“Grand” Old Time In Nazareth

Chuck Dibilio has grown accustomed to celebrating milestones during his high school career.

In football, he rushed for over 4,000 yards and he recently became the fifth boys’ basketball player to reach the 1,000-point plateau, a select group that includes his father Chuck Dibilio, Sr.

The five 1,000 point scorers gathered before a game between Nazareth and Northampton Monday night. Dibilio accepted the pre-game applause and then went out and led his team to a 53-42 win over the Konkrete Kids.

It was all Nazareth early as seniors Dibilio and Drew Hercik accounted for all of the Blue Eagles’ first quarter points.

Dibilio highlighted the quarter with an end-to-end rush that culminated in a pretty left-handed finish to put Nazareth up by eight points after one quarter.

Dibilio continued to plague Northampton in the second quarter, penetrating and moving well off the dribble to set up his teammates. His eight-point quarter helped Nazareth increase its lead to 15 at halftime.

Northampton came out in the third quarter determined to limit Dibilio, and they did just that, in a quarter that saw Northampton trim the Nazareth lead to eight.

The visitors narrowed the gap to five in the fourth, thanks to two three pointers by Northampton sophomore Derek Kulp, but Dibilio and Hercik combined for 14 points in the final stanza to preserve the 11th win of the year for Nazareth.

Dibilio finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Hercik dropped in 15 points.

Northampton (2-9) was led by Kulp and junior Zach Holubowski, each with 10 points.

Dibilio talked about his offensive approach.

“I just take what the defense gives me and don’t force things. This is about the team and what we need to do to win each game,” he said. 

Nazareth coach Joe Arndt was happy to get the win.

“We played ugly, but we fought through it,” he said. “Hercik was aggressive tonight, and Dibilio played his game, looking to drive the ball and get everybody going.”