District 2 Boys Recaps (Pete Turonis Holiday Tournament) Valley View vs. Lakeland / Carbondale vs. Mid Valley
Written by: Jon K on December 28, 2022
December 27, 2022
Cougars, Chargers Advance to Pete Turonis Holiday Tournament Championship
Valley View 57, Lakeland 29
Carbondale 49, Mid Valley 48
By Jon K.
CARBONDALE – A large crowd was on-hand Tuesday evening at Carbondale Area high school to take in the annual Pete Turonis Holiday Tournament. A few of the longtime Chargers followers shared thoughts with LLHoops that it’s been quite a while since they recalled such a buzz of energy inside their local gymnasium. And with their host team sporting an undefeated season mark, it was easy to see why they were also reminiscing about some of the all-time great squads.
GAME #1 featured the Lakeland Chiefs (also undefeated) taking on the highly-regarded Valley View Cougars. Other than the opening two minutes in which this one was tied at 2, the Cougars used some tenacious defense as their quick hands created numerous tipped balls. Lakeland struggled to find any offense as Valley View went on a 17-0 run to take a 19-4 advantage midway through the second period, a span of nearly eleven scoreless minutes for Lakeland. The Cougars took a commanding 34-10 lead into the locker room. The second half was mostly played under the running mercy rule clock. Valley View got 11 players into the scoring column as they advanced to the title game with a 57-29 victory.
Senior guard Eli Yusavage led the way for Valley View with 17 points (including 3 triples) while Kyle Rupp netted a dozen points and was a force all over the court for the Cougars. Lakeland was paced by senior forward Joey Dunstone who scored 10 points.
GAME #2 was an entertaining matchup between host Carbondale Chargers and Mid Valley Spartans. This one featured several momentum shifts. After the Chargers jumped out to an early lead, the Spartans controlled the middle periods (34-19 edge on the scoreboard) before Carbondale rallied for a pulsating comeback 49-48 victory that had the spacious gym erupting in celebration.
Things went Carbondale’s way for the first quarter as they got solid contributions from junior guard Preston Casey, a scrappy player who is a quick ball-handler. Senior guard Jay Allen, who struggled offensively through the first half, used his passing skills to find the open player underneath the basket. And Bryan Salitsky, a 5-11 senior forward, played tough on the boards to help propel the Chargers to a 13-6 lead heading into the second period.
Mid Valley began to inch their way back via a pair of nifty driving layups by their versatile duo of junior forward Ricky Vinansky and senior guard Danny Nemitz. Darryl Bennett (Carbondale junior guard) and Nemitz then traded scores before Casey would hit the front end from the charity stripe for an 18-16 Chargers’ lead with 3:09 remaining in the first half. On the missed second free throw carom, the Spartans got a terrific fast break layup from sophomore guard Jakob Lesher to tie the game at 18. Mid Valley would then get six straight points from Nemitz to end the stanza on an 8-2 run (he had 12 points in the period) to go into intermission with a 24-20 lead.
In the third period, Mid Valley expanded their lead to nine points on several occasions, but each time Carbondale would get a clutch score to keep this one within reach. A fantastic driving basket 3-point play by Nemitz plus a triple by junior guard Brady Lettieri put MV up 33-24 before Casey hit a trey. Bennett then came up big for the Chargers in the closing moments of the period scoring five points before Mid Valley got a baseline floater from junior guard Nathan Sadaka to take a 40-32 advantage into the final eight minutes.
Playing with four fouls and struggling offensively most of the game, Jay Allen took control. His pair of spin moves near the basket brought the Chargers to within four points, 40-36. After the teams combined for an 0-5 streak from the foul line over the next half minute, the Allen Show continued as he hit a pair of baskets plus a pair of free throws to extend their 11-0 run for a 43-40 lead with 4:14 remaining in the game. Nemitz would hit a triple to tie it at 43 and Sadaka would then hit a baseline floater to knot things up at 45. A free throw by Vinansky gave Mid Valley a 46-45 edge with 1:31 left before Carbondale got a jumper by (guess who?) Allen to retake the lead, 47-46 with 1:11 on the clock. Vinansky converted a pair of free throws with 53 ticks left to give the Spartans a 48-47 lead. The Chargers ran the clock down with Allen getting fouled with 3 seconds remaining. He made both before the ensuing inbounds full-court pass was intercepted by Allen to preserve the pulsating 49-48 victory, sending Carbondale (7-0) to the Pete Turonis Championship game on Thursday evening against Valley View (6-1). Mid Valley (5-2) will take on Lakeland (5-1) in the third-place consolation matchup.
Jay Allen led Carbondale with 20 points. Darryl Bennett added 15 points. Preston Casey and Tyler Donato combined for 14 points.
Danny Nemitz netted 20 points for Mid Valley while Ricky Vinansky contributed 17 points. Jakob Lesher, Nathan Sadaka, and Brady Lettieri teamed up for 11 points.
— LLHoops Neast Beat (@LLHoopsNEPbeat) December 27, 2022
Carbondale on a 11-0 run. Allen hit a shot for a 41-40 lead. pic.twitter.com/EnjpmzZ7IV
— LLHoops Neast Beat (@LLHoopsNEPbeat) December 28, 2022
What a comeback by Carbondale pic.twitter.com/iQzSxlyLKq
— LLHoops Neast Beat (@LLHoopsNEPbeat) December 28, 2022
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