{"id":117997,"date":"2026-02-19T12:44:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/117997\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T12:44:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:44:19","slug":"holy-cross-finishes-strong-pulls-away-from-holy-redeemer-scranton-times-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/117997\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Cross finishes strong, pulls away from Holy Redeemer \u2013 Scranton Times-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Charlie Schaffer defends Holy Cross\u2019 Adam Badyrka during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Kaden Sepkosk moves the ball during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Cross\u2019 Colin Farrell takes a shot during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Cross\u2019 Colin Farrell high fives his teammates before the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Cross\u2019 Colin Ritterbusch competes with Holy Redeemer\u2019s Kaden Sepkoski for the rebound during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Cross\u2019 CJ Thompson controls the ball during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Cross\u2019 Colin Farrell controls the ball during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Cody Quaglia takes a shot during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Cross\u2019 head coach Al Callejas Jr. calls out to his players during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer players welcome Kaden Sepkoski back to the bench during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 10<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer\u2019s Charlie Schaffer defends Holy Cross\u2019 Adam Badyrka during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

DUNMORE \u2014 Any time Holy Cross and Holy Redeemer collide, it is an intense competition.<\/p>\n

On the basketball court, however, the storied championship traditions make the battles a bit more fiery. Each team is motivated to gain the upper hand in the rivalry between the two Catholic schools in the Scranton Diocese.<\/p>\n

Throw in the win-or-go-home aspect of the postseason, and it can make for a fierce, sometimes erratic, game.<\/p>\n

CJ Thompson helped fourth-seeded Holy Cross overcome some uneasiness by scoring 20 points and contributing five rebounds and five assists. The Crusaders pulled away late to advance with a 53-42, hard-fought victory over the Royals in the steamy Holy Cross High School gymnasium<\/a> Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Holy Cross (14-9) will play at top-seeded Riverside (21-1) in the District 2 Class 3A semifinals in a much-anticipated matchup between two teams that played five times in the last two seasons. That showdown is Saturday at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew coming in here that no other game mattered but this one,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cWe came out slow, but we knew what we had to do to get the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being paired against Holy Redeemer helped keep the Crusaders from peaking ahead in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Then, early on, the Royals came out fired up to unnerve Holy Cross, which earned a 49-40 win the first time the two teams met Dec. 15.<\/p>\n

Kaden Sepkoski had five points, and Kyaire McLean scored four points as Holy Redeemer jumped out to an 11-5 advantage. Holy Cross stayed within striking distance thanks to a fast start by Jack Alpert, who had five of his seven points in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to play hard in those situations,\u201d Alpert said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t shooting the ball real well. So, we had to play on the defensive end and get stops. By getting the stops, it translated into points, and we played together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holy Cross started to get going when Thompson converted a three-point play late in the first quarter. The Crusaders scored the first 10 points of the second quarter, and seized a 19-12 lead.<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer, as rivals often do, kept fighting and finished the half strong. Logan Shrader and Jack Wasiawowski fueled the offense, and the Royals trailed, 26-20, at the break.<\/p>\n

In the third, Holy Cross junior Adam Badyrka, who did not play in the first meeting because of his early-season injury, shook off some shooting struggles. He scored seven of his 11 points in the quarter, and the Crusaders had a 35-26 lead.<\/p>\n

McLean gave Holy Redeemer another spark. A 7-2 run highlighted by his 3-pointer pulled the Royals to within 39-35.<\/p>\n

Holy Redeemer (14-10) carried the momentum into the final 8 minutes. Sepkoski, Quron Drayton and McLean spearheaded a 5-1 surge to start the fourth quarter that locked the teams in a 40-40 tie. The Royals had several opportunities to take the lead, but couldn\u2019t get over the hump.<\/p>\n

After two free throws by Holy Cross\u2019 Collin Farrell, coach Al Callejas Jr. called a timeout. From there, the Crusaders dialed up the defense and held Holy Redeemer scoreless for almost 3 minutes while taking control of the game.<\/p>\n

Thompson drilled a 3-pointer and had five points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told my teammates that we had to finish,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cWe knew the situation. We all played our roles, and that\u2019s how we got the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colin Ritterbusch, a 6-foot-5 center, became physical in the paint and had four points, and Alpert finished the game with two free throws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was big for us,\u201d said Ritterbusch, who finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. \u201cWe had to stay poised even when things weren\u2019t going our way. It was a sloppy win, but we got the job done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fought for my team, and we all had to come together to get this win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holy Redeemer\u2019s Charlie Schaffer defends Holy Cross\u2019 Adam Badyrka during the basketball game at Holy Cross High School…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":{"0":"post-117997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-high-school-sports","9":"tag-scranton","10":"tag-scranton-headlines","11":"tag-scranton-news","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}