Nanticoke Area guard Colby Butczynski reacts to taking the lead from Tunkhannock in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Tunkhannock guard Ryan Harder works the ball past Nanticoke Area’s JJ Bielecki in a District 2 Class 4A quarterfinal game Wednesday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Tunkhannock’s Jared Robinson heads to the basket against Nanticoke Area.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Nanticoke Area’s Jake Krupinski moves the ball in the Tunkhannock backcourt with Jack Chilson guarding him.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Nanticoke Area’s Sincere Shiloh trips as he dribbles the ball against Tunkhannock.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
EXETER — Colby Butzczynski took care of the offense. JJ Bielecki took care of the defense. And Nanticoke Area took care of Tunkhannock 46-38 in a District 2 Class 4A boys basketball quarterfinal game Wednesday night.
Butczynski scored 24 points while Bielecki kept Tunkhannock’s Ryan Harder scoreless. Harder finished the regular season as the third-leading scorer in Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. He rarely got the opportunity to shoot Wednesday.
Sixth-seeded Nanticoke Area (7-16) plays Saturday in the semifinals against No. 2 Valley View (16-7) at a site and time to be announced. The Trojans will get two cracks at making the state playoffs. A win Saturday or in the third-place game on Tuesday will clinch a spot.
Third-seeded Tunkhannock (15-8) came into the game with a reputation as a 3-pointer shooting team. Nanticoke Area saw that firsthand in a 58-52 loss to the Tigers on Dec. 27.
None of the Tigers found the mark consistently Wednesday, though. They finished 6-of-27 (22 percent) from behind the arc. Harder, the top 3-pointer shooter, got off only one 3-point attempt.
“JJ Bielecki did an outstanding job defending him,” Nanticoke Area coach Zach Pientka said. “He locked him up the entire game. But it just wasn’t him. It was a total team effort. We were locked and ready to go for a full week.”
Butczynski seemed quite eager. He scored 13 of Nanticoke Area’s 16 first-half points and took all but three of the Trojans’ shots in the first two periods. His offense helped Nanticoke Area take a 19-14 lead into halftime.
“All week we worked hard, very hard,” Butczynski said. “It all started with JJ today, locking down their best player and holding him to zero. JJ started all this and gave us the engine to run and we finished as a team.”
Tunkhannock never led the entire second half, but managed to slice the deficit to 19-17 when Jake Frisco opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer.
Nanticoke Area’s Jake Krupinski helped move the advantage to double digits in the third by converting a steal into a layup and scoring another basket on transition. Tunkhannock, though, had one last run left.
The Tigers went on an 8-0 spurt — with Jack Chilson scoring five of the points — to move within 33-30 with 3:23 left in the fourth quarter. Nanticoke Area responded with a 6-0 run a bit later.
District 2 Class 4A Quarterfinals
Nanticoke Area 46, Tunkhannock 38
NANTICOKE AREA (46) — Sincere Shiloh 1 3-4 5, Lue Myers 0 3-4 3, JJ Bielecki 2 0-0 6, Colby Butczynski 8 6-7 24, Jake Krupinski 4 2-2 10, Joe Fox 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-17 46.
TUNKHANNOCK (38) — Ryan Harder 0 0-0 0, Ben Chilson 3 0-0 8, Dave Baltrusaitis 1 0-0 3, Jack Chilson 3 6-8 13, Jake Frisco 3 2-2 10, Jared Robinson 1 0-0 2, Chris Trochak 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-10 38.
Nanticoke Area`11`8`12`15 — 46
Tunkhannock`8`6`13`11 — 38
Three-point goals — NA 2 (Butczynski), TUN 6 (B.Chilson 2, Baltrusaitis, J.Chilson, Frisco 2).