YATESVILLE — Perhaps it was fitting that Dallas’ Michael Bufalino brought the most bad luck to Pittston Area.
After all, the senior forward was the only player wearing No. 13 on Friday the 13th.
Bufalino scored a game-high 23 points and led Dallas in the game-changing second quarter as the Mountaineers defeated Pittston Area 62-48 to create a three-way tie atop Division 1 of Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball.
Dallas (4-1 Div. 1, 10-1 overall) handed Pittston Area (4-1, 8-4) its first conference loss. A few miles away, Hazleton Area edged Wilkes-Barre Area 61-60 to also go to 4-1 in the division.
Bufalino also had six rebounds as Dallas held a 27-16 advantage on the boards until the game was handed over to the reserves with about four minutes remaining. Michael Cumbo, who missed the early part of the season with an injury, grabbed a game-high 11 boards and just missed a double-double with nine points. Nick Williams also had six rebounds.
Bufalino opened the game with a rebound basket and a 3-pointer as the Mountaineers scored the game’s initial seven points and never trailed. Pittston Area recovered from the early outburst behind the shooting of Anthony Cencetti to pull within 11-8 after one quarter.
Pittston Area’s late first-quarter surge, though, unraveled in the second quarter as seven turnovers helped tilt the game Dallas’ way.
“Our transition is what gets us going,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “I really think they wanted to play a slow-down game. We can do both, but we’d rather play up-tempo.”
Bufalino scored five consecutive points, the final three on a Euro step and free throw, as part of a 7-0 run. Williams ended it with a transition basket inside. Dallas opened its lead to 36-17 in the final minute before halftime as Jude Nocito canned two 3-pointers and scored off a Bufalino steal as part of a 13-3 run.
“We hit a couple shots in the beginning, they hit a couple shots,” Bufalino said. “We were just kind of going back and forth with the momentum. We can get streaky and keep hitting shots. That’s just the kind of team we are. We were spreading the ball a lot, getting open shots.”
The Patriots made one final assault on Dallas midway through the third quarter. Silvio Giardina hit two 3-pointers and Cencetti followed with a drive to cut the deficit to 48-35. The Mountaineers cut off the run with eight consecutive points started by Nocito’s final 3-pointer of the game.
“Couldn’t stop them. We just couldn’t stop them,” Pittston Area coach Al Semenza said. “They are good offensively. They’re all spaced out, they handle the ball well, they go to the glass well. They’re good. We have to be at our A-game to beat them. It’s one loss and we’re all tied now. We’ll brush ourselves off and get back up and come ready to play next week.”
Dallas 62, Pittston Area 48
DALLAS (62) — Nocito 5 0-0 13, Wallace 4 0-0 8, Bufalino 9 3-3 23, Cumbo 3 2-4 9, Williams 4 1-4 9, Faux 0 0-0 0, Farrell 0 0-0 0, Timinski 0 0-0 0, Dolan 0 0-0 0, O’Donnell, 0 0-0 0, Zapoticky 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 6-11 62.
PITTSTON AREA (48) — Giardina 7 2-2 21, Long 3 0-0 6, Walter 0 2-2 2, Clarke 0 0-0 0, Cencetti 6 0-0 13, Burnett 0 0-1 0, Barnic 1 0-0 2, Ivey 1 0-0 2, Jordan-McGarry 0 2-2 2, Lynn 0 0-0 0, C.Bilbow 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-7 48.
Dallas`11`25`20`6 — 62
Pitttston Area`8`11`19`10 — 48
Three-point goals — DAL 6 (Nocito 3, Bufalino 2, Cumbo). PA 6 (Giardina 5, Cencetti).