WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Chase Scanlan and Daniel Santaniello ignited a second-half Scranton Prep rally.
Kellen Casey and Ambrose Rossi provided the clutch plays down the stretch.
That combination helped the Cavaliers preserve their status as the most successful team in the nine-year history of District 2 Basketball Championships at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza by defeating Valley View 41-39 in the Feb. 25 Class 4A title game.
The Cavaliers overcame a sluggish first half and a 14-1 run by the Cougars in the second half to win their eighth title at the arena where they have never lost.
“They’ve been here before; they’ve played in these games,” said Larry Reagan, who is in his first year as head coach after previously serving as an assistant with the Cavaliers. “ … We were down 11, but these guys never panicked. They just kept battling back.”
Scanlan came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points. He made his first three 3-pointer attempts.
Santaniello did not have a field goal and had only scored two points before hitting a 3-pointer with 1:22 left in the third quarter to halt the Valley View run and start the Scranton Prep comeback from a 27-16 deficit.
Scanlan scored five points in the last minute of the third quarter, then Santaniello opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a putback and Scanlan hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull the Cavaliers within 33-29 with 6:26 left.
Santaniello, who finished with 10 points, drained a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:30 left, then Rossi, who was 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth quarter, used two free throws to pull Scranton Prep into a 38-38 tie with 2:53 left.
Casey’s only field goal of the game, a 19-footer with 40 seconds left, was the game-winner, giving the Cavaliers a 40-38 lead.
After each team made one of two free throws, Rossi blocked a Kyle Rupp drive to the basket in the closing seconds and Valley View missed a 15-footer at the buzzer off an in-bounds play.
Rossi finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Roman Valvano had three assists and Brycen Martin made three steals.
Valley View got 10 points each from Beyon McLean and Aiden Smola.
SEASON RECAP
The championship game win completed a season sweep of top-seeded Valley View by second-seeded Scranton Prep.
The Cavaliers finished a game in front of the Cougars in Division 1 with a 9-4 Lackawanna League record, leaving them third in the division behind district 5A and 6A champions Abington Heights and Scranton.
Scranton Prep got to the district final by defeating Hanover Area 65-40 in the quarterfinals and Wyoming Area 76-60 in the semifinals.
Martin led the way with 15 points in the quarterfinal and 20 points in the semifinal.
The district title earned Scranton Prep a home game to begin the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament March 8 against Fleetwood.
Most Popular
Comments / 0