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EXETER – Five minutes on Wednesday night won’t erase a week’s worth of misery for GAR.

The Grenadiers, though, have to feel satisfied that the matchup they wanted last weekend will take place this weekend.

GAR tore open a close game in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter by scoring 17 of the game’s final 19 points to defeat Berwick 51-33 in a District 2 Class 4A boys basketball quarterfinal game at Wyoming Area High School.

GAR (17-6) will play Wilkes-Barre city rival Meyers (18-5) in the semifinals on Saturday at a site and time to be announced. Meyers handled Valley View 68-44 in its quarterfinal game.

“Honestly, we’re really craving a rematch,” said GAR sophomore guard Will Johnson, who scored a game-high 17 points. “We really wanted that rematch and we’re going to come ready to play.”

Johnson wasn’t being boastful. It’s likely the Meyers players feel the same way because of the schools’ rivalry.

GAR lost to Wyoming Area and Meyers last week and was looking at a rematch with Meyers for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 crown last Sunday. Instead, Meyers rallied from a 13-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to edge Hazleton Area 56-55 on Saturday night to void the game.

“It was really disappointing because Saturday at practice we were prepping for them trying to get new plays in and stuff,” said GAR center Keyshawn Palmer, who added 14 points including four on dunks in the late-game run. “Then we found out they won by one point, we had to get a new game plan for Berwick.”

Berwick (15-8) was the Cinderella team last season, playing for a district title for the first time since 1980 when the school was part of District 4. The clock struck midnight for the Dawgs at 5:03 of the fourth.

Until then, the game was close except for a GAR outburst in the first quarter. Berwick scored the first five points of the fourth to move within 34-31 at 6:32.

Then Andrew Campbell, GAR’s 3-point ace, hit an uncontested shot from behind the arc at 5:30 and the Grenadiers couldn’t stop scoring. After a Berwick basket, Palmer converted a traditional 3-point play before sandwiching two dunks around a drive to the hoop by Herman Suazo.

Palmer’s second dunk, a flying effort off a miss by Johnson, boosted the lead to 48-33 with under a minute left.

“The score isn’t indictive of how close that game was or how competitive it was,” Berwick coach Jason Kingery said. “People are going to pick up the newspapers and say, ‘Man, they got crushed.’ That’s not the case. It was a good high school basketball game.”

Shot selection wasn’t outstanding, either, according to Kingery. The Dawgs got Palmer, GAR’s 6-foot-6 enforcer in the paint, in foul trouble as they planned. Suazo, a 6-5 junior, was also in foul difficulties. Kingery, though, felt his team settled for too much from the perimeter instead of attacking the basket.

The result was a 3 of 28 shooting performance after halftime.

GAR also dominated the boards with a 43-25 rebound advantage. The only time Berwick was able to offset the difference was when Suazo, who had 11 rebounds, was on the bench.

“Herman brings a lot in that he’s always working around the basket offensively and defensively,” GAR coach Jerry Altavilla said. “He’ll tip the ball, get the rebound. He won’t put up huge points. I don’t know how many rebounds he had tonight, but he seemed to have a lot.”

Mountain View 46,

Northwest 40

Thirteen-point efforts from Sam Saxe and Tyler Stevens weren’t quite enough as the Rangers fell to Mountain View. Both Northwest players made a trio of triples as well.

Meyers 68,

Valley View 44

Meyers used a 38-16 halftime lead to ease past Valley View.

Matt Dessoye scored a game-high 16 points for the Mohawks, while Levaugn Soules added 14 points. Jawane Buckner and Ryan Gilgallon both scored 12 for Meyers.

Scranton Prep 79,

Tunkhannock 60

The top-seeded Cavaliers pulled away in the second half to eliminate Tunkhannock.

Prep will play Nanticoke in a D2-4A semifinal game Saturday at a time and site to be determined.

Nanticoke 60,

Wyoming Area 36

The Trojans advanced to play Scranton Prep in the D2-4A semifinals by defeating Wyoming Area for a second consecutive time.

Nanticoke topped the Warriors 38-35 on Feb. 16 in the Wyoming Valley Conference finale for both teams.

BOYS BASKETBALL

GAR 51, Berwick 33

BERWICK (33) — Ken Marshman 2 0-0 4, Matt Champ 3 0-0 7, Alec Markle 2 0-0 6, Damon Beckhorn 2 5-6 9, Jude Goddard 2 3-6 7, Justin Groshek 0 0-0 0, Kyle Pierce 0 0-0 0, Joe Norce 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-12 33.

GAR (51) — Keyshawn Palmer 6 2-2 14, Will Johnson 4 8-10 17, Andrew Campbell 3 0-0 8, Herman Suazo 3 0-0 6, Kahlil White 0 0-0 0, Eli Ruiz 0 0-0 0, Anthony Hawk 2 0-0 4, Jared O’Day 0 0-0 0, Mufee Burney 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-12 51.

Berwick`10`11`5`7`—`33

GAR`20`4`10`17`—`51

Three-point goals — BER 3 (Champ, Markle 2), GAR 3 (Johnson, Campbell 2).

Mountain View 46, Northwest 40

MOUNTAIN VIEW (46) — Mikey Schemehorn 6 4-4 17, Matt Lavin 5 2-5 13, Alex Sholwalter 0 6-8 6, Zeb Feowchak 2 0-0 4, Tyler Wakalonski 0 2-4 2, Josh Johnson 1 0-0 2, Kyle Streich 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 14-21 46.

NORTHWEST (40) — Sam Saxe 4 2-2 13, Tyler Stevens 5 0-0 13, Nick Levandowski 2 0-0 5, Jaxson Yaple 1 2-2 4, Bryce Kosler 1 0-0 3, Mitchell Mazonkcy 1 0-0 2, Walker Yaple 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-4 40.

Mountain View`5`16`12`13`—`46

Northwest`5`8`13`14`—`40

Three-point goals — MV 2 (Schemehorn, Lavin); NW 8 (Saxe 3, Stevens 3, Levandowski, Kosler).

Meyers 68, Valley View 44

VALLEY VIEW (44) — Brian Durkin 6 1-4 13, Bobby Craig 4 0-0 11, Marc Kudrich 4 0-2 10, Dixon Black 3 0-0 6, Jackson Boone 1 2-2 4. Totals 18 3-8 44.

MEYERS (68) — Matt Dessoye 5 4-5 16, Levaugn Soules 7 0-0 14, Jawane Buckner 3 5-8 12, Ryan Gilgallon 5 0-0 12, Robbie Formola 3 4-6 10, Gabe Springer 1 0-0 3, Willie Wallace 0 1-2 1, Yuri Covington 0 0-0 0, Matt Manfre 0 0-0 0, Malachi Kornegey 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 14-21 68.

Valley View`10`6`17`11`—`44

Meyers`18`20`14`16`—`68

Three-point goals — VV 5 (Craig 3, Kudrich 2); MEY 6 (Dessoye 2, Gilgallon 2, Buckner, Springer).

GAR’s Will Johnson protects the ball as he drives to the basket while Berwick’s Justin Groshek defends during Wednesday night’s game.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL-02232017-GAR-vs-Berwick-1.jpg.optimal.jpgGAR’s Will Johnson protects the ball as he drives to the basket while Berwick’s Justin Groshek defends during Wednesday night’s game. Charlotte Bartizek| For Times Leader

GAR’s Keyshawn Palmer shoots over Jude Goddard.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL-02232017-GAR-vs-Berwick-2.jpg.optimal.jpgGAR’s Keyshawn Palmer shoots over Jude Goddard. Charlotte Bartizek| For Times Leader

GAR’s Keyshawn Palmer goes up for a layup against Berwick’s Matthew Champ.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL-02232017-GAR-vs-Berwick-2.jpg.optimal.jpgGAR’s Keyshawn Palmer goes up for a layup against Berwick’s Matthew Champ. Charlotte Bartizek| For Times Leader

By John Erzar

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Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar