Aaron Bailey scored 21 points and Notre Dame East Stroudsburg took control early Saturday while handling MMI Prep, 68-37 in a District 2/11 Class A boys basketball quarterfinal game.
Trevor Hardy added 17 points in the victory and Shane Seay tossed in 14 as Notre Dame advanced to meet 16-6 Nativity BVM, the top-seeded team in the bracket, in the district semfinals.
Jose Rodriguez and A.J. Jordan both scored eight points for MMI Prep, which fell behind 16-2 after the first quarter and trailed 31-14 at the half.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Abington Heights 59, Valley West 45
The Spartans made a charge, but fell to old nemesis Abington Heights in a District 2 Class 5A semifinal game.
The Comets stormed to a nine-point lead by the end of the first quarter, but Valley West regrouped with a 12-2 run and pulled within 25-21 on a 3-point field goal by Hailey Olyphant midway through the second period.
A big third quarter for the Comets restored a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter, and although Valley West closed within seven a couple times in the closing minutes, couldn’t get closer.
The Comets won two of their past three District 2 titles against Valley West in the finals.
Top-seeded Abington Heights will face No. 5 West Scranton for the District 2 title next Saturday.
District 2/11 Class A Boys Quarterfinals
Notre Dame East Stroudsburg 68, MMI Prep 37
MMI PREP (37) — Harry Kress 1 0-0 3, Dean Sellers 2 0-1 5, Jose Rodriguez 3 2-2 8, A.J. Jordan 2 4-7 8, Alex Homyack 0 0-0 0, Robert Rinaldi 0 1-2 1, Thomas Mayernik 1 2-2 4, Marcus Kassick 3 1-2 7, Ryan McNelis 0 0-0 0, Leith Abdulraham 0 0-0 0, Caden Pease 0 0-0 0, Keiram Mele 0 0-0 0, Pete Walko 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 11-20 37.
NDES (68) — Aaron Bailey 9 2-2 21, Shane Seay 7 0-2 14, Trevor Hardy 7 0-0 17, Gary Natalia 2 0-0 6, Ethan Saicharron 0 0-0 0, Zack Wolf 1 0-0 2, Malcolm Naughton 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Tooles 0 0-0 0, Chase Medina 3 0-0 6, Josh Zayada 1 0-0 2, Jordan Paikal 0 0-0 0, Panda Parris 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Farentz 0 0-0 0, Krodin Fouglas 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 2-4 68.
MMI Prep`2`12`15`8 — 37
NDES`16`15`19`18 — 68
Three-point goals — MMI 2 (Kress, Sellers); NDES 6 (Hardy 3, Natalia 2, Bailey).
