DALLAS TWP. — Nanticoke Area’s Trahjan Krupinski finally curbed the craziness in the fourth quarter Thursday night.

And at the same time, curbed Dallas’ crazy comeback attempt.

The 6-foot-4 junior hit consecutive baskets in the fourth quarter, finally giving the Trojans the lead for good as they defeated Dallas, 55-48, in a Wyoming Valley Conference boys basketball interdivisional game.

Nanticoke Area (10-2 Div. 2) prevented second-place Meyers (7-4 Div. 2) from gaining any ground. The teams play Saturday night at Nanticoke.

The loss put a huge dent in Dallas’ hopes for a Division 1 title. The Mountaineers (8-2 Div. 1) fell farther behind first-place Hazleton Area (11-0 Div. 1). They still get another crack at Hazleton Area, but would need the Cougars to lose another game elsewhere.

Nanticoke Area led 16-2 after the first quarter, but Dallas kept chipping away and passed the Trojans late in the third quarter when Joey Parsons hit a 3-pointer for a 30-28 advantage. The Mountaineers lost and then regained the lead when Jack Farrell scored to end the period.

Then came the fourth quarter.

The teams exchanged leads eight times before the period reached the halfway point. Krupinski then scored a couple inside baskets and Colby Butczynski followed with a layup for a 47-42 advantage with 1:37 remaining.

“Both teams kept making shots,” Krupinski said, “but we just kept our composure. My brother, Jake Krupinski, hit a couple key shots. their main guys hit some shots, but in the end we came out with a W.”

Krupinski finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but was rather quiet on the offensive end in the middle quarters.

“He played strong in the first half and missed a couple he usually makes,” Nanticoke Area coach John Beggs said. “We just wanted to keep feeding him the ball inside and keep his focus. He got it to the rim, put it in there and definitely got us momentum.”

Dallas was able to get within 47-44 before the Trojans closed out the game on the foul line, with Butczynski going 5-for-5 from the line in the final 1:04.

Dallas struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 8-for-25 (32 percent) and 0-for-12 from 3-point range. Joey Parsons, though, hit the Mountaineers’ 13th 3-point try as part of a run to close out the third and finally give his team the lead.

Parsons was part of a group effort that put Dallas ahead after falling behind by 14 after one quarter. Alex Charlton had eight rebounds and Matt Mathers added seven as the Mountaineers evened up a lopsided rebounding deficit in the first quarter. Farrell and Ben O’Connell played significant roles off the bench. Farrell added some inside offense while O’Connell finished with 10 points.

“They stepped up,” Dallas coach Mark Belenski said of Farrell and O’Connell. “We had three guys in early foul trouble. I had my point guard (Bittner) down and my big guy (Nick Kocher) down. But you don’t worry about what you don’t have, you worry about what you have.

“We bounced back. They filled the void very well.”

Pittston Area 62, GAR 58

Pittston Area scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a six-point deficit heading into the final stanza.

Matt McGlynn scored a team-high 19 points — on five 3-pointers — to pace the Patriots. Naseem Guillame added 14 points while Keemar Woodruff scored 13 in the win.

GAR’s Will Johnson tallied a 31 points.

Tunkhannock 64, Wyoming Valley West 63

Tunkhannock’s Tyler Faux led the team with 26 points, including the game winning three-pointer as time expired.

Draig Ruff led Wyoming Valley West with 25 points in the contest.

Hazleton 78, Wyoming Area 49

Josh Samec led the Cougars with 28 points.

Kyre Zielinski had 18 points for Wyoming Area.

Holy Redeemer 63, MMI Prep 43

JD Turosky paced Holy Redeemer with 20 points. Colin Cook added 15 on 9-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line.

Matt Marchetti had 17 points for MMI Prep.

Crestwood 54, Berwick 36

Mike Palmiero had 20 points for the Comets.

Berwick’s Ken Marshman and Alec Markle combined for 21 points.

Nanticoke Area 55, Dallas 48

NANTICOKE AREA (55) — Nate Kreitzer 3 3-4 12, Colby Butczynski 2 5-6 9, Luke Myers 0 0-0 0, Trahjan Krupinski 9 5-7 24, Jake Krupinski 3 1-2 10, Andy Kozlofski 0 0-0 0, Dylan Szychowski 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 14-19 55.

DALLAS (48) —Alex Charlton 1 1-2 3, Nick Kocher 0 0-0 0, Joey Parsons 5 3-4 15, Matt Mathers 1 0-0 2, Jay Bittner 2 1-2 6, Ben O’Connell 4 1-3 10, Brody Strickland 2 0-0 4, Jack Farrell 4 0-0 8. Totals 18 6-11 48.

Nanticoke Area`16`7`8`24 — 55

Dallas`2`13`17`16 — 48

Three-point goals — NA 7 (Kreitzer 3, T.Krupinski, J.Krupinski 3). DAL 4 (Parsons 2, Bittner, O’Connell).

Pittston Area 62, GAR 58

GAR (58) — Will Johnson 13 2-3 31, Anthony Hawk 4 0-0 8, Mufee Burney 2 0-0 6, Kahlil 2 0-0 5, Simon Peter 1 0-0 3, Tyler Young 1 1-2 3, Jared O’Day 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 3-5 58.

PITTSTON AREA (62) — Matt McGlynn 5 4-4 19, Naseem Guillame 5 4-6 14, Keemar Woodruff 3 8-10 13, Andrew Krawczyk 3 3-5 9, Logan Booth 1 1-2 3, Trevor Tigue 1 0-0 2, Brennan Higgins 1 0-1 2, Mike George 0 0-2 0. Totals 18 20-30 62.

GAR`12`12`15`18 — 58

Pittston Area`9`13`12`28 — 62

Three-point goals — GAR 7 (Johnson 3, Burney 2, Peter 1, White 1); PIT 6 (McGlynn 5, Woodruff 1).

Tunkhannock 64, Wyoming Valley West 63

TUNKHANNOCK (64) — Tyler Faux 7 6-7 26, Avery Billings 4 3-3 11, Evan Turner 4 2-2 10, Sean Harder 4 0-0 8, Matt Goodwin 2 0-0 5, Jack Chilson 2 0-1 4.Totals 23 11-13 64.

WYOMING VALLEY WEST (63) — Draig Ruff 8 8-11 25, Sammy Solomon 5 0-1 10, Mason Mendygral 3 1-2 9, Austin Sienkiewicz 2 2-2 8, Justus Simpson 3 1-2 7, Danny Gibbons 1 0-0 2, Devon Rhodes 1 0-0 2, Tyler Gillaspie 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-18 63.

Tunkhannock`11`21`20`12 — 64

Wyoming Valley West`14`15`19`15 — 63

Three-point goals — TUN 7 (Goodwin, Faux 6); WVW 5 (Ruff, Mendygral 2, Sienkiewicz 2)

Hazleton 78, Wyoming Area 49

WYOMING AREA — Kyre Zielinski 6 6-6 18, Sam Greenfield 4 0-0 8, Aaron Zezza 3 1-2 7, Matt Wright 3 0-0 6, Dom Delveca 2 0-2 5, Dylan Melberger 1 0-0 3, Cole Coolbaugh 1 0-0 2, Alex Gonzalvez 0 0-0 0, Steve Yordy 0 0-0 0, Dan Wiedl 0 0-0 0, Justin Alder 0 0-0 0, Riley Rusyn 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-10 49.

HAZLETON Josh Samec 8 6-8 28, Jeff Planutis 7 0-0 15, Joe Grula 4 0-0 8, Da’Mir Faison 3 2-4 8, Adrian Otero 1 3-5 5, Alex D’Angelo 1 0-0 3, Andrew Vayda 1 0-2 3, Ryan Wolk 1 0-2 2, Scott Shamany 1 0-0 2, Nikolas Norman 1 0-0 2, Warren Seigendall 0 2-2 2, Kyle Franek 0 0-0 0, Jecxander Moronta 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 13-22 78.

Wyoming Area`12`12`14`11 — 49

Hazleton`18`17`16`27 — 78

Three-point goals — WA 2 (Melberger, Delveca); HAZ 7 (Vayda, Planutis, D’Angelo, Samec 4).

Holy Redeemer 63, MMI Prep 43

HOLY REDEEMER (63) — JD Turosky 9 2-4 20, Colin Cook 3 9-11 15, Bryce Yencha 5 0-1 11, Tucker Ell 2 0-2 4, Jake Andonizio 2 0-0 4, Sean Wills 2 0-0 4, Derek Answini 1 0-0 2, Devin Dougherty 1 0-0 2, Jake Kestor 0 1-2 1, Chris Banas 0 0-0 0, Jordan Diggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 12-20 63.

MMI PREP (43) — Matt Marchetti 3 11-12 17, Keefer Hoover 4 0-0 11, Marcus Kassick 3 1-1 7, Dave Antolick 1 3-6 5, Mike Badamo 1 0-0 3, George Palmero 0 0-0 0, John Debellis 0 0-0 0, Pete Walko 0 0-0 0, Tyler Degnehart 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 15-19 43.

Holy Redeemer`10`12`20`21 — 63

MMI Prep`8`13`7`15 — 43

Three-point goals — HR 1 (Yencha); MMI 4 (Badamo, Hoover 3).

Crestwood 54, Berwick 36

BERWICK (36) — Ken Marshman 4 2-2 11, Alec Markle 3 3-4 10, Damon Beckhorn 2 0-0 5, Joe Norce 1 1-3 3, Maliek McMillan 1 0-0 2, Kevin Tanribilir 1 0-0 2, Connor Hanson 0 0-0 0, Eric Montes 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 6-9 36.

CRESTWOOD (54) — Mike Palmiero 9 2-4 20, Camden Boris 1 6-8 8, Ryan Petrosky 3 0-1 7, Kevin Klusewitz 1 5-9 7, Evan Knapp 2 3-4 7, Sean Murphy 2 1-2 5, Marcus Vieney 0 0-0 0, Frank Casarella 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 17-28 54.

Berwick`6`9`9`12 — 36

Crestwood`12`18`7`17 — 54

Three-point goals — BER 4 (Marshman, Markle, Beckhorn, Norce); CRE 1 (Petrosky).

Nanticoke Area’s Nate Kreitzer breaks for the basket while being guarded by Dallas’ Brody Strickland.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL020218Nanticoke-V-Dallas1.jpg.optimal.jpgNanticoke Area’s Nate Kreitzer breaks for the basket while being guarded by Dallas’ Brody Strickland. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Nanticoke Area’s Dylan Szychowski, right battles Dallas’ Alex Charlton for the ball.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL020218Nanticoke-V-Dallas3.jpg.optimal.jpgNanticoke Area’s Dylan Szychowski, right battles Dallas’ Alex Charlton for the ball. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Nanticoke Area’s Nate Kreitzer shoots the ball while surrounded by Dallas players.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL020218Nanticoke-V-Dallas2.jpg.optimal.jpgNanticoke Area’s Nate Kreitzer shoots the ball while surrounded by Dallas players. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Nanticoke Area’s Colby Butczynski takes control of the ball as Dallas’ Brody Strickland falls on teammate Trahjan Krupinski during Thursday night’s game.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_TTL020218Nanticoke-V-Dallas4.jpg.optimal.jpgNanticoke Area’s Colby Butczynski takes control of the ball as Dallas’ Brody Strickland falls on teammate Trahjan Krupinski during Thursday night’s game. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

By John Erzar

jerzar@timesleader.com

Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar