No. 2-seeded Crestwood held Pittston Area to two points in the first quarter and six in the second and went on to defeat the No. 3 Patriots, 41-33, in a District 2 Class 5A boys’ basketball semifinal, Friday night, in Wright Twp.
Ayden Agapito paced the Comets’ offense with 18 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to punch Crestwood’s ticket to the title game against top-seeded Abington Heights, a 63-35 winner over No. 5 North Pocono in Friday’s other semifinal.
Jack Rodgers added eight points and freshman Miles Metz finished with seven for the Comts, who avenged a regular-season loss to Pittston Area.
Jacob Ivey led the Patriots with 12 points, including three 3-point field goals. Lucas LoPreston helped with nine points and John Jadus and Aidan Clarke tossed in six apiece.
Crestwood and Abington Heights will meet for the title on Friday at 8 p.m. at Mohegan Arena. Both teams are guaranteed berths in the PIAA tournament.
District 11 Class 4A
North Schuylkill 43, Bethlehem Catholic 36
At William Allen High School in Allentown, Xavier McNally scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as the fifth-seeded Spartans rallied past No. 4 Bethlehem Catholic in quarterfinal action.
North Schuylkill (14-9) trailed by three points entering the final period, but McNally netted nine points over the final eight minutes, with 5 of 8 free throws, to make Anthony Agosti a winner in his postseason debut as the Spartans’ head coach.
Caden Mengel added seven points for North Schuylkill, which will take on top-seeded Northwestern Lehigh on Tuesday back at Allen.
Parker McClary was the lone Golden Hawk in double figures with 12 points. Teammates Sammy Barona Jr. and Jackson Wickenheiser chipped in nine and eight points, respectively.
H.S. Girls’ Basketball
District 11 Class 3A
Executive Education 43, Mahanoy Area 40
In Palmerton, M. Hargrove scored a game-best 23 points to lead the Raptors past Mahanoy Area in a tight quarterfinal matchup.
Executive Education went ahead to stay on basket with 13 seconds left, then salted the game away with clutch free throw shooting.
Naomi Kowalick topped the Lady Bears with 15 points, including four triples. Felicia Bro and Ella Connolly contributed 11 apiece.
Mahanoy Area finished its season 18-7.