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EXETER — Hazleton Area’s 21st victory gave the Cougars the inaugural District 2 Class 6A boys basketball championship Tuesday night.
And that was it. No state playoffs.
Instead, Hazleton Area’s season ended with the 64-56 victory over Delaware Valley at Wyoming Area High School despite having one of the best records in the state among Class 6A teams.
“Like I said the other day, unfortunately, I preach to my kids all the time that there are certain things that are out of your control that you can’t worry about,” Hazleton Area coach Mike Joseph said. “I hope that maybe what comes out of this is some people will lobby for a change in the next (PIAA) cycle because every time District 2 got in the state playoffs, whether it was a play-in game like three years ago when we beat Stroudsburg and gave Chester a run for their money, we play good basketball.”
Hazleton Area was good enough to finish 21-4, a winning percentage better than 26 of the 32 teams in the PIAA Class 6A state tournament and better than five of the eight district champions in the field.
However, the PIAA bases state entrants on the number of teams per classification in each district. The District 2/4 Class 6A bracket had four teams and District 4’s Williamsport, which defeated Hazleton Area 64-56 on Saturday, got the state berth.
“It definitely hurt a lot. It was crushing,” said Hazleton Area point guard Michael Cusatis, the only senior in the seven-man rotation. “But you have to come back, you have to play, you have to show pride in the program.”
Meanwhile, District 1 has 39 Class 6A teams and 10 of them are heading to states.
“I think it would just be fair to give that team that doesn’t win on Saturday night a chance,” Joseph said.
DelVal (13-11) got a crack at the D2-6A title despite being eliminated by Williamsport on Feb. 25 in the D2/4-6A semifinals. The Warriors made the most of the opportunity.
DelVal chased Hazleton Area throughout the final three quarters after Hazleton Area closed out the first quarter with a 10-0 burst to take a 20-11 lead. Josh Samec, who had a game-high 22 points, and Joey Grula, who added 12 more, hit 3-pointers in the run.
DelVal used the hot shooting of Tyler Smith to close within 40-39 late in the third. Grula, though, closed out the third with a 3-pointer from the right side and Samec opened the fourth with another from the left wing to bump the Cougars’ lead to 46-39.
The Warriors made one final run at the deficit, moving within 48-46 at 5:37 of the fourth quarter. Hazleton Area answered with a 6-0 run to pretty much ease away.
“After Saturday, we really didn’t know how to react,” Samec said. “I’m glad the way we reacted. We played a good game. They’re a good team, but we outlasted them in the long run. I think it was a good way to end the season.”
Shane Acoveno scored 20 for DelVal, with most of his damage coming in the second quarter. Trevor Smith led all players with 12 boards. Jeff Planutis had 11 rebounds for Hazleton Area.
District 2 Class 6A Championship
Hazleton Area 64, Delaware Valley 56
DELAWARE VALLEY (56) — Dylan Kelly 1 0-1 2, Tyler Smith 6 1-2 14, Blake Gearhart 1 2-2 5, Trevor Smith 3 4-4 10, Shane Acoveno 9 2-3 20, Zack Klapak 1 2-2 5, Hassan Keys 0 0-0 0, Jackson Shafer 0 0-0 0, Tyler Magee 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-14 56.
HAZLETON AREA (64) — Josh Samec 7 6-6 22, Michael Cusatis 0 7-10 7, Joey Grula 4 2-2 12, Nolan Genasevich 1 2-2 4, Jeff Planutis 3 2-2 9, DaMir Faison 2 2-4 7, Aaron Kellmer 1 0-2 3, Isaac Perez 0 0-0 0, Nathan Begg 0 0-0 0, Frank Mussoline 0 0-0 0, Scotty Shamany 0 0-0 0, Sparky Wolk 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 21-28 64.
Delaware Valley`11`13`15`17 — 56
Hazleton Area`20`10`13`21 — 64
Three-point goals — DV 3 (Smith, Gearhart, Klapak). HA 7 (Samec 2, Grula 2, Planutis, Faison, Kellmer).
