EXETER – Dallas played Wyoming Valley West’s style of basketball when the District 2 Class 5A boys tournament opened Tuesday night at Wyoming Area High School.
The Mountaineers simply did it better than the Spartans.
Joey Parsons scored 25 points and Dallas took the run-and-gun approach to a 75-70 quarterfinal victory.
“We played at their pace last time, too, and fell short at the free throw line,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “This time, we took care of the basketball and were able to play at that pace.
“They were giving us layups. We’ll take layups any time. We know we can make layups. They were pressing, but we were getting to the rim, so we’ll stay with that.”
The win sent Dallas to the district semifinals for the first time since 2012. The Mountaineers had lost five of their previous six playoff games.
“I can’t be more proud of them,” Belenski said. “This is a huge win for the Dallas basketball program.”
Parsons made sure the Mountaineers could play fast. He had 12 points in the first quarter when Dallas took a 25-21 lead.
When it was time to take a breath and step to the foul line in the closing minutes, the Mountaineers were ready for that, too.
Dallas sent four different players to the foul line in the final 1:36 after Wyoming Valley West got back to within, 69-66, and they combined to make six of eight attempts. That allowed the Mountaineers to finish 9-for-14 from the line in the fourth quarter and 17-for-25 for the game.
Nich Kocher, who also hit three 3-pointers, was 3-for-4 at the line in the fourth quarter and finished with 18 points.
Alex Charlton hit his two attempts for a 73-68 lead with 24.6 seconds left and finished with 12.
The win extended the season for Dallas, which had been playing in recent weeks without leading scorer Jay Bittner because of an illness.
Belenski said he expected Bittner back in the lineup for Friday’s semifinal game against Abington Heights.
“We’re missing our leading scorer, but guys stepped up and got the job done,” Parsons said.
Dallas started an 8-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to erase the last Wyoming Valley West lead.
Ben Donahue’s baseline drive put the Mountaineers ahead, 63-62.
Parsons found Charlton for a 3-pointer in the left corner and Ben O’Connell for a drive in transition for a 69-64 lead with 2:24 left.
Feb. 22
BOYS BASKETBALL
Scranton Prep 79
Tunkhannock 60
Returning district champion and tournament top seed Scranton Prep eliminated Tunkhannock in the District 2 Class 4A quarterfinal game at Scranton High.
The Tigers finished 10-13.
Feb. 21
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Scranton Prep 39
Lake-Lehman 20
Scranton Prep held Lake-Lehman to two points in the first quarter and eight in the first half of the District 2 Class 4A quarterfinal at Scranton High.
The Black Knights finished 7-16.
Feb. 16
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hazleton Area 80
Dallas 67
Jeffrey Planutis scored 22 points to lead division champion Hazleton Area past Dallas in a WVC Division 1 game.
Ben Donahue had 19 points and Joey Parsons added 17 for Dallas, which went 7-9 in the conference to finish fourth out of six Division 1 teams. Alex Charlton added 12 points and Nick Kocher had 11.
Holy Redeemer 48
Lake-Lehman 36
Nick Prociak’s 10 points led division champion Holy Redeemer past last-place Lake-Lehman in a WVC Division 3 game.
The Black Knights finished 1-15 in the conference and missed the playoffs with a 1-21 overall record.
