The Scranton Prep boys basketball team came into New Tripoli with a plan to defeat Northwestern in the opening round of states.

The plan was to get out to a big lead early in the game and then keep the pressure on the Tigers and leave town with a win.

The Cavaliers players executed the game plan to perfection and moved on in the PIAA tournament while the Tigers saw their season come to an end in a 75-48 loss.

Three different SP players combined to drain five shots from beyond the arc.

Scranton’s first points of the game came on a three-pointer by Packy Doherty, helping them to a 7-3 lead. Brycen Martin and Brody Martin hit back-to-back threes to make it 13-3 before Brycen Martin hit his second of the quarter and in the final minute, hit his third to give the Cavs their second 17 point lead of the quarter at 25-8.

Northwestern committed 10 turnovers, giving Prep more scoring opportunities.

“They did what we saw on film,” said Tiger head coach Patrick Wanamaker. “They just did it really well tonight. Anytime we were able to get a little momentum, they would hit a shot.”

Northwestern (24-4) refused to go away easily. The Tigers became more aggressive defensively in the second quarter, leading Scranton to turn the ball over nine times.

They also did a better job on the perimeter to force Scranton Prep (19-7) to look to go inside more. Gavin Nelson dialed up his shot in the second quarter to score nine points and had 12 points at halftime. Northwestern cut the lead to 36-29.

Scranton Prep hit four three-pointers in the third quarter, three of them from Doherty. The junior guard put up 11 points and scored 20 points in the game. Brycen Martin hit the other three-pointer on his way to eight third quarter points and 16 in the game.

Going into the final quarter, the Cavaliers scored 21 unanswered points and led 61-33.

“In the third quarter,” said Wanamaker, “We had an open layup and missed, which would have cut it to a five point game, and then they went down the court and hit a three. That’s a big swing and stuff like that hurt us. Then they came up with a big defensive play to stop us from hitting a three and they come down the court and get their own three.”

Northwestern continued to look for ways back into the game, but Scranton came up with stops when they needed them and were able to coast their way into the second round of states.

Brycen Martin led Scranton with 26 points while Doherty was right behind with 25. Gavin Nelson scored a game-high 20 for Northwestern.

“We had a good season,” said Wanamaker. “We won 24 games, won the Colonial League title, made it to the finals in districts and played in states. You can’t be too upset with a season like that.”