Hanover Area falls short against Scranton Prep in District 2 basketball

By Jay Monahan For Times Leader

SCRANTON — It took a little less than two minutes for momentum to completely turn around for a Hanover Area boys basketball team with its eyes on its first district championship in over 30 years.

With a number of turnovers and forced shots, a four-point lead morphed itself into a six-point deficit heading into halftime. It only demonstrated what Hanover Area coach Chris Gray had been telling his kids throughout the week: consistency is how you beat good teams.

Hanging by a nail, Hanover Area was unable to find the timely basket in a 57-53 loss to Scranton Prep Saturday in the District 2 Class 4A semifinal. The Hawkeyes advance to face their rivals Nanticoke Area in a third place game Tuesday that will determine a berth to the PIAA state tournament.

“Our goal was to get to the arena and get to the state playoffs,” Gray said. “We came within four points of a very good Scranton Prep team tonight. I am checking off the arena goal. To make it to the state playoffs would be a feather in the cap for a lot of us that came through a lot of adversity. It’s bittersweet to be thinking about a third-place game on Tuesday night.

“But sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. It’s how you come back from that that matters.”

Hanover Area received its share of breaks down the stretch in the fourth quarter, finding itself within one possession of the lead on four occasions. Trailing by eight, the Hawkeyes scored five points in a matter of three seconds. After Auggie George connected on a layup in the paint, Khari Carson stole the inbounds pass and made an old-fashioned, three-point play to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 44-41 with 6:20 left.

Two minutes later, Hanover Area had a chance to cut the deficit down to one. Asad Whitehead’s jumper was blocked in the lane by Robert Rossi, and Prep took the ball down court to once again extend its lead.

Turnovers plagued the Hawkeyes. Hanover Area committed four in the final two minutes. On a Hanover Area giveaway to set up a fast break, the game seemed to be in hand for Scranton Prep. With just 51 seconds left, the Cavaliers were charged with a technical foul for hanging on the rim on a missed dunk. Hanover Area made just one of its free throws to cut the deficit to five but gave away another turnover on its next possession.

“We were sloppy with the basketball; turnovers were the story of the game,” Gray said. “We told them that our turnover number had to be less than 14 for the game. I’m certain it was way over for the game. You can get away with those things against bad teams, but not against Scranton Prep

Mike Merth came off the bench to make a clutch 3-pointer, and Whitehead made a turnaround jumper in the paint with 21.2 seconds to put Hanover Area within two points at 53-51. Prep’s Rhys Merritt and Gavin Bednarz made both ends of their free throws to clinch the Cavaliers’ ticket to face Valley View in the district final.

Whitehead led Hanover Area with 17 points. Khairi Carson provided 14 points.

Bednarz finished with a game-high 20 points for Prep. Rossi and Merritt tallied 14 and 13 points, respectively.

District 2 Boys Basketball

Class 4A Semifinal

Scranton Prep 57, Hanover Area 53

HANOVER AREA (53) — Asad Whitehead 8 1-3 17, Khairi Carson 6 2-3 14, Auggie George 3 0-0 6, Joe Curcio 1 0-0 2, Matt Barber 2 2-3 6, Todd Kolbicka 1 0-0 3, Mike Merth 1 0-0 3, Jake Zola 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 5-9 53.

SCRANTON PREP (57) — Brady Stallman 0 0-0 0, Ryan McAndrew 0 0-0 0, Andrew Ferguson 1 2-2 5, Gavin Bednarz 7 6-7 20, Michael Skoff 1 0-0 2, Andrew Stark 1 0-0 3, Rhys Merritt 4 4-6 13, Robert Rossi 6 2-2 14, Matt Dwyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 14-17 57.

Hanover Area`13`10`10`20`—`53

Scranton Prep`10`19`8`20`—`57

Three-point goals — HAN 2 (Kolbicka, Merth); SP 3 (Ferguson, Stark, Merritt)