot 33 percent on the night &#8212; Abington Heights was able to stave off any comeback attempt.</p><p>And when Abington Heights was able to transition quickly, it was able to do more damage, especially in the fourth quarter. Abington Heights dominated in the paint in the final eight minutes, with 6-foot-6 George Tinsley scoring 11 of his game-high 20 points. His inside transition basket off a behind-the-back pass from Trey Koehler gave his team its only double-digit lead, 42-32 with 24 seconds left.</p><p>&#8220;We knew they were going (to slow the pace),&#8221; Abington Heights coach Ken Bianchi said. &#8220;I saw that on some tapes I watched. That&#8217;s why it was so important that we take a lead. As little of a lead that it is, it&#8217;s still a lead. And then we really don&#8217;t have to expose ourselves and go man-to-man.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2 Class 5A Championship</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Abington Heights 43, Crestwood 36</strong></p><p><strong>CRESTWOOD (36) &#8212;</strong> Ryan Petrosky 6 0-3 15, Brad Papura 1 0-0 2, Sean Murphy 1 2-5 5, Camden Boris 2 0-0 4, Mike Palmiero 4 0-0 8, Jacob Zaleski 1 0-0 2, Frank Casarella 0 0-0 0, Marcus Vieney 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 15 2-8 36.</strong></p><p><strong>ABINGTON HEIGHTS (43) &#8212;</strong> George Tinsley 8 4-5 20, Corey Perkins 1 1-2 3, Jack Nealon 1 0-0 3, Trey Koehler 6 2-2 15, Mike Malone 0 2-2 2, Drew Nealon 0 0-0 0. <strong>Totals 16 9-11 43.</strong></p><p><strong>Crestwood`4`7`8`17 &#8212; 36</strong></p><p><strong>Abington Heights`5`11`9`18 &#8212; 43</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals &#8212;</strong> CRE 4 (Petrosky 3, Murphy). AH 2 (J.Nealon, Koehler).</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Mike Palmiero, left, goes up for a shot ahead of Abington Heights&#8217; George Tinsley during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030219HSBB-Crestwood-Abington_3-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crestwood&#8217;s Mike Palmiero, left, goes up for a shot ahead of Abington Heights&#8217; George Tinsley during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030219HSBB-Crestwood-Abington_4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Frank Casarella, left, drives the baseline ahead of Abington Heights&#8217; George Tinsley during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030219HSBB-Crestwood-Abington_4-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Crestwood&#8217;s Frank Casarella, left, drives the baseline ahead of Abington Heights&#8217; George Tinsley during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030219HSBB-Crestwood-Abington_1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Sean Murphy (13) has the ball knocked away by Abington Heights during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030219HSBB-Crestwood-Abington_1-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Crestwood&#8217;s Sean Murphy (13) has the ball knocked away by Abington Heights during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030219HSBB-Crestwood-Abington_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Ryan Petrosky goes to save the ball from going out of bounds against Abington Heights during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL030219HSBB-Crestwood-Abington_2-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Crestwood&#8217;s Ryan Petrosky goes to save the ball from going out of bounds against Abington Heights during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A boys basketball championship at Mohegan Sun Arena.  </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></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: Crestwood falls short in D2-5A title game