H.S. Boys Basketball: Dallas uses sharp shooting to win PIAA Class 5A opener

DALLAS TWP. — Mark Belenski could not help but chuckle a little at his own assessment of basketball after Friday night’s PIAA Class 5A boys first-round tournament game.

“I still believe the game is won in the paint,” Belenski said after his Dallas team used 13 baskets from beyond the arc in less than 21 minutes to rally for a 71-61 victory over visiting West Philadelphia in a game in which the Mountaineers trailed by as many as 13 points.

Zach Paczewski went 8-for-11 from 3-point range from the first-quarter buzzer to the third-quarter buzzer while leading Dallas with a career-high 28 points.

Paczewski forced the Speedboys out of their aggressive, trapping zone defense and helped set up his teammates to pick them apart in the fourth quarter.

Mikey Cumbo had eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter while Nick Williams and Jude Nocito added five points each.

The Mountaineers did not lead until the fourth quarter and had only been ahead for 20 seconds before going on a 13-0 run to pull out the win.

Abdrahaman Coulibaly led West Philadelphia with 20 points and gave the Speedboys a 55-52 lead on his fourth dunk with 4:32 remaining.

Williams took a Paczewski feed and dunked over Coulibaly 13 seconds later to start a game-tying, three-point play and the decisive run.

Nocito pulled up to bank in a shot from the right side, then hit a 3-pointer to send Dallas into the final three minutes with a 60-55 lead.

Nick Farrell’s strong boxout on a missed 3-pointer allowed him to draw a foul and in the heated aftermath of the physical play in front of the West Philadelphia bench, the Speedboys were assessed two technical fouls.

Farrell made his two shots and Cumbo hit three of four on the technicals before driving for a basket on the ensuing possession, opening a 67-55 lead with 1:12 to play.

“I think our team just kind of folded at the end,” West Philadelphia coach Adrian Burke said.

The Mountaineers had a few chances to do the same.

They trailed 14-5 in the first quarter, 35-22 in the second and 43-31 in the third.

Dallas, which started 0-for-9 from the long range, but then went 13-for-24 (54.2 percent) after that, used 3-pointers late in each quarter to climb out of those holes.

The first 3-pointer of the night came on a reverse four-point play to end the first quarter.

Williams made the first of two free throws with 2.3 seconds left. When he missed the second, Cumbo intentionally tipped the rebound to Paczewski, who buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to pulled the Mountaineers within 14-13.

“We started off slow,” Cumbo said. “They started hitting shots in the first quarter and we really didn’t get our offense going.

“ … I knew I couldn’t get the rebound, so I just kind of tipped it out to Zach. When he hit that three at the buzzer, it really gave us a lot of momentum.”

Paczewski hit two corner 3s and Cumbo made a deeper shot from out top in the final 1:25 of the half to cut the deficit to 39-31.

“The second half we played defense and made shots,” Belenski said. “ … We sort of refocused and got the job done, but we were able to hang with them when we were not making our shots.

“ … As long as we could stay close with them, I felt like it’s our home court, we’re going to make shots when we need to make shots.”

Paczewski scored the last five points of the third quarter and eight points in the last 2:10 to tie the game at 48-48 going into the fourth. He connected two seconds before time expired.

“I think when it was tied up going to the fourth quarter, we knew that the fourth quarter is always our quarter,” Paczewski said.

Cumbo also contributed eight points and six assists while Paczewski had five steals in the win, which sends Dallas into Tuesday’s second round against Unionville. The District 1 champions (24-2) routed Manheim Central 56-31.

Coulibaly had 13 rebounds to go along with his 20 points.

Makei Butts came off the bench to score 12 points, 10 of them in the second quarter, and make four steals for West Philadelphia.

MMI Prep 61, Galeton 51

MMI Prep placed three players in double figures as the Preppers opened the PIAA Class A playoffs with a win over District 4 second seed Galeton.

MMI, which won the District 2 title and finished second in the District 2/11 subregional, will play on Tuesday in the second round at a time and site to be announced. The Preppers (15-10) will face either District 1 champion Christian Charter Scholars of District 3 third seed High Point Baptist.

Brendon Brobst led MMI with 21 points followed by Ryan Sones with 16 and Nick Pantages with 15.

Pantages had nine points and Brobst had eight as MMI took a 19-15 lead after one quarter. Brobst continued to produce in the middle quarters, adding 11 points. Sones scored 12 in the second and third quarters as MMI took a 51-38 lead into the fourth.

Defensively, MMI shut down Galeton leading scorer Braiden Cimino, who entered the game with a 12.3 average and 53 3-pointers. Cimino finished with five points and a lone three.

PIAA Class 5A First Round

Dallas 71, West Philadelphia 61

WEST PHILADELPHIA (61) – B.Williams 1 3-3 6, Washington 4 0-1 9, Coulibaly 9 2-3 20, Hopkins 1 0-0 2, Howard 2 3-5 7, Butts 4 2-2 12, McKie1 0-2 2, Mcallister 1 1-2 3, Gibbs 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 11-18 61.

DALLAS (71) –Nocito 2 0-0 5, Faux 1 0-0 3, Paczewski 10 0-2 28, Cumbo 7 6-9 23, N.Williams 2 3-5 7, Farrell 1 2-2 4, Zapoticky 0 1-2 1, Dale 0 0-0 0, Karosa 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, Ackourey 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-20 71.

West Philadelphia`14`25`9`13 — 61

Dallas`13`18`17`23 — 71

Three-point goals — WP 4 (Butts 2, B.Williams, Washington), DAL 13 (Paczewski 8, Cumbo 3, Nocito, Faux).

PIAA Class A First Round

MMI Prep 61, Galeton 51

MMI PREP (61) — Lispi 1 0-0 3, Pantages 7 1-1 15, Floryshak 3 0-2 6, Sones 8 0-1 16, Brobst 10 1-3 21, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Figueroa 0 0-0 0, Hosier 0 0-0 0, Dovicak 0 0-0 0, Schwabe 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 2-7 61.

GALETON (51) — Zur 6 3-4 16, Cimino 2 0-0 5, Martin 1 0-0 2, Anderson 5 3-5 15, Pagano 4 0-0 8, Warel 0 0-0 0, Jordan 1 0-0 2, Holcomb 0 0-0 0, Malaczewski 1 1-1 3. Totals 21 7-10 51.

MMI Prep`19`13`19`10 — 61

Galeton`15`8`15`13 — 51

Three-point goals — MMI 1 (Lispi). GAL 4 (Zur, Cimino, Anderson 2).