District 2 Boys’ Game Recap (Pittston Area vs. Hazleton Area)
Written by: Jon K on January 6, 2023
January 6, 2023
Hot Shooting Propels Pittston Past Hazleton
Pittston Area 48, Hazleton Area 32
by Phil T.
YATESVILLE – Never take your baskets for granted. Late in the third period, Nikolii Santiago drove to the bucket for a floater that pulled the Cougars within three points, however that would be the last field-goal for Hazleton Area as they could only watch as Pittston Area pulled away to a 48-32 victory on Friday night.
Heading into this game, the matchup on everyone’s scorecard was Anthony Cencetti versus Luke Gennaro, but fans expecting to see that one play out were in for a surprise as Gennaro did not play and Cencetti would only score 8 points, going 3-14 from the field.
The star of the night turned out to be Silvio Giardina. The Patriots’ sophomore got the game moving with an early triple, but failed to connect on his next attempt. He must’ve really hated missing that shot because he would sizzle the nets on all seven of his next attempts on the way to a game-high 24 points.
Friday’s contest was an off-night for Hazleton Area from the start. The Cougars turned the ball over seven times in the opening frame and failed to hit any of their five attempts from beyond the arc en route to a 4-point first quarter.
The Cougars, however, remained very much in the game as their opponents weren’t hitting their shots either, with neither team scoring in the final two minutes of the opening stanza.
After the first horn, both teams began to heat up. Cencetti got the second frame started driving through traffic on his way to a score. Jack Long followed his teammate with a bucket to give the Patriots a 6-0 swing (12-4 lead) between the opening frames.
Chris Catrone finally got the Cougars offense moving with back-to-back triples. Joe Marshall would follow suit and convert a 3-point field-goal of his own to pull Hazleton Area within striking distance, 16-13. After failing to convert any of their five attempts from beyond the arc in the first quarter, HA went on to shoot 44% from three-point land in the second quarter to pull them back into contention.
A unique trip to the foul line for Hazleton’s Estarling Meanciano would provide another 3-point swing for the Cougars. After converting his first attempt from the charity stripe, he would miss his second attempt, but while attempting to secure the defensive rebound the ball would ricochet off a Patriots’ hand and ever-so-gently swish through the net.
Santiago would hit a triple on the Cougars’ next possession to erase their once 8-point deficit and tie the game at 19. The stalemate wouldn’t last for long as a Cencetti bucket and successful “and 1” foul shot followed a successful trip to the charity from Matt Walter to quickly put the Patriots back in control and allowed them to take a 24-20 advantage into the halftime break.
Coming out of the locker rooms, the Cougars wasted no time in bringing pressure to their opponents, a quick bucket from Catrone followed by a steal and coast-to-coast finish from Sammy Guzman tied the game up at 24 less than a minute into the half.
Neither team would score consecutive points in the frame, but the Patriots would be able to build upon their lead (36-30 after three periods) due to their opponent going 2-4 from the foul line.
Giardina got the final stanza running with a floater in the paint, signaling that the final frame was going to be all Silvio. He would then score all but one shot from the field, teammate Walter picking up the other basket when he had an easy layup under the hoop. Cougars went cold from the field in the final quarter, missing all seven of their attempts with a Catrone trip to the foul line being their only score down the stretch.
Pittston Area was virtually unmissable in the second half converting 77% of their field-goals, making all of their 3-point attempts, and only missing three shots in the second half.
Neither team reached deep into their bench with all scoring being dealt by the starting five on both teams.
With 24 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, Silvio Giardina led all scorers while shooting 90% from the field. Being undersized against a bigger Hazleton Area team, Matt Walter scrapped all game to bring down 6 boards plus a block to go along with his 8 points. An off-shooting night couldn’t stop Cencetti from making an impact as he finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Without leading scorer Luke Gennaro, Chris Catrone took the helm for the Cougars scoring 13 points in the contest.
Pittston Area will look to move to 4-0 in division play when they travel to play Wilkes-Barre Area on Tuesday night.
Hazleton Area will look to put this game behind them as they host their rival, Crestwood, on Tuesday.
Starting for Hazleton Area
2 Nikolii Santiago
20 Estarling Meanciano
21 Sammy Guzman
35 Chris Catrone
44 Joe Marshall pic.twitter.com/OUaxfl2OUt— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
Starting for Pittston Area
2 Silvio Giardina
3 Jack Long
14 Matt Walter
20 Ethan Clarke
33 Anthony Cencetti pic.twitter.com/V2iFWuf7BW— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
Giardina gets the game started with a triple. pic.twitter.com/w1VbDE9C9u
— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
WVC-1 (Boys)
End of 1st Quarter
Hazleton Area 4
Pittston Area 8
Catrone’s triple at the buzzer is just off the mark. pic.twitter.com/xwx8wTCudO— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
WVC-1 (Boys)
Mid-2nd
Hazleton Area 13
Pittston Area 16Marshall with the Cougar’s 3rd triple of the period pulls them within 3. pic.twitter.com/hi1BsU2BlC
— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
WVC-1 (Boys)
Halftime
Hazleton Area 20
Pittston Area 24
Another Cougar triples rims out at the buzzer. pic.twitter.com/oUAyMQOQn3— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
Long puts the Pats back on top. pic.twitter.com/KrBG4D64mX
— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
WVC-1 (Boys)
Mid-3rd
Hazleton Area 27
Pittston Area 31
Clarke with the post gives PA a 4-point advantage. pic.twitter.com/rftYuiCA9n— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
WVC-1 (Boys)
End of 3rd Quarter
Hazleton Area 30
Pittston Area 36
For the third time this game, Hazleton is unable to make the 3-pointer at the horn. pic.twitter.com/s6c4PqWTgA— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
Giardina is on fire!
Makes his 3rd triple of the half to give PA a 41-30 lead. Giardina is 7-8 from the field, 4-5 from beyond the arc so far. pic.twitter.com/fOC5ZKTE8X— Phillip Thrash (@ThrashPhillip) January 7, 2023
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