Tiger Brian Stephenson gets some air as he puts up a layup in the Tigers’ 77-73 loss to Hazleton on Friday. Stephenson scored nine in the loss. STAFF PHOTO/ROBERT BAKER

The Tunkhannock Area boys’ basketball team faced a 77-73 loss from Hazleton Area at home on Friday night after the Tigers won their third straight game with a 67-55 triumph over Crestwood at home on Tuesday.

Tunkhannock opened Friday night’s game with a big first half, outscoring the Cougars 17-15 in the first quarter and 29-20 in the second to hold a 46-35 lead at halftime.

However, the second half saw Hazleton pace the Tigers 18-11 in the third and 24-16 in the fourth to edge past Tunkhannock.

Austin Yanora led Tunkhannock with 19 points while Jimmy DeWitt and Sean Soltysiak each had 14. Brent Christy and Brian Stephenson each added nine points.

Hazleton Area – S. Biasi 10 12-15 35, K. Wright 6 1-1 13, B. Barron 3 0-0 8, K. Karmonick 3 1-3 7, W. Hierro 2 2-2 6, C. Woodring 1 3-4 5, H. Samec 1 0-0 2, D. Barlow 0 1-2 1, A. Felix 0 0-0 0, Totals 26 20-27 77.

Tunkhannock – A. Yanora 3 11-11 19, J. DeWitt 5 0-0 14, S. Soltysiak 7 0-2 14, B. Christy 3 0-1 9, B. Stephenson 2 5-7 9, A. Billings 3 0-0 8, J. Faux 0 0-0 0, B. Beauchemin 0 0-0 0, Totals 23 16-21 73.

Haz.   15 20 18 24 – 77

Tunk. 17 29 11 16 – 73

3-point goals: S. Biasi (Haz) 3, B. Barron (Haz) 2, J. DeWitt (Tunk) 4, B. Christy (Tunk) 3, A. Billings (Tunk) 2, A. Yanora (Tunk) 2.

Crestwood game

The Tigers took an early lead, pacing the Comets 17-13 in the first and led the game 33-26 at halftime.

In the second half, Crestwood battled back with a 16 point third quarter, but Tunkhannock paced the Comets 19-12 in the fourth to seal the win.

Stephenson scored a season-high 28 points and Soltysiak added 14 while Yanora chipped in 10 points.

Crestwood – C. Fazzini 8 4-7 21, B. Gallagher 6 0-0 15, S. Roberts 5 1-2 12, B. Markowski 2 0-0 4, C. Wasco 1 0-0 2, B. Cole 0 0-2 0, J. Malkemes 0 0-2 0, Totals 22 5-13 54.

Tunkhannock – B. Stephenson 13 2-2 28, S. Soltysiak 4 6-8 14, A. Yanora 4 0-1 10, J. Faux 2 1-1 5, B. Christy 2 0-0 5, A. Billings 1 0-0 3, J. DeWitt 1 0-0 2, Totals 27 9-12 67.

Cres.   13 13 17 12 – 55

Tunk. 17 16 15 19 – 67

3-point goals: B. Gallagher (C) 3, C. Fazzini (C) 1, S. Roberts (C) 1, A. Yanora (T) 2, B. Christy (T) 1, A. Billings (T) 1.