Hazleton Area’s Occandy Vasquez (23) and Scranton’s Tony Battaglia (4) battle for the ball during their District 2-4 Class 6A boys’ basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.at Hazleton Area High School. (JOHN HAEGER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Area’s Kendrick Ortiz (22) and Scranton’s Onur Idin (32) battle for a loose ball during their District 2-4 Class 6A boys’ basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026,.at Hazleton Area High School. (JOHN HAEGER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Kendrick Ortiz (22) puts up a shot as Scranton players defend in the District 2-4 Class 6A quarterfinals on Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026.at Hazleton Area High School. (John Haeger / Staff Photographer)
Scranton’s Tony Battaglia (4) tries to maneuver around Hazleton Area’s Dylan Stish (20) during their District 2-4 Class 6A boys’ basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, at Hazleton Area High School. (JOHN HAEGER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Justin Mayers (52) pressures Hazleton YoYo Moran(12) as he looks for the pass in the District 2-4 Class 6A quarterfinals on Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026.at Hazleton Area High School. (John Haeger / Staff Photographer)
Hazleton Area’s Kendrick Ortiz (22) shoots against Scranton in a District 2-4 Class 6A boys’ basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Hazle Twp. (JOHN HAEGER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Dylan Stish (20) drives up the middle for two in the District 2-4 Class 6A quarterfinals on Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026.at Hazleton Area High School. (John Haeger / Staff Photographer)
Hazleton Area’s Dylan Stish (20) eyes the basket for one of his five three-point field goals in the Cougars’ 58-40 win over Scranton in a District 2-4 Class 6A boys’ basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.at Hazleton Area High School. (JOHN HAEGER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hazleton Kendrick Ortiz (22) puts up a shot as Scranton players defend in the District 2-4 Class 6A quarterfinals on Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026.at Hazleton Area High School. (John Haeger / Staff Photographer)
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Hazleton Area’s Occandy Vasquez (23) and Scranton’s Tony Battaglia (4) battle for the ball during their District 2-4 Class 6A boys’ basketball quarterfinal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.at Hazleton Area High School. (JOHN HAEGER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
HAZLE TWP. — This game, unlike Hazleton Area’s last five playoff contests against perennial District 2 big school power Scranton, wasn’t going to slip away.
The Cougars’ Dylan Stish, Kendrick Ortiz and Yo-Yo Moran made sure of it Wednesday night. So, too, did teammates Eddie Macko and Nolan Paulino, a sophomore and little-used senior reserve, respectively.
Stish, Orttiz and Moran combined for 45 points, each taking his turn as the Cougars go-to guy; Macko directed the Hazleton Area offense like a seasoned professional; and Paulno delivered a heroic defensive performance in a 58-40 win over the Knights in a District 2-4 Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinal at Hazleton Area High School.
After watching from the bench for the entire first half, the speedy Paulino hounded Tony Battaglia from one end of the floor to the other throughout the second half. Battaglia wound up with only four points after halftime after the Scranton sharpshooter torched the Cougars for 12 first-half points, including nine on three 3-pointers in the second quarter.
“We just played good team basketball,” Hazleton Area coach Pat Brogan said. “(Paulino) did a phenomenal job … setting the tone for us.”
Without Battaglia’s scoring and his teammates losing steam as the game progressed, Scranton’s five-year grip on the title was finally loosened.
“We were able to spread the floor and get the matchups and the shots we wanted in the first half,” Scranton coach Tony Battaglia said. “The pace was our pace, but we spent a lot of energy getting to that point. When I looked at our kids’ eyes at halftime, I knew it was going to be a tough challenge to go out and repeat that in the second half.”
Brogan and his team knew the Knights weren’t about to give up their title without a fight, despite their deceiving 7-15 record entering the contest.
That’s why he was pleased after the Cougars (12-11) jumped out to a 13-5 lead after one quarter. Stish had the hot hand early with three of his five 3-pointers coming in that quarter. Ortiz added the Cougars’ other four points.
“That’s the Dylan Stish I’ve been waiting for the entire year,” Brogan said. “We saw a little bit of that from him against Williamsport, against Reading (and) in a few other games, but this was a game where he really stepped up. He knows this is playoff basketball.”
Back-to-back 3s by Stish and Ortiz and later another 3-pointer by Oscaudy Vasquez maintained Hazleton Area’s eight-point advantage for much of the second quarter. The Cougars might have been even more comfortably ahead if not for the younger Battaglia’s three 3-pointers.
The Knights ultimately got contributions from others, namely baskets from Justin Mayers and Deondre Dickey to whittle their deficit to only three (26-23) by halftime.
Then came the second half, when the Cougars made sure Scranton got no closer.
Moran sparked Hazleton Area’s 22-5 advantage in the third quarter with nine of his 13 points as they reclaimed momentum. With Macko running the point, the Cougars then controlled possession for most of the fourth quarter and went on to snap a five-game playoff losing streak to its Lackawanna League opponent.
Most importantly, the win earned the Cougars a third meeting with Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 rival Wilkes-Barre Area in Monday’s semifinals in Plains Twp. But not before a collective sigh of relief.
“First of all, Scranton’s very good,” Brogan said. “Battaglia is one of the toughest kids and one of best shooters I’ve ever seen at the high school level. … I think (Paulino) might have taken him out of his game a little bit in the second half.”
While the Knights found points hard to come by, Moran’s old-fashioned three-point play, Ortiz’s putback of his own miss, consecutive 3-pointers by Stish and Paulino, a Moran layup off a pretty Ortiz feed and Macko’s basket following a steal gave the Cougars a 43-27 lead with time winding down in the third quarter.
“We’re not a very good come-from-behind team. … We just don’t have the firepower for it; we don’t trap really well; and we don’t have the size for it,” Coach Battaglia said. “Once we fell behind in the third quarter, I knew it was going to be very tough for us.”
Taking only layups out of their delay offense, Hazleton Area’s lead rarely dipped below 20 points in the final quarter, when the Cougars began to empty their bench and direct their attention to Monday’s showdown at Wilkes-Barre Area.
The Knights, meanwhile, were left to reflect on a remarkable five-year run as subregional champs, the past three with Battaglia Sr. and Battaglia Jr. leading the way.
“It was tough, very emotional in there,” Coach Battaglia said, after seeing his son take off his Scranton uniform for the final time. “I’ve been watching him play since he was a tiny, little guy. How many times he said, ‘Dad, let’s go shoot, let’s go shoot!’ And we’d go shoot a thousand shots. He worked exceptionally hard to become the player he has, and I couldn’t be any prouder.”