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District 2 Boys 2A PIAA First Round (Holy Cross vs. Antietam)
 

District 2 Boys 2A PIAA First Round (Holy Cross vs. Antietam)

Written by: Jon K on March 9, 2022

 

 

March 9, 2022

 

Crusaders Rally to Advance

 

Holy Cross 57, Antietam 49

 

By Phil T.

SCRANTON – Holy Cross erased an eight-point deficit late in the first half and came back to defeat Antietam, 57-49, in a PIAA Boys 2A First Round game at the Lackawanna College Student Union Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
After bowing out of last season’s District 2 tournament due to COVID concerns and having to watch rival Old Forge advance to the semifinals of the PIAA State Tournament, Holy Cross will be looking to advance in this year’s tournament when they play District 1 Champion Church  Farm (15-8) on Saturday.
The game was slated to tip-off at 7 PM but due to travel delays Antietam did not arrive until ten minutes prior, delaying the initial start time almost 30 minutes.  While Holy Cross sat and waited, their energy and excitement built for the game to start.  Once the game began, the Crusaders easily won the tip and less than ten seconds later made a miscue turning the ball over, allowing the Mount’s Hector Tiburcio to make the game’s opening score.
Holy Cross would quickly recover with back-to-back triples from Gabe Gonzales and the following putback gave the Crusaders an early 8-2 advantage.
Both teams were on fire from beyond the arc with Jovan Hollis and Tiburcio knotting the game up at eight before a Will Kittrell triple swung the scoreline back into the Crusader’s favor.  Hollis would sink the quarter’s sixth triple but Holy Cross would still have the edge at the end of the opening eight minutes, 14-11.
Carson Lubas got the ball rolling in the second stanza with a mid-range jumper and Tiburcio would recapture the Mount’s lead with a steal and finish early in the stanza.  Two Logan Tierney layups would regain the lead for Holy Cross but the Antietam got a hot hand scoring the next eight points to take a 25-18 lead.
Crusaders and Mounts would soon both get into the offensive flow, trading the ensuing seven field-goals.  An ill-timed shooting foul on Joshua McKoy would give the Mounts a six-point advantage with four seconds left in the half.  The Crusaders would quickly move the ball up the court with Hayden Hosie connecting on a deep triple to cut the deficit in half as the teams left for halftime with Antietam leading 34-31.
Coming out of the break, the Crusaders would catch fire, opening the half on an 8-2 run leading to the game’s ninth lead change.  A Lubas triple on the ensuing possession would provide the game’s tenth on the night.
With less than 70 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Tierney would drive to the hoop and sink the basket while getting fouled.  After the successful “and 1” free throw attempt, neither team would score for the remainder of the stanza as the game went to the final period squared up at 42.
Buckets from Hosie and Kaeden Carr gave the Crusaders a six-point swing and allowed them to establish momentum later in the game.
McKoy would end the run with a layup, but the Antietam offense would go cold as Holy Cross proceeded to score the next eight points before a McKoy trip to the charity stripe (with less than a minute to play) ended the Crusader run.
With 34 ticks left on the clock, Noah Archambault would convert all three of his throws for the Mounts, cutting the deficit to five, but it would not be enough as the Crusader prevailed in this one, 57-49.
Logan Tierney led all scorers with 19 points in the victory.  Gabe Gonzales added 16 points and nine rebounds while Hayden Hoise dropped 12 in for Holy Cross.  Will Kittrell struggled to score on the night, shooting 20% from the field and missing all three of his chances at the foul line, but his five assists and four steals provided enough to see his team advance.
Hector Tiburcio led the Mounts with 17 points to go with five boards and four steals.  Joshua McKoy filled up his stat sheet with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.  After scoring 11 points in the first half, Jovan Hollis failed to score after the break finishing the night with 11 points and nine rebounds.
With the victory Holy Cross advances to the second round of the PIAA Boys’ 2A tournament and will face Church Farm on Saturday.  Church Farm will enter the game at 15-8 record along with the District 1 AA title under their belt.

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