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District 2 Boys Game Recap (Tunkhannock vs. Hazleton Area)
 

District 2 Boys Game Recap (Tunkhannock vs. Hazleton Area)

Written by: Jon K on February 3, 2023

 

 

February 2, 2023

 

Cougars Rally to Force OT and Defeat Tigers

 

Hazleton Area 57, Tunkhannock 53 (OT)

 

by Jon K.

TUNKHANNOCK – LLHoops always enjoys a trip to see a game at Tunkhannock.  Thursday night featured a clash between a pair of Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 teams that were expecting to compete for a championship, but who have both needed to navigate though some disappointing season losses.  It seems that these teams are still trying to find an identity on offense, but both play tenacious defense to create fast-break scoring opportunities.  This one had plenty of turnovers to go around for sure and play was a bit too sloppy for February standard at times.  Without a doubt, the Tigers are very competitive on their home floor as seen from recent close losses to frontrunners Dallas and Pittston Area.  And this night was no different as they rallied from a late third quarter deficit to storm back to take a three-point lead with under 3 minutes remaining.  The Cougars clawed back with a clutch triple by Nikolii Santiago and an athletic drive to the basket by Luke Gennaro with time winding down to tie the game and force overtime.  Another key triple, this one by Gennaro, in the extra period helped secure a hard-fought 57-53 victory for Hazleton Area.

 

The first period was close throughout with two lead changes and three ties.  Joe Marshall (Hazleton Area) and Ben Chilson (Tunkhannock) would each connect on a pair of triples.  It seemed, in fact, that teams were going to be content with chucking up long-range shots, some seeming a bit too hurried.  After Marshall’s second trey, Garret Yuhas and Luke Gennaro exchanged layups as the Cougars took an 8-6 lead.  Sammy Guzman would score another layup off a terrific feed before Chilson knotted the game 10.  Gennaro would respond with a corner triple before another Yuhas layup brought the Tigers within a point, 13-12.  Sammy Guzman added a pair of free throws at the 2:41 mark before teams battled through several turnovers and missed shots through the next two minutes.  Chilson briefly tied the game at 15 by hitting a long triple before Gennaro made a layup at the buzzer giving Hazleton Area a 17-15 edge after eight minutes.  

 

Chilson connected on a triple to begin the second frame giving at Tigers an 18-17 lead before the Cougars moved out to several larger scoreboard advantages.  Catrone got the Cougars’ 7-0 run started with a score in the lane.  Santiago would then get a pair of layups, the second off a quick steal and coast-to-coast finish wrapped around a score by Chris Catrone to take a 25-18 lead.  Colin Madan halted the run with a layup before Gennaro added a 4-0 spurt with a nifty give-and go play and baseline jumper giving HA their largest lead of the game at 29-20.  Shane Macko and Sammy Guzman traded scores as play began to get quite sloppy approaching the break.  Nick DeMarco scored as Tunkhannock went into the locker room trailing 31-24.         

 

After being held scoreless through the first half, Dylan Mateus gave the Tigers an immediate spark netting a triple and floater in the lane (5 of his 18 points).  Following a charging call against the Cougars, Chilson kept their momentum going with a triple at the 6:10 mark giving Tunkhannock a 32-31 lead to cap off the 8-0 run.  A minute later HA retook the lead as Gennaro scored on a terrific drive down the lane.  After a Tunkhannock miss, Gennaro kept the hot hand going with a triple to give HA a 36-32 edge midway through the period.  Mateus drilled another triple cutting the deficit to a single point (36-35) before the Cougars went on a 6-0 streak to go up 42-35 with a minute left in the period as Catrone got a layup and pair of free throws followed by a terrific pass by Gennaro into Marshall for the layup.  Josh Brown got the Tigers a bit closer with a layup off a Cougars’ turnover to reduce the gap to 42-37 heading into the final quarter.   

 

Everyone in the gym knew that Tunkhannock was going to mount a game-changing rally.  The quarter started off with a few misses for the Tigers plus a charging call against them.  Hazleton Area wasn’t fairing much better as several bad passes highlighted a series of miscues.  Then Mateus hit a corner triple.  A minute later, he connected on another one wrapped around a layup by Guzman to pull Tunkhannock within a single point (44-43) with five minute remaining.  After both teams came up empty, Yuhas scored on a driving layup giving the Tigers a 45-44 edge.  After Gennaro drove in for a score, Mateus again scored with 3:13 left but missed the 3-point opportunity.  The subsequent Cougars’ turnover resulted in a layup by Shane Macko with 2:51 left in the game giving the Tigers their largest lead, 49-46.  Hazleton Area then got a critical triple from Santiago knotting the game at 49.  With 1:10 left in the game, Brown converted a pair of free throws for a Tigers’ lead, 51-49.  Tunkhannock would have the chance to expand their lead but Macko came up short on a 1+1 opportunity with 38 seconds left.  The Cougars would get a game-tying score from Gennaro on an athletic inside move as this one was headed to overtime knotted at 51.

 

In the extra stanza, following misses by each team, Gennaro again came up with a big shot hitting a corner triple for a 54-51 edge with 2:40 remaining.  Santiago and Mateus would then trade scores (56-53) with 1:38 left in the game.  Over the next 60 seconds, the Tigers would hang on and still trail by just a single basket after the Cougars missed three consecutive 1+1 trips to the charity stripe.  Tunkhannock, however, could not take advantage of Hazleton area’s struggles from the foul line.  Catrone finally connected on a free throw securing the 57-53 victory.

 

Hazleton Area was led by Luke Gennaro with 23 points.  He was steady throughout the game.  Chris Catrone and Nikolii Santiago each netted 9 points.  Joe Marshall and Sammy Guzman each added 8 points.  The Cougars had 5 triples, with two of them coming at important moments of the final period and overtime.  They were 5 of 11 from the charity stripe.

 

Tunkhannock was paced by Dylan Mateus with 18 points and Ben Chilson with 12 points (all triples through the first 3 quarters).  Josh Brown scored 8 points and Garrett Yuhas added 7 points.  Shane Mack, Colin Madan, and Nick DeMarco combined for 8 points.  The Tigers connected on 8 treys and were 5 of 8 free throws.

 

Both teams are back in action tonight as Tunkhannock hosts Wyoming Valley West and Hazleton Area entertains Wilkes-Barre Area.  

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