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YATESVILLE — Any concerns that Holy Redeemer would be sulking were erased early Saturday afternoon. The Royals started with a bang and overcame their only deficit in just eight seconds.
Those factors, plus a 10-point knockout punch in the fourth quarter, gave Redeemer a 64-55 victory over Riverside in the District 2 Class 2A boys basketball third-place game at Pittston Area High School.
Redeemer (19-7) entered the D2-2A tournament as the second seed. The Royals exit as the district’s third seed in the upcoming PIAA Class 3A playoffs and will play D3 champion Trinity (18-7) on Saturday. They will be playing in the state tournament for the first time since the 2010-11 season when they won the D2-3A crown.
Ninth-seeded Riverside ended its season at 15-11.
“It feels great, feels great for my guys,” said Redeemer second-year coach Paul Guido, who was previously an assistant at the school since it was formed in 2007. “We worked extremely hard all summer. We played in multiple summer leagues, went to multiple team camps.”
Redeemer was coming off a 51-44 loss to rival Holy Cross in the semifinals. The setback snapped a 14-game winning streak, second longest in school history.
“It was definitely tough because we were grinding all summer,” Redeemer senior guard Darius Washington said. “The district championship was one of our goals. It was a tough loss, but you have to regroup because we still want to play.”
The pieces fell into place quickly. Redeemer hit its first five shots to take a 12-3 lead less than three minutes into the game. All three guards — Washington, Len Radziak and Jerry Busch — hit 3-pointers in the quarter for a 20-12 advantage heading into the next eight minutes.
From there, Redeemer was able to keep Riverside at arm’s length until late in the third quarter when the Vikings tied the score twice. They took their only lead of the game, 43-42, when Jerry Kincel hit three free throws with 9.6 seconds left in the third. Washington, though, ended the quarter with a drive to give Redeemer the lead for good.
“We had that silly foul and he made those three free throws that put them up with nine seconds left,” Guido said. “Then Darius gets the ball and rushes it up and hits that runner at the buzzer. That got us right back to the lead. That was the stabilizing thing for us.”
After the teams exchanged baskets to start the fourth, Radziak started a 10-0 Redeemer run with another drive to the hoop that led to a 56-45 lead. Radziak finished with a game-high 22 points.
John Carr played a significant role in the spurt. Although he didn’t score, the 6-foot-7 junior had a block and rebound that led to the final points. Carr missed the Holy Cross game with the stomach flu, a contest where the Royals were eventually exploited inside.
“It was rough,” Carr said. “I really wanted to play and give it all for my team, but I couldn’t no matter what I did. I even tried coming into school on that half day we had (Thursday), trying to make it through the day in order to play, but it didn’t work out.”
Defensively, Redeemer’s main worry was Kincel. He finished with 17 points but only one field goal after the first quarter. The Vikings made one final run at the deficit, with 3-pointers by Will Davies and Matt Fallon moving them within 58-53 with 55 seconds left. Redeemer followed with four free throws to ice the game.
District 2 Class 2A Third Place
Holy Redeemer 64, Riverside 55
RIVERSIDE (55) — Will Davies 4 0-0 1o, Mike Spinelli 2 1-1 5, Adam Leasure 4 3-3 10, Randy Kincel 3 10-11 17, Matt Fallon 3 2-4 10, Joe Austin 0 2-2 2, Nick Sottile 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 18-21 55.
HOLY REDEEMER (64) — Justin Renfer 2 0-0 5, Len Radziak 8 4-5 22, Jerry Busch 2 0-0 6, Darius Washington 7 3-3 19, John Carr 3 1-1 7, Sal Aiello 1 2-2 5, Zach Brennan 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-11 64.
Riverside`12`13`18`12`—`55
Holy Redeemer`20`12`12`20`—`64
Three-point goals — RIV 5 (Davies 2, Kincel, Fallon 2); HR 8 (Renfer, Radziak 2, Busch 2, Washington 2, Aiello).
District 2 Class 3A Championship
Scranton Prep 88, GAR 55
(Friday)
GAR (55) — Dajon Rush 6 3-6 18, Seth Callahan 2 5-7 9, Greg Skrepenak 7 2-4 18, Nigebo Francis 1 0-0 2, Justin Crosby 0 0-0 0, Rashaun Jackson 0 0-0 0, Tino Altavilla 2 0-0 6, Marquan Kemp 2 0-2 4, Garry Kroll 4 0-0 10, Antwone Easter 0 0-0 0, Noah Edwards 0 0-0 0, Dhamiere Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-13 55.
SCRANTON PREP (88) — Bobby Casey 6 3-6 18, Tim Rose 5 2-2 15, Matt Bednarz 6 1-4 13, Joe Rossi 2 3-6 7, Matt Burshefsky 0 1-2 1, Paddy Casey 7 0-0 16, Tim Walsh 0 0-0 0, Brett Para 1 3-6 5, Bailey Logan 1 0-0 2, Pat Cosgrove 0 0-0 0, Dan D’Arienzo 1 0-0 2, Dean Lucas 1 0-0 3, Nick Dende 1 0-0 2, Wes Simons 2 0-0 4, Joe Skoff 0 0-0 0, Jake Ryan 0 0-0 0. Totals 33 13-26 88.
GAR`12`6`21`16`—`55
Scranton Prep`23`23`20`22`—`88
Three-point goals –– GAR 6 (Skrepenak 2, Altavilla 2, Kroll 2); SP 9 (B.Casey 3, Rose 3, P.Casey 2, Lucas).