SHAMOKIN — Tuesday’s game started a bit odd for Dallas. Good, but odd, as Luke DelGaudio dunked for the Mountaineers’ first basket.
“Yes I did on an awesome pass from Dylan Schuster,” said DelGaudio, who got just enough air to complete the slam.
From there, Dallas never trailed as it routed York William Penn 78-51 in a PIAA Class 5A boys basketball second-round game at Shamokin High School.
District 2 runner-up Dallas (21-7) will play in the quarterfinals on Friday where it will play D12 champion Archbishop Wood (22-5) at a site and time to be announced. D3 fifth seed William Penn ended its season at 21-8. Dallas’ only other quarterfinal appearance came in 1967 under a vastly different format with just 12 district champions involved.
Dallas led 20-6 after the first quarter and the Bearcats couldn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way.
“I think that showed what we had coming off the bus,” DelGaudio said. “We came ready to play today and that’s all we had to do. I mean, we almost scored 80 points in the second round of a state playoff game, which is phenomenal.”
DelGaudio scored 16 points, one of four Mountaineers in double figures. Sophomore Nick Nocito was once again the top scorer with 23 followed by sophomore Austin Finarelli with 17. Schuster added 13, with 10 coming in the third quarter when Dallas widened its lead.
DelGaudio’s dunk wasn’t the only unexpected occurrence. Finarelli, a 5-foot-10 guard, tied for the team lead in rebounds with six. Schuster, who has the lowest scoring average among the starters, knocked down two 3-pointers to extend the lead to 50-37 entering the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers then broke William Penn’s press with ease in the fourth quarter, using long passes to convert high-percentage shots or to go to the foul line. The advantage swelled to 64-44 with three minutes to play when DelGaudio recorded a three-point play. Yet, William Penn prolonged the inevitable by repeatedly fouling.
“We were worried about their pressure and we practice it all year long,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said. “Teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference and Scranton league, they all get us prepared for this. We executed tonight and that was the difference.”
Even when Dallas’ shooting went awry after the strong first quarter, the defense didn’t relax. The Mountaineers held William Penn to 4-of-20 from the field in the second quarter as the Bearcats were able to shave just three points off the deficit by halftime.
William Penn’s best run at the deficit came late in the third quarter as it cut the deficit to 38-31. But a DelGaudio bucket off a long pass and a floater by Nocito pushed the lead back to double digits. The Bearcats made one more run, again cutting the deficit to seven only to have Schuster hit his consecutive 3-pointers.
PIAA CLASS 5A SECOND ROUND
Dallas 78, William Penn 51
WILLIAM PENN (51) — Antoine Beard 3 3-6 9, Cameron Gallon 2 4-5 10, Isiah Carroll 5 5-9 15, Branden Mutunga 1 3-4 5, Kevin Glover 1 0-2 2, Rashim Lee 3 3-4 9, Mario McLaurin 0 0-0 0, Jaquez Simmons 0 0-0 0, Tobee Stokes 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 18-28 51.
DALLAS (78) — Jack Farrell 1 2-2 4, Austin Finarelli 5 6-7 17, Nick Nocito 7 8-8 23, Dylan Schuster 4 2-3 13, Luke DelGaudio 5 6-9 16, Michael Bufalino 0 0-2 0, Sam Nocito 0 2-2 2, Logan Evanosky 0 0-0 0, Darius Wallace 0 0-0 0, Drew Dickson 0 3-4 3, EJ Matushek 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 29-37 78.
William Penn`6`11`20`14 — 51
Dallas`20`8`22`28 — 78
Three-point goals — WP 2 (Gallon); DAL 5 (Finarelli, N.Nocito, Schuster 3).
