Delaware Valley Regional boys basketball can’t complete game of catch-up in H/W/S semis

Delaware Valley Regional’s boys basketball team was playing a game of catch-up all Saturday afternoon.

And the Terriers couldn’t complete the game before the final buzzer.

Second-seeded Delaware Valley conceded the opening basket and trailed the remainder of the way as third-seeded Hunterdon Central earned a 45-41 victory in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex semifinals at Wallkill Valley.

Hunterdon Central (15-7) advances to meet fifth-seeded Vernon, which upset top-seeded Phillipsburg, in the county final 5 p.m. Friday at Centenary University.

“I don’t think we came out matching their energy and intensity from the start,” Terriers coach Mike DePaolo said. “They jump out to an [8-3] lead, and you could just tell they were playing with a little more fire underneath them than us … Every point matters in games like this. We did battle. We dug in, got stops and made plays. But ultimately, Central made a just a few more winning plays than we did.”

The Terriers (16-7) refused to go quietly.

Hunterdon Central senior Matthew Schwartz drilled a midcourt 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to send his team into the fourth quarter with a 39-32 lead. Red Devils coach Tristen DeFazio was yelling, “No,” as Schwartz released the shot, because with 2 seconds on the clock, the senior had a chance to get closer to the basket. It didn’t matter.

“I was kind of in the moment,” Schwartz said. “… Sometimes miracles can happen, and I guess that’s what happened, I don’t know.”

Unfortunately, for the Red Devils, their 39-32 lead became a 38-32 advantage due to a discrepancy uncovered in the scorebook between quarters. The Terriers had Central with one fewer point in the third quarter, and since Del Val was providing the “official” book as the home team, the score was changed.

Del Val senior Haze Puttlitz tallied the first four points of the fourth quarter to trim Central’s margin to 38-36 with 7:16 on the clock.

“We had to grind it out,” DeFazio said. “All week we talked about how this game was going to be a bloodbath. They were going to come back. They’re a great basketball team.”

Schwartz scored a layup in transition and junior Cameron Diogene finished a strong drive to the basket to put the Red Devils ahead 42-36 with 3:09 left.

Del Val senior Francis Denvir swished a 3-pointer to make it a one-possession contest, 42-39, with 2:20 to play. The Terriers got the ball back after an offensive foul by Central, but Denvir was off the mark with a 3 and the rebound went out of bounds off Del Val.

Diogene made a pair of free throws to give Central breathing room. Terriers junior Eric Klemmer trimmed the deficit to 44-41 on a bucket with 12.8 seconds remaining, but that’s as close as it got.

Central got off to a fast start thanks to junior forward Weston Shirk, who scored 10 of the team’s first 18 points as the Red Devils opened an 18-11 lead.

“We go as he goes,” DeFazio said of Shirk. “We’ve said that all year. To quote the great Kelly Williams from TCNJ, there’s something about throwing it into your big man that just settles you down. When he gets us going early and he’s settling us down on the inside, everything else just opens up.”

Del Val adapted and limited Shirk to just two points in the second half.

“We weren’t in position to start. He was able to get position deep on us and flash to the ball,” DePaolo said. “When we went back to the board, just to show how he’s diving to the block and how they’re trying to run stuff for him, our guys made adjustments. Credit to them that they were able to get steals and limit his touches inside.”

Denvir, who entered averaging 18.9 points per game, paced the Terriers with 15 points. Puttlitz added 14.

Schwartz had a game-high 18 points for Central. Shirk finished with 12.

Saturday marked the Terriers’ first loss to Hunterdon County opposition this winter. Del Val had previously beaten Voorhees (twice), North Hunterdon (twice) and South Hunterdon (in the H/W/S quarterfinals).

The next chance for tournament success for Del Val is the Central Group 2 bracket.

“Last time we got here was 2019,” DePaolo said. “… We just talked about not letting opportunities like this slip away. As we turn our attention to states, we just have to remind ourselves of that. It’s a brand-new season, everyone is 0-0. We’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity there.”

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Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com.