HAZLE TWP. – There wasn’t exactly a win-or-pack-your-gear-and-stow-your-uniforms urgency attached, but Pat Brogan and his Hazleton Area boys’ basketball team certainly understood the importance of Tuesday’s home game against rival Crestwood.

The Cougars played like it, too.

Senior Luis Guzman put in nine of his game-high 18-points in the first quarter to jump start Hazleton Area’s offense and the Cougars’ harassing defense limited Crestwood to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters for a 56-26 victory that kept them very much alive in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 playoff chase.

“Every game is a must win … 100%, absolutely,” Brogan said. “If we don’t win this game, our other games really don’t mean that much. Every game has to be treated like as a championship game; that’s what’s so exciting for the kids. Every game means something.”

With their regular-season sweep of the Comets and Wilkes-Barre Area’s 67-65 loss to Pittston Area on Tuesday, the Cougars leapfrogged the Wolfpack into second place in the division standings, two games behind front-running Dallas and one-half game ahead of both WBA and Pittston Area.

Hazleton Area and Wilkes-Barre Area will meet in Plains Twp. on Thursday with the chance to avenge a two-point loss to the Wolfpack earlier this month and tighten their grip on second place. The top two finishers in the division will advance to the upcoming WVC playoffs.

“If we want to get into the conference playoffs, we have to keep winning,” said Hazleton Area senior Angel Saladin, echoing his head coach, after Saladin contributed 10 points against the Comets, all in the second half.

By then, the Cougars (8-9, 5-2 WVC) were in complete control.

“We got off to a slow start and won by only one point at their place, so it was nice to come out ready and get off to a good start in this (game),” Saladin said. “When Luis starts like he did tonight, we’re practically unstoppable.”

Guzman’s personal seven-point run to open the game put Crestwood in catch-up mode the rest of the night. The Comets, though, never got closer than six points of Hazleton Area, the final time at 16-10 on Ayden Agapito’s rebound basket early in the second quarter.

From there, Guzman and sophomore Dylan Stish took turns scoring for the Cougars, ultimately combining for all 12 of their points in the second quarter and all but five of their first-half points to spark the Cougars to a 32-18 halftime lead.

“I thought Hazleton played really well and did some really good stuff,” Crestwood head coach Mark Atherton said. “You look at halftime and their two main guys (Guzman and Stish) had 27 of their 32 (points). That’s not what our game plan was all about. The goal wasn’t to take their three role players out, but to limit those two. I’ve got to give them credit. .. They played tough. I thought that Guzman and Stish really stepped up big.”

While the Comets (11-7, 3-5) were getting all four of their third-quarter points from Agapito, Hazleton Area began to spread their their scoring to quash Crestwood’s comeback hopes. Guzman, Estarling Melenciano and Gavin Perksoky each made a basket before Saladin tacked on a layup and an old-fashioned three-point play to pad the Cougars’ lead to 43-22 entering the final period.

“We need that (balance),” Brogan said. “We can’t always rely on just Dylan and Luis, so it’s essential for other guys to step up. Angel had a nice game. Estarling did a nice job (in) starting for the first time and Gavin kept the basketball moving.”

The Cougars’ changing defenses also played a big hand in Crestwood making just 2-of-7 shots from the floor and committing six of their 19 turnover in the third quarter. Their defensive effort allowed only two Comets, Agapito (12) and Ryan Sechleer (eight) to finish with more than four points.

“The guys really got after it. … I was really impressed with that,” Brogan said. “We just played hard from start to finish. … We moved the basketball. We shared it better than we did (at Crestwood in a 53-52 win). We made the extra pass. We found the open guy. We played a really nice team game.”

Soon after Stish started the fourth-quarter scoring with two free throws and Saladin added five more points, the PIAA’s mercy rule kicked in.

While the Cougars quickly will need to come back earth for their trip to Wilkes-Barre Area, Crestwood must pick up the pieces for a visit from Dallas on Friday.

“That’s been kind of the story with our guys,” Atherton said. “We played great against Pittston (in a 55-42 win on Friday), but then we had this kind of effort. It’s a group of guys – I love these kids – one minute we look good, but then we take three steps backwards.”

Despite needing a mini-miracle to reach the conference playoffs, the Comets still find themselves in charge of their destiny for the top seed in the District 2 Class 5A tournament and the accompanying by into the semifinals.

“Other games, when we’re rolling, everybody knows their roles,” Atherton said. “Games like this one and our Wilkes-Barre game (a 53-30 loss), we’re piece-mealing things … but we have to keep plugging along. .. We still have a lot to play for.”

CRESTWOOD (26)

Sechleer 3 0-0 8, Feisel 1 0-2 2, Barna 0 0-0 0, Wagaman 0 0-0 0, Scotti 0 0-0 0, Rodgers 2 0-0 4, Grevera 0 0-2 0, Agapito 6 0-0 12, Edwards 0 0-0 0, Biscotti 0 0-0 0, Seifert 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 0-4 26.

HAZLETON AREA (56)

Smith 0 0-0 0, Cruz 1 0-0 2, Casanova 0 0-0 0, Ritz 0 0-0 0, Stish 5 2-2 13, Vasquez 0 0-0 0, Saladin 4 1-1 10, Melenciano 1 3-4 5, Perez 0 0-0 0, Moran 1 0-0 2, Staffin 1 0-0 2, Guzman 6 4-4 18, Perkosky 2 0-2 4. Totals 21 10-13 56.

Crest (11-7, 3-5) 6 12 4 4 – 26

Haz Area (8-9, 5-2) 16 16 11 13 – 56

3-FG: Sechleer 2, Guzman 2, Stish, Saladin

Originally Published: January 21, 2025 at 11:51 PM EST