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SCRANTON — Abington Heights limited Dallas to 13 first-half points and rolled to a 61-42 win over the Mountaineers in a District 2 Class 5A boys basketball semifinal game Friday night at Scranton High School.
Top-seed Abington Heights (21-3) will play third-seeded West Scranton (14-10) for the district title at 8 p.m. on March 3 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Comets center Seth Maxwell scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half to help Abington Heights build a 16-point lead.
“We fell behind early and we didn’t make free throws or shoot the basketball well,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “I thought our defense was decent, we just dug a hole for ourselves early.”
Abington Heights’ Jackson Danzig scored six of his 12 points in the third quarter when the Comets stretched their lead to 21 points.
Dallas (12-12), the fifth-seed, battled back in the fourth by opening the quarter on a 7-1 run.
Matt Mathers scored all eight of his points in the fourth for the Mountaineers. Nick Kocher, who led Dallas with 10 points, also knocked down two 3-pointers in the quarter.
“We never quit,” Belenski said. “We lost the game, but I’m excited about where we are as a program.”
West Scranton 41,
Crestwood 38 3OT
Second-seeded Crestwood had its season come to a heartbreaking end as West Scranton’s Blake Carlton hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Invaders a triple-overtime win in a District 2 Class 5A semifinal game.
Third-seeded West Scranton (14-10) will play top-seeded Abington Heights (21-3) on March 3 at Mohegan Sun Arena for the title with both teams advancing to states. Crestwood finished its season at 16-8.
The score was tied 28-28 after regulation and 32-32 after the first overtime when Crestwood’s Noah Jackson hit a free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining. Crestwood also missed a shot at the end of the second overtime, which ended 34-34.
West Scranton led 28-26 in the third overtime before Crestwood’s Kyle Gegaris tied the score with 17 seconds left. The Invaders were able to work the clock down and Carlton hit the game winner.
District 2 Class 5A semifinals
Abington Heights 61, Dallas 42
DALLAS (42) — Nick Kocher 4 0-0 10, Matt Mathers 4 0-0 8, Alex Charlton 2 2-2 7, Joey Parsons 2 2-5 6, Ben Donahue 2 0-0 5, Jay Bittner 1 1-4 4, Ethan Szczencinski 1 0-2 0, Ben O’Connell 0 0-0 0, Collin Pertl 0 0-0 0, Zach Charlton 0 0-0 0, Jacob Serafin 0 0-2 0, Michael Farrell 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-15 42.
ABINGTON HEIGHTS (61) — George Tinsley 6 2-8 15, Seth Maxwell 7 0-1 15, Trey Koehler 5 3-4 14, Jackson Danzig 4 3-6 12, Tom Rothenberger 1 0-0 3, Drew Nealon 0 2-2 2, Lucas Goodman 0 0-2 0, Alex Derry 0 0-0 0, Jack Nealon 0 0-0 0, Brad Bauman 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-21 61.
Dallas`7`6`10`19`—`42
Abington Heights`17`12`15`17`—`61
Three-point goals — DAL 5 (Kocher 2, A, Charlton 1, Bittner 1, Donahue 1), AH 5 (Tinsley, Rothenberger, Danzig, Koehler, Maxwell).