Mark Belenski found basketball amusing after Dallas's victory in the PIAA Class 5A boys first-round tournament game on Friday night.
Belenski still thinks that scoring in the key area is important, despite Dallas making 13 shots from beyond the arc in less than 21 minutes to come back and win 71-61 against West Philadelphia, after being behind by 13 points.
Zach Paczewski scored a career-high 28 points for Dallas, making 8 of 11 3-point attempts from the first-quarter buzzer to the third-quarter buzzer.
Paczewski's excellent shooting forced the opposing team to change their defensive strategy, allowing his teammates to excel in the fourth quarter.
Mikey Cumbo scored 8 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, while Nick Williams and Jude Nocito each added 5 points.
The Mountaineers turned the game around in the fourth quarter, going on a 13-0 run to take the lead and win the game, despite only leading for 20 seconds prior.
Abdrahaman Coulibaly scored 20 points for West Philadelphia and gave them a 55-52 lead with his fourth dunk and 4:32 remaining.
Williams then made a game-tying, three-point play 13 seconds later after receiving a pass from Paczewski and dunking over Coulibaly.
Nocito scored with a bank shot on the right side, and then a 3-pointer, giving Dallas a 60-55 lead entering the final three minutes.
Nick Farrell drew a foul after a strong boxout on a missed 3-pointer, and after the physical play in front of the West Philadelphia bench, the Speedboys received two technical fouls.
Farrell made both of his shots, and Cumbo made three of four on the technicals before driving for a basket, extending Dallas's lead to 67-55 with 1:12 to play.
West Philadelphia coach Adrian Burke felt that his team faltered at the end of the game.
The Mountaineers also had opportunities to do the same.
They were behind 14-5 in the first quarter, 35-22 in the second, and 43-31 in the third.
Dallas struggled at the start, missing their first nine 3-pointers, but then made 13 of 24 (54.2 percent) later on, using 3-pointers to recover late in each quarter.
The first 3-pointer of the game came on a reverse four-point play to finish the first quarter.
Williams made a free throw with 2.3 seconds left. After missing the second, Cumbo intentionally tipped the rebound to Paczewski, who then made a 3-pointer at the buzzer, bringing the Mountaineers within 14-13.
Cumbo admitted that they started slowly and had trouble getting their offensive game going in the first quarter.
He also explained that he intentionally tipped the rebound to Zach, who gave them a lot of momentum by hitting the three at the buzzer.
Paczewski made two corner 3s and Cumbo made a deeper shot from the top in the final 1:25 of the half, reducing the deficit to 39-31.
Belenski stated that they played better defense and made shots in the second half, managing to stay competitive even when their shots were not going in.
“ … 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 final five points of the third quarter and eight points in the last 2:10 to even the score at 48-48 entering the fourth. He scored two seconds before the time ran out.
“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 victory, which sends Dallas into the second round against Unionville on Tuesday. The District 1 champions (24-2) defeated Manheim Central 56-31.
Coulibaly grabbed 13 rebounds in addition to his 20 points.
Makei Butts entered the game from the bench and scored 12 points, with 10 of them in the second quarter, and made four steals for West Philadelphia.
MMI Prep 61, Galeton 51
MMI Prep had three players scoring in double figures as the Preppers began the PIAA Class A playoffs with a victory over District 4 second seed Galeton.
MMI, which secured the District 2 title and finished second in the District 2/11 subregional, will play in the second round on Tuesday at a time and location to be announced. The Preppers (15-10) will face either District 1 champion Christian Charter Scholars or 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 scored nine points and Brobst had eight as MMI took a 19-15 lead after one quarter. Brobst continued to perform well 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 closed 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).
