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H.S. Boys Basketball: Wilkes-Barre Area holds off Pittston Area in WVC Division 1 semifinals

NANTICOKE &mdash; Before the big battle even began, Marcus Vieney believed he had a hot hand.
				The rest of his Crestwood teammates must have felt it, too.
				Vieney hit three of the game&rsquo;s biggest 3-point field goals Monday on a night when Crestwood knocked down 14 as the Comets shot down Dallas, 82-54 in a high school boys basketball semifinal playoff game for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title at Nanticoke Area High School.
				&ldquo;Once we get one player shooting,&rdquo; Vieney said, &ldquo;everyone starts making shots.&rdquo;
				The Comets hope to make even more when they face Wilkes-Barre Area, which held off Pittston Area 44-39 in the other division semifinal, during Wednesday&rsquo;s Division 1 championship game at 7 p.m. at Pittston Area High School.
				The four-team divisional playoff was forced when Crestwood, Dallas, Pittston Area and Wilkes-Barre all finished the WVC&rsquo;s regular season locked at the top of Division 1 at 10-4. The winner of Wednesday&rsquo;s Division 1 crown game will face Division 2 runner-up Holy Redeemer on Friday in the semifinals of the overall WVC championship tournament, while the losing team Wednesday gets Division 2 champ Wyoming Seminary in the league semis.
				Since league and divisional playoff games aren&rsquo;t included in the District 2 power rankings, Dallas will prepare to take its 17-6 overall record into the Class 5A district tournament as the No. 2 seed next week, while Crestwood will be No. 4 in the same district playoff class.
				The Comets &mdash; now on a three-game winning streak after suffering a 51-48 loss to Wilkes-Barre last Tuesday &mdash; had little trouble fueling their hopes for both a division title and league crown. Crestwood hit nine of its 13 shots from the floor in the second quarter, took a 25-point halftime lead, grew it to 33 points in the third quarter and were never challenged after the opening minute.
				&ldquo;It was an experience, a crazy one,&rdquo; Vieney said of the fight for the division. &ldquo;It feels good, especially since we lost in the (league) semifinals last year.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited about it.&rdquo;
				The thrills Monday started early for Crestwood.
				With the game tied at 2-2, Vieney drilled a 3-pointer just over a minute in, and the Comets never trailed after that.
				It was only the start of a torrid-shooting night where Paul Feisel finished with four 3-pointers, Vieney, Ryan Petrosky and Jacob Zaleski all swished three treys and Crestwood went 13-for-21 (66.6 percent) from 3-point range.
				&ldquo;Just from my first 3, I was feeling good,&rdquo; Vieney said. &ldquo;I was feeling really good in warmups. I was very confident today.&rdquo;
				It showed.
				Petrosky and Vieney each scored five points in the opening quarter to stake the Comets to an 11-point lead, then it quickly ballooned from there.
				Vieney opened the second quarter by popping back-to-back 3-pointers, starting a 25-11 second-quarter barrage that pretty much decided the game at the break.
				&ldquo;Hitting those shots, it was huge for us,&rdquo; said Crestwood coach Mark Atherton, whose Comets moved to 11-4 in league play and to 17-6 overall. &ldquo;And of course, he can drive it, too. We have two great point guards, we have good guard play. Marcus is a heck of a point guard. Our guys all shot well, played well.&rdquo;
				Zaleski followed Vieney&rsquo;s opening act with two straight treys of his own to took the lead to 31-8, and the rout was on.
				Petrosky and Vieney combined for 24 points in the first half, and led a quartet of Comets who scored in double figures. Petrosky finished with a game-high 19 points, Vieney was right behind with 17, Zaleski snapped in 13 and Feisel ended with 12.
				&ldquo;The gameplan was play good defense, don&rsquo;t let them score,&rdquo; Vieney said. &ldquo;We tried a very quick transition press offense. We knew they couldn&rsquo;t run with us.&rdquo;
				The other Crestwood starter, Brad Papura, wound up with eight points and a team-high 7 rebounds while helping to neutralize Dallas big man Jack Farrell &mdash; who led the Mountaineers with 12 points and 10 boards.
				&ldquo;Shout out to Brad Papura, he just had a great game across the line,&rdquo; Atherton said. &ldquo;We shot the ball really well. It puts us in great position.
				&ldquo;Super-proud of our guys.&rdquo;
				Crestwood 82, Dallas 54
				DALLAS (54) &mdash; Austin Finarelli 4 1-2 9, Nick Nocito 3 3-4 10, Luke DelGaudio 3 0-1 6, Jack Farrell 4 4-4 12, Dylan Schuster 4 1-2 11, Sam Nocito 2 0-0 4, Michael Bufalino 0 0-0 0, Logan Evanosky 0 0-0 0, Angelo Zarola 0 0-0 0, Darius Wallace 1 0-0 2, Drew Dickson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-13 54.
				CRESTWOOD (82) &mdash; Ryan Petrosky 7 2-2 19, Marcus Vieney 6 2-2 17, Paul Feisel 4 0-0 12, Brad Papura 4 0-0 8, Jacob Zaleski 5 1-1 14, Mike Zaleski 2 0-1 5, Nick Ruggeri 0 5-7 5, Sam Balliet 0 0-0 0, Brandon Niemenski 0 0-0 0, Bryce Wyda 1 0-0 2, Don Shaw 0 0-2 0. Totals 29 10-15 82.
				Dallas`8`11`18`17 &mdash; 54
				Crestwood`19`25`25`13 &mdash; 82
				Three-point goals &mdash; DAL 3 (Schuster 2, N. Nocito); CRE 14 (Feisel 4, Vieney 3, Petrosky 3, J. Zaleski 3, M. Zaleski).

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Crestwood shoots down Dallas to reach boys basketball title game