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KINGSTON &mdash; Under normal circumstances, there wouldn&rsquo;t have been a seat available inside Wyoming Seminary&rsquo;s gymnasium.
				But with COVID-19 limiting spectators &mdash; and on Friday night prohibiting them all together &mdash; the Blue Knights had to face rival Holy Redeemer before only some school personnel, security and a handful of media.
				The unusual setting led to an unusual way Seminary gained the lead in the first quarter and held it the rest of the way for a 54-48 victory in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 boys basketball opener for both teams.
				Seminary&rsquo;s plan was to get it inside to center Ethan Meuser, one of the top big men in the area. Instead, the Blue Knights dropped in five 3-pointers &mdash; the third one by Isaiah Stull for a 9-6 lead they never relinquished.
				&ldquo;Absolutely not,&rdquo; said Seminary coach Pete Moses, dismissing the notion the long-range shooting was part of the game plan. &ldquo;The idea was to get it to number 33 (Meuser) for 32 minutes.&rdquo;
				Meuser did get his touches despite foul trouble and finished with 17 points along with a team-high nine rebounds. Guard Jake Koretz, the other returning starter for the reigning divisional champs, tossed in 20 points and grabbed eight boards.
				Koretz, whose dad Larry was a basketball standout at GAR and played professionally overseas, scored all 10 of Seminary&rsquo;s fourth-quarter points. Three times he boosted the Blue Knights&rsquo; advantage to double digits in the final period &mdash; with a 3-pointer, a rebound basket and a pair of free throws.
				Koretz finished off the Seminary scoring with a free throw with 17.9 seconds left. The Seminary faithful &mdash; aka the reserves and junior varsity players &mdash; were vocal with their approval as the Blue Knights went up by eight.
				&ldquo;Anytime we get a chance to go up against Redeemer, not only because of their talent but because of the rivalry, it&rsquo;s so exciting,&rdquo; Koretz said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something you think about days before the game. We played Wyoming Area on Wednesday and tried not to think about the Redeemer game. We try to stay focused and take it one game at a time, but it&rsquo;s hard because this game is so anticipated.&rdquo;
				Seminary improved to 2-0 overall. The Wyoming Area win was a non-divisional game; the teams will meet two more times in divisional contests. Redeemer fell to 0-3, losing to Wilkes-Barre Area by the same 54-48 score and to Allentown Central Catholic by a point in overtime.
				The Royals had their opportunities to take the lead, especially in the third quarter. Guard Justice Shoats, the Times Leader Player of the Year last season, led a rally just after halftime by scoring seven of his game-high 22 points before the midway point of the period. Alex Rymar then tossed in a rebound basket, cutting Seminary&rsquo;s advantage to 34-33.
				Seminary, though, closed out the third with a 10-2 run as Meuser and Gavin Flanley each scored four points in that stretch.
				&ldquo;Something bad would happen,&rdquo; said Redeemer coach Paul Guido, whose team has lost four straight to Seminary. &ldquo;A silly pass, a silly turnover, maybe we didn&rsquo;t execute and get a nice wide-open shot for somebody.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not shooting the ball well right now. Looking at some of the numbers on our stat sheet, the shooting numbers aren&rsquo;t very pretty.&rdquo;
				Wyoming Seminary 54, Holy Redeemer 48
				HOLY REDEEMER (48) &mdash; Zach Perta 3 0-0 8, Justice Shoats 9 1-2 22, Jake Pizzalato 1 0-0 2, Alex Rymar 2 0-0 5, Matt Prociak 3 0-1 6, Darryl Wright 0 0-0 0, Alex Hajkowski 1 1-2 3, Matt Carty 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 2-5 48.
				WYO. SEMINARY (54) &mdash; Jake Koretz 6 5-8 20, Andrew Maddock 1 0-0 3, Isaiah Stull 3 0-0 8, Gavin Flanley 2 2-3 6, Ethan Meuser 6 4-4 17, Dylan Ostrowski 0 0-0 0, John Coates 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 11-15 54.
				Holy Redeemer`12`9`14`13 &mdash; 48
				Wyo. Seminary`19`10`15`10 &mdash; 54
				Three-point goals: HR 6 (Perta 2. Shoats 3, Rymar). WS 7 (Koretz 3, Maddock, Stull 2, Meuser).

H.S. Boys Basketball: Wyoming Seminary takes down rival Holy Redeemer