Williamsport surged into the District 2-4 Class AAAAAA semifinals and nearly took out the five-time defending champion on its home court Saturday. Two-last second shots, however, were just off the mark and Scranton edged Williamsport, 44-43 in an overtime thriller. The Millionaires (10-13) won five straight games entering Scranton (17-6) and erased a four-point halftime deficit while coming, oh, so close to reaching next Saturday’s championship at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Kyreek Bradshaw scored 14 points for Williamsport and freshman Tevin Williams added 12. Zion Hughes scored seven and Micah Washington six. Bradshaw hit two free throws which gave Williamsport a 39-37 overtime advantage, but Scranton answered with a 3-point play and never trailed again. Washington hit two free throws which made it, 44-43 with 36 seconds remaining and the Millionaires got the ball back, trailing one in the closing seconds. The initial shot was blocked along the baseline, but Bradshaw fought for an offensive board with his putback just missing the mark.

Washington was the lone player back who played significant varsity minutes last year, but Williamsport made massive strides as the season progressed and heated up at the perfect time. Bradshaw and Washington provided steady leadership, and an exciting, young foundation is in place next year with starters Williams, Hughes and Naazir Lowe all returning.

North Penn-Liberty put together a dominant second half, scoring 43 points and erasing a six-point deficit, dethroning defending champion Bucktail, 67-55 in the District 4 Class A semifinals at Loyalsock. Luke Kreger scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and made six steals as North Penn-Liberty (17-8) reached the third final in program history, as well as this decade. There, North Penn-Liberty will face Lourdes. Both have clinched state tournament berths. The Mounties trailed by nine late in the second quarter but changed the game with a 21-6 third quarter run. Blake Oakley produced a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Adynn Wheeland scored 15 points and Evan McTish 10. Wheeland and Louis Mercantino combined for nine assists. Brody Pentz had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Bucktail (11-12) which will play Sullivan County for third place and the district’s final state tournament berth. Gavin Pick scored 13 points and Talan Ditty grabbed 12 rebounds.

Cayden Smithkors scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Sullivan County by a 19-point deficit was too much as Lourdes won, 45-32. The Griffins (13-10) made a strong comeback push and outscored Lourdes 12-5 in the third quarter before the Red Raiders held them off in the fourth. Justin Hemighaus had six rebounds for Sullivan and Lucas King made three steals. Brighton Scicchitano scored a game-high 22 points for Lourdes, including 12 in the game-changing second quarter.

BOYS BASKETBALL

District 2-4 Class AAAAAA Semifinals

Scranton 44, Williamsport 43, OT

WILLIAMSPORT (43)

Kyreek Bradshaw 5 4-6 14, Naazir Lowe 1 1-1 3, Tevin Williams 6 0-1 12, Quincy Williams 0 1-2 1, Zion Hughes 3 1-4 7, Micah Washington 2 2-2 6. Totals 17 9-16 43.

SCRANTON (44)

Jonathon Levine 5 3-5 13, Jaheam Roberts 3 1-2 8, Tony Battaglia 2 0-0 6, Deondre Dickey 0 0-2 0, Jayden Burrell 3 5-5 11, Pedro Lugo 3 0-1 6. Totals 16 9-15 43.

Williamsport 10 8 16 3 6–43

Scranton 9 13 12 3 7–44

3-pointers: Scranton 3 (Battaglia 2, Roberts).

Records: Scranton 17-6. Williamsport 10-13.

District 4 Class A Semifinals

North Penn-Liberty 67, Bucktail 55

BUCKTAIL (55)

Ethan Charcalla 2 2-2 8, Gary Whipp 1 0-2 3, Brody Pentz 7 3-3 17, Aidan Ditty 4 0-0 8, Gavin Pick 4 4-4 13, Talan Ditty 1 4-8 6. Totals 19 13-19 55.

NPL (67)

Adynn Wheeland 6 1-4 15, Louis Mercantino 3 1-2 7, Evan McTish 5 0-0 10, Blake Oakley 6 0-0 12, Luke Kreger 10 3-4 23. Totals 30 5-10 67.

Bucktail 15 15 6 19–55

NPL 17 7 21 22–67

3-pointers: Bucktail 4 (Charcalla 2, Pick, Whipp); NPL 2 (Wheeland 2).

Records: North Penn-Liberty 17-8. Bucktail 11-12.

Lourdes 45, Sullivan County 32

LOURDES (45)

Scicchitano 9 1-3 22, B Ritshel 2 0-0 4, J. Ritshel 1 0-0 2, Moore 3 0-0 9, Baranosky 0 2-4 2, Williams 2 2-3 6. Totals 17 5-10 45.

SULLIVAN (32)

Tucker Blasi 2 0-0 4, Justin Hemighaus 1 1-2 3, Lucas King 0 2-4 2, Colin King 1 2-2 4, Ryan Murray 3 0-0 6, Cayden Smithkors 5 2-8 13. Totals 12 7-16 32.

Lourdes 9 22 5 9–45

Sullivan 6 6 12 8–32

3-pointers: Lourdes 6 (Scicchitano 3, Moore 3); Sullivan 1 (Smithkors).

Records: Lourdes 8-16. Sullivan 13-11.