COVINGTON TWP. – District 2 boys basketball teams its size have collectively been chasing Abington Heights for nine years.
On their fourth playoff shot in as many years, the Dallas Mountaineers caught the Comets Friday night.
Jack Farrell scored 15 points, Austin Finarelli added 13 and Luke DelGaudio established the defensive presence that took away the Abington Heights inside game and carried Dallas to a 49-39 victory in a Class 5A semifinal at North Pocono High School.
DelGaudio had half of his eight blocks in the first quarter and also finished with four steals.
“We told the guards in practice to flush the guys down the middle for Jack and me to clean up and we got the job done,” DelGaudio said.
Finarelli got the offense started against the eight-team defending district champions, who had won their last 27 district playoff games.
After Farrell opened the scoring off a loose ball, Finarelli scored the next seven points. He hit a 3-pointer from the right corner, a tough jumper from 14 feet and a scoop shot while driving through the lane in a 4-for-5 start that sent the Mountaineers to a 9-0 lead.
“We thought we could run on them a little bit and we just executed,” Finarelli said.
Abington Heights led for just 16 seconds when Corey Perkins, who had 12 of his 16 points in the first half, went coast-to-coast for a 20-19 lead with 4:10 left in the half.
Nick Nocito answered with a 3-pointer.
The Mountaineers kept the lead at six or higher for the entire second half.
Finarelli scored six points in the third quarter and Farrell had five in the fourth quarter to keep Dallas in control.
Farrell also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
DelGaudio and Nocito chipped in with nine points each as third-seeded Dallas advanced to face top-seeded Wallenpaupack, an overtime winner over Pittston Area, in the Feb. 28 final at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Phil Johnson had 11 points for Abington Heights. Harry Johnson grabbed a dozen rebounds and blocked three shots for the Lackawanna League Division 1 champions.
With a state-tournament berth clinched, Dallas takes on the Lackawanna Division 2 champs next.
Abington Heights faces Pittston Area to try to reach the PIAA state tournament for the 14th straight year.
This is the third time Dallas met Abington Heights in the semifinals in the last four seasons. The Mountaineers fell to the eventual state champion Comets at the arena in the 2018 district final.
“It was something we were reminded about all week,” Farrell said. “It was fun, but we still have one more to be crowned district champions.”
Abington Heights went on to the state semifinals after being Dallas the other two years.
