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N.Eastern PA Report
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Past Columns |
ed note: We are pleased to have
the some info from the North Eastern part of the state. We are pleased to
have a long time LLHoops fan ,
Jon K. to contribute. Thanks Jon. Hope you enjoy. PLEASE HIT YOUR BROWSER “REFRESH” BUTTON TO MAKE
SURE YOU ARE VIEWING THE MOST RECENT UPDATE OF THE N.EAST PA BEAT. UPDATED 2/3/12 For information
on District 2 playoff qualifying
in the Wyoming Valley Conference
(points system) and Lackawanna League
(automatic bids and playoff games) see link on left side of page. UPDATED 2/2/12 MILLIONAIRES CA$HING IN After
back-to-back losses dipped Williamsport’s
record to 6-7, there was some concern that their heavyweight schedule was
keeping them from getting the proper recognition. Being competitive is nice, but so are
wins. No worries about that anymore
because, over the last week, they have put together three impressive
victories averaging 68.6 ppg while
only allowing 45.6 ppg. This is a very well-balanced squad that
features a sensational sophomore guard in 6-3 Isaiah Washington, a slick playmaker in 6-2 junior Jahad Thomas, and a potentially
dominant force inside with 6-6 junior Chris
Kinley. Senior forward Sharif Coleman is another excellent
athlete and junior forward Taron
Dinkins has been a strong contributor off the bench. The only recent setback, one that will have
an emotional impact on the team, is the possible loss of junior guard Greg Ousley. He returned a few games ago after
recovering from an ACL injury suffered last year. However, Ousley missed their last two games
with another leg injury. Last
Wednesday District 2 fans got one
last peak at the Cherry and White before the 4A playoffs begin later in
February. After Wyoming Valley West
grabbed an 18-15 lead after the first quarter, it was all Williamsport as
they got a combined 26 points from Isaiah
Washington and Chris Kinley
and converted 16 of 19 free throws in a 65-49 win over the Spartans. Next up was a game against White Plains
(NY) in a Coaches vs. Cancer
event. They are a team that has given
Port fits over the years, but, once again, a big opening period gave the Millionaires
a commanding 17-8 advantage. Washington scored 10 (with 10
assists), Thomas had 18 points
(including a dunk and 10 rebounds), and Kinley
was very tough inside gaining 14 points.
Maybe the most impressive stat – they
forced four 5-second calls. That’s
impressive defense. Finally, against
Jersey Shore Monday night, Jahad
Thomas netted 18. And, back-to-back dunks in the
Magic Dome got the crowd energized as Chris
Kinley was on his way to netting 18
points. Upcoming
matchups for Billtown include home games against a
solid Shikellamy (11-3) squad on Thursday (2/2) and Susquehanna Township
(5-13) on Saturday night (2/4). On the
girl’s side, Williamsport split a pair of games over the last week. Wins over Milton (54-31) and Loyalsock
(43-30) were followed by losses to Harrisburg (53-46) on Monday and State
College (65-53) on Wednesday to put their overall record at 8-9. Rachel
Fatherly has been simply outstanding, averaging almost 24 ppg over their
last three matchups. She is also dominating
on the boards, grabbing 19 per game against Loyalsock and State College (12
were offensive ones in the loss to the Lady Lions). She is getting help inside from Aisha Evans. Dominique
Thomas is a talented guard. The
Lady Millionaires travel to play North Schuylkill Saturday night. See you in
the bleachers! UPDATED 2/1/12 THIS AND THAT AROUND D2 PEAKING AT THE
PLAYOFFS It’s that
time of the year again. Phil’s forecast
of six more weeks of winter usually makes it difficult to navigate through
six more weeks of snow-covered roads.
Hopefully, the Hazleton girls basketball squad put in a request for an
early spring when they met the groundhog (or at least his handler) during
their recent holiday hoops tournament in Punxsutawney. And as the
calendar turns, so does the focus on the not-so-far-away District 2 playoffs. What
initially looked as if Scranton
might be a runaway winner for the Boys
4A championship has suddenly turned into an outstanding bracket. It looks like Williamsport may come in with a winning mark against a brutally
difficult schedule while Hazleton Area
is playing superb team basketball. And
even teams like Delaware Valley
and Wyoming Valley West are more
than capable of a semi-final upset. In
3A and 2A the WVC will again use their point system to determine
district qualifiers while the LL will use a combination of automatic bids and
playoffs to qualify their teams. Lake-Lehman is hoping to gain their
first winning season in many years, but will it be enough to gain a top-5 WVC
position in Boys 3A? Currently the
Black Knights are one game out. The
race for five positions in Boys 2A
out of the Lackawanna League is going to very exciting as 9 of the 11 teams
are currently at .500 or better. On
the girls side, 4A seems to be
shaping up to be a matchup between Abington
Heights and WVW although Williamsport has been showing better
consistency of late. Girls 3A features a great battle for
the last WVC position between Nanticoke
and Tunkhannock. Though the NEP Beat has been critical of the LL pre-district playoff
tourney, it does give teams (like Mid
Valley and Holy Cross in Girls 2A) one last opportunity to do
their talking on the court. In Girls 1A, Old Forge has been impressive in a competitive division, but
teams like Forest City and Northwest Area feature high-scoring
players. LIAA DIVISION
REALIGNMENT Have you heard
about the new division alignment for the Lackawanna League beginning next
year? It’s going to apply for many
sports, including boys and girls basketball.
The teams will be grouped into four divisions mostly based on school
size and geographic proximities to one another. Division
1 and Division 2 (5 teams
each) are the bigger enrollment schools while Division 3 and Division 4
(7 teams each) are the smaller enrollment schools. There is a link on the left side of this
page to see the division team breakdowns.
The more complex issue was how to configure league schedules. It’s very simple for Divisions 1 and
2. Each team plays everyone in their
own division twice and the other division once for a total of 13 games. In Divisions 3 and 4, teams play everyone
in their own division once and then have a “crossover team” from the other
division which they play twice for a total of 14 games. More importantly, on the issue of retaining
“half play”, the league is splitting the verdict. Divisions 1 and 2 will eliminate half play
while it will be retained in Divisions 3 and 4. Overall,
the new setup definitely provides a more regionally based division breakdown
while retaining most, if not all, of the current rivalries. The switch to half play in the bigger
school divisions is interesting and commendable because it will help balance
out the scheduling of crossover division games. This has long been an NEP-Beat frustration of play in the WVC where divisional
crossover games often provide an unbalanced slant (within the half-play
system format). For next year’s
Lackawanna Division 3 and 4 crossover games, there is sure to be some
rumblings once schedules get put together.
Even wiping the slate clean between halves won’t take the sting away
from having to play a top-caliber crossover opponent twice. It would seem that playing two different
opponents in the crossover games (1 home and 1 away) would provide for more
balanced and fair competition.
UPSETS AVERTED After some
of the stunning (and I do mean stunning) upsets seen last week, fans of
District 2 basketball wondered whether Tuesday’s blockbuster lineup of games
would generate similar head-shaking bewilderment. Well, at least for the top rated teams, the
answer was a resounding NO! Scranton, playing without top
playmaker Terry Turner due to an
illness, got a sensational effort from guard Karlon Quiller. No, make
that a record-setting effort as he netted 38 points to soundly defeat a Scranton Prep team that has been
playing steady ball throughout the season.
That win puts the Knights right back into the LL Division 1 race where Honesdale and Delaware Valley lead the
way with 3-0 marks. In a Lackawanna Division 2 showdown, Riverside got 24 points from Michael King and shocked Dunmore
by a score of 60-29. And in the WVC, Hazleton Area headed into a
jam-packed den of hostile Tiger fans but came away with a 75-58 win over Tunkhannock, as Travis Buckner netted
30. It was possibly the Cougars’ best
all-around performance of the season.
If you were looking for an upset Tuesday night, North Washington
Street provided the location as Coughlin
streaked out to a 38-20 advantage and held off Wyoming Valley West 76-66 as Marcus
Cobb and Nate Oliver each
scored 20 points for the Crusaders. UPDATED 1/31/12 CONGRATULATIONS!! Tara Zdancewicz (Wyoming Valley West) – 1,000
point Tony Battaglia (Scranton boys coach) – 200th
win D2 ENROLLMENT
RECLASSIFICATIONS As announced
earlier this month by the PIAA, member schools will be reclassified (A
through AAAA) for basketball playoffs based on new state enrollment figures
that were submitted on October 3, 2011.
The new cycle will be in effect for the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014
seasons. No District 2 schools elected
to voluntarily upgrade to a higher classification. Below is the summary of the changes. For boys
basketball, there are no changes for the 4A and 1A classifications. Both Holy
Redeemer and Nanticoke Area
will drop from 3A to 2A. The Trojans
were right on the cutoff with 243 students.
Wilkes-Barre GAR will move
up from 2A to 3A. For girls
basketball, there are changes in every classification. Abington
Heights will move down from quad-A to 3A.
Holy Redeemer will also
drop in class from 3A to 2A. A pair of
WVC schools (Lake-Lehman and Wilkes-Barre Meyers) will go from 2A
to 3A. The Lady Mohawks were right on
the cutoff for 3A with 239 students.
Finally, Northwest Area and
Blue Ridge will move up from single-A
to 2A. The Raiders were just two
students into the AA category. As always
there are a few schools in which the boys participate in one classification
and the girls are in a different one.
For Nanticoke Area, their
boys will move down to AA while their girls remain in AAA. Wilkes-Barre public rivals will now be in
different classifications. GAR boys move up to 3A while their
girls remain in 2A. The opposite at Meyers where the boys remain in 2A
while the girls move up into 3A.
District 2 committee is currently reviewing all enrollment figures for
any errors or discrepancies. DISTRICT 2 BOYS
TOP 10 (games through 1/29) 1.
Scranton
(14-3) 4A 2.
Riverside
(15-1) 2A 3. Wilkes-Barre Meyers
(14-2) 2A 4. Scranton Prep (12-4)
3A 5. Hazleton Area (13-3)
4A 6. Wilkes-Barre GAR
(15-1) 2A 7. Holy Cross (12-4) 2A 8. Delaware Valley (11-4)
4A 9. Dunmore (12-5) 2A 10. Abington Heights
(13-4) 3A OTHERS TO WATCH Blue Ridge
(11-4), Dallas (10-5), Honesdale (9-7), Lakeland (11-7), Lake-Lehman (10-6),
Mid Valley (11-5), Montrose (12-5), North Pocono (8-9), Pittston Area (10-6),
Tunkhannock (10-6), West Scranton (8-8), Williamsport (8-7), Wyoming Valley
West (8-9). UPCOMING DISTRICT
2 TOP BOYS GAMES TUESDAY, 1/31 Dunmore at Riverside Scranton at Scranton Prep Abington Heights at Delaware Valley Hazleton Area at Tunkhannock Montrose at Blue Ridge Lackawanna Trail at Lakeland Pittston at Crestwood Mid Valley at Holy Cross Honesdale at West Scranton Wilkes-Barre GAR at Lake-Lehman Wyoming Valley West at Wilkes-Barre Coughlin THURSDAY, 2/2 (Phil?) Dallas at Pittston Shikellamy at Williamsport FRIDAY, 2/3 Honesdale at Scranton Prep Abington Heights at North Pocono Tunkhannock at Holy Redeemer Mid Valley at Dunmore Blue Ridge at Lakeland West Scranton at Delaware Valley Wilkes-Barre Coughlin at Hazleton Area Hanover Area at Lake-Lehman SATURDAY, 2/4 Susquehanna Township at Williamsport TUESDAY, 2/7 Holy Redeemer at Dallas Scranton Prep at West Scranton Riverside at Mid Valley Crestwood at Wyoming Valley West North Pocono at Honesdale Delaware Valley at Scranton Dunmore at Old Forge Elk Lake at Lackawanna Trail Lake-Lehman at Wilkes-Barre Meyers DISTRICT 2 BOYS
PLAYOFF DATES 2/15 (Wednesday): Deadline to opt out of tournament 2/24 (Friday): Boys 3A Quarter-finals 2/25 (Saturday): Boys 2A, Boys 4A Quarter-finals 2/28 (Tuesday): Boys A, Boys 3A Semi-finals 2/29 (Wednesday): Boys 2A, Boys 4A Semi-finals 3/2 (Friday): Boys A Final, Boys 3A Final/Consolation 3/3 (Saturday): Boys 2A Final/Consolation, Boys
4A Final 3/6 (Tuesday): PIAA Boys A, Boys 4A Play-In Game 3/9 (Friday): PIAA Boys A, Boys 3A First
Round 3/10 (Saturday): PIAA Boys 2A, Boys 4A First
Round DISTRICT 2 BOYS
DIVISION ANALYSIS (games through 1/30) WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE DIVISION 1 x-Hazleton Area (1-0, 5-1,
13-3) Wyoming Valley West (1-0, 5-1,
8-9) Pittston (0-1, 3-3, 10-6) Crestwood (0-1, 4-2, 7-9) Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (0-1, 1-5,
4-12) In Division 1, Hazleton Area capped off
the first half with a 70-46 win over Wyoming Valley West. The Cougars trailed late in the first half
29-28 before taking control with a 36-18 advantage in the second half. Travis
Buckner continues to play spectacular for Hazleton Area as he netted 23
while Sal Biasi scored 14. Tyler
Plaska who had been fairly quiet on the offensive side of the ball
contributed 12. For the Spartans, Jon Gimble scored 13. Mike
Joseph’s squad then opened up second half play at division nemesis
Crestwood. The Comets led 18-17 at the
break but committed 22 turnovers under the relentless Cougar defense to drop
the 49-35 game. Buckner scored 12 in the win while Biasi and Frank Vito
combined to score 21. John Fazzini was high scorer for
Crestwood. WVW bounced back in a big
way as they got a 56-32 romp over Division 2 first half winner Dallas,
bolting out to a 23-4 lead after the first period. James
McCann scored 14, Ryan Hoinsky
12, and Brett Good 12. Paul
Brace and Shane Dunn combined
to score 23 for the Mounts. Elsewhere,
Pittston and Wilkes-Barre Coughlin both dropped crossover games. The Patriots lost by one to Tunkhannock
52-51 and Holy Redeemer toppled Coughlin 61-53. Details on those games in the Division 2
wrap. Coming up this week, on Tuesday,
Pittston visits Crestwood while Hazleton Area makes the trek to play
Tunkhannock. Friday is highlighted by
Hazleton hosting Coughlin. Looking
ahead to next Tuesday, Crestwood plays at WVW. DIVISION 2 Tunkhannock (1-0, 3-3, 10-6) Holy Redeemer (1-0, 3-3, 7-9) Wyoming Area (1-0, 0-6, 2-14) x-Dallas (0-1, 5-1, 10-5) Berwick (0-1, 1-5, 3-12) In Division 2, first half winner Dallas
got pounded by Wyoming Valley West 56-32.
It’s was one of those game that just had to get immediately placed
directly into their rear view mirror.
Tunkhannock got an important crossover win over Pittston 52-51. The Tigers led by nine at the break
(24-15), but the Patriots kept chipping away behind the high scoring 36-point
effort of Steve Stravinski. Tunkhannock got 24 from big man James Hawk in the victory. Holy Redeemer pulled out a close 61-53
crossover win over Coughlin as Shahael
Wallace scored 21 and Ryan DeRemer
added 13. The Crusaders may not have
many wins this year, but they remain a very competitive team. They got 18 from Marcus Cobb and 13 from Connor
Flaherty. Wyoming Area picked up
their first league win of the year with a 53-42 win over Berwick. The Warriors got 15 from Bart Chupka, 13 from Lou Vullo, and 12 from Dan Newhart. The Dawgs got another solid effort from Jimmy Gaizick with 13 points. In non-league play, Dallas got 16 from Bob Saba and 10 from Shane Dunn to nip Wyoming Seminary
54-49 (the Blue Knights got 14 each from Seth
Callahan and Sam Hwang while EJ Flippen added 11). This week, on Tuesday, Tunkhannock hosts
Hazleton Area in a key crossover matchup.
Friday has the Tigers visiting Holy Redeemer for a big showdown. Next week, Dallas entertains Holy Redeemer
on Tuesday. DIVISION 3 Wilkes-Barre GAR (1-0, 6-1,
15-1) x-Wilkes-Barre Meyers (1-0,
7-0, 14-2) Lake-Lehman (1-0, 4-3, 10-6) Wyoming Seminary (1-0, 2-5,
6-10) Hanover (0-1, 4-3, 6-10) Northwest (0-1, 3-4, 6-10) Nanticoke (0-1, 2-5, 4-12) MMI Prep (0-1, 0-7, 2-15) In Division 3, first half winner,
Meyers, and GAR picked up right where they left off. The Mohawks rolled over MMI Prep 73-30 as Eugene Lewis scored 18 and Ryan Krawczeniuk added 16. GAR defeated Hanover Area 66-38 as Shaliek Powell netted 20 and Mike Sharpe added 11 (the Hawks got
17 from ShaQuille Rolle). Lake Lehman got off to a good start by
making a strong comeback against Nanticoke 50-46. The Black Knights trailed 27-18 at haftime
but used a decisive 17-4 run in the third quarter to grab the lead as Kevin Bohan scored 15 and Cody Peopperling chipped in 11.
The Trojans got 16 from Luke
Casey and 14 from Brian Bevan. Wyoming Seminary got 11 each from Alex Barilla and Josh Leftowicz to post a 37-27 win over Northwest Area (Devon Mazonkey had 13 for the
Rangers). In non-league play, Cory Rogers scored 18 and Aaron Kollar added 13 but it wasn’t
enough as MMI Prep dropped a 53-46 decision to Moravian Academy. This week features GAR visiting Lake-Lehman
on Tuesday. Friday has the Black
Knights entertaining Hanover Area.
Next Tuesday, Meyers hosts Lake-Lehman in a key matchup. LACKAWANNA LEAGUE DIVISION 1 Delaware Valley (2-0, 3-4,
12-4) Honesdale (2-0, 2-5, 9-7) x-Scranton (1-1, 7-0, 14-3) Scranton Prep (1-1, 6-1, 12-5) West Scranton (1-1, 2-5, 9-8) North Pocono (1-1, 2-5, 8-9) Abington Heights (0-2, 5-2,
13-4) Wallenpaupack (0-2, 1-6, 7-10) In Division 1, early on, a pair of teams
that struggled in the first half are leading the way. Delaware Valley got 26 from Brandon Angradi to defeat North
Pocono 50-45. The Trojans, who led by
a bucket at the break, got 17 from Justin
Haddix and 12 from Jack Williams. The Warriors then added an impressive 56-50
win over Scranton Prep Monday night as Angradi
netted 21 and Brent Fragola
added 12. Prep got 13 from Mac Temples in the loss which was a
rescheduled game from last Thursday.
Honesdale also has a share of first place as the Hornets rallied from
a 38-34 deficit after three periods to down Abington Heights 51-50. Jesse
O’Connell scored 20 while Jordan
Meyer added 15 (with a key pair of free throws to secure the win). Abington got 18 from sophomore JC Show. Honesdale then got a 57-48 win over
Wallenpaupack as O’Connell scored
21 and grabbed 10 caroms. Chris Nagel added 14. Jake
Brown scored 20 for the Buckhorns in the loss. Several teams are only a game back and will
be fighting for a chance to get back into the lead this week. First half winner Scranton found themselves
in a real tussle once again with North Pocono and this time the Trojans
managed to pull off the stunning upset, 49-48 over the Knights. NP led at halftime but Scranton rallied to
several 4 and 5 point leads, the latest being a 44-39 advantage. The Trojans continued to fight back behind
the scoring of Jack Williams (15
points) and Marty Kelly (14
including 4 treys). In the end, 20
turnovers and a poor shooting performance were too much for Scranton to
overcome as a pair of Rick Goodall
free throws secured the win. The
Knights rebounded over the weekend as they got a hard fought 62-39 win over
city rival West Scranton as Karlon
Quiller netted 15. The win marked
number 200 for head coach Tony
Battaglia. Then, on Sunday
evening, the Knights got a big non-league 54-49 win over Parkland in the 17th
Hoop Group Showcase. Malik Draper scored 20, Terry Turner 12, and Joe McCarthy had a critical late
layup and steal to sew up the key win over the highly regarded District 11
quad-A contender. Monday night, West
Scranton pulled away in the final quarter to gain a 52-41 win over
Wallenpaupack as Malcolm Sweeting
scored 15 and Lou DiBileo added 12
(Jake Brown had 16 for
Paupack). The Invaders also got a
non-league 55-28 win over Wyoming Seminary as Matt Langan netted 13 and Tyvon
Moore added 13 (Seth Callahan
had 15 for the Blue Knights). Scranton
Prep is also right in the chase as the Cavs got a 46-33 road win over top
rival Abington Heights. James Fives scored 14 in the win
while JC Show scored 13 for the
Comets. Prep also got a non-league win
over Pittston 44-42 as they used a 15-9 advantage in the third period the
victory. Fives scored 14 and the Cavs converted 12 of 16 free throws. Steve
Stravinski had 13 for the Patriots.
In other exhibition action, North Pocono rolled over Wyoming Area
58-28 as Jack Williams scored
25. The Warriors only trailed 14-12
after the first quarter and got 10 points from Dan Newhart. Coming up
this week, on Tuesday, Scranton Prep hosts Scranton in a big matchup. Also Tuesday, Delaware Valley entertains
Abington Heights and Honesdale visits West Scranton. On Friday, Honesdale travels to Prep, North
Pocono hosts Abington Heights, and West makes the trek to play Del-Val. Looking further out, next Tuesday has a
great showdown as Scranton hosts Delaware Valley. DIVISION 2 Dunmore (2-0, 5-2, 12-5) Mid Valley (2-0, 4-3, 11-5) Riverside (1-0, 6-1, 15-1) x-Holy Cross (1-1, 7-0, 12-4) Carbondale (1-1, 1-6, 5-12) Western Wayne (0-1, 0-7, 0-15) Valley View (0-2, 3-4, 7-10) Old Forge (0-2, 2-5, 6-10) In Division 2, Dunmore and Mid Valley got
off to 2-0 starts to pace the race in the division. The Bucks got 18 each from Matt Clark and John Rinaldi to top Carbondale 67-53 (the Chargers got 16 from Ben Gardus and 13 from Tom Mauro). Dunmore then took a 29-22 lead into the
locker room against top rival Holy Cross only to see the Crusaders storm back
to grab a 38-36 edge heading into the final period. The sold-out crowd then saw the Bucks rally
for the 47-43 win as John Rinaldi
scored 12. Holy Cross got 13 each from
Josh Kosin and Connor Callejas. Dunmore also gained a non-league 56-54 win
over Division 3 first half winner Montrose as they had a 29-18 scoring edge
in the middle periods. Matt Clark netted 22 while Michael Boland added 12. The Meteors got 22 from Tom Lewis, 15 from Colby Major, and 13 from Cameron Dean. Mid Valley downed Old Forge 46-35 as Ronny Tomasetti scored 19. Though the Blue Devils have struggled a bit
this year, they only trailed 20-18 at the break. The Spartans then got a big 62-46 win over
Valley View as Alex Prislupsky
scored 14 and Tyler Collins added
12 (Cory Callejas and Mike Rotell each had 11 for the
Cougars). Mid Valley also got a 61-46
non-league win over Elk Lake as Tomasetti
scored 21 and Josh Tanner had
11 (Rob Heft had 19 for the
Warriors). Riverside had a tough win
over rival Old Forge 42-36 as Cody
Macklin scored 13. The game was
played at a jam packed Marywood University as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer
weekend lineup. The Blue Devils only
trailed by a bucket after three quarters and got 19 points and 12 rebounds
from Brian Tomasetti. In non-league play, Riverside got a 68-33
win over Forest City as the Vikes had 13 team treys (6 to Mike King who scored 20 points). Jerry
Kincel added 14 and Nico Munley
13. Holy Cross trailed Valley View
15-6 after one stanza, but rallied for the 57-51 win as Josh Kosin scored 20. The
Cougars got 17 from Brandon Bednash
and 14 from Brian Lalli. Valley View also picked up a 64-57
exhibition win over Lackawanna Trail as Mike
Rotell netted 22, Liam Callejas
15, and Bednash 14. Steve
Miller scored 22 for the Lions while Matt
Lochen added 14 (with 3 treys).
Elsewhere, Carbondale got 13 from Ben
Gardus as the Chargers got a 64-39 win over Western Wayne (Bill Schumacher had 15 for the
Spartans). This week, Riverside hosts
Dunmore in a huge game Tuesday while Mid Valley visits Holy Cross. Friday has Dunmore entertaining Mid
Valley.
DIVISION 3 Blue Ridge (2-0, 5-2, 11-4) Lakeland (2-0, 6-1, 11-7) Lackawanna Trail (2-0, 4-3,
7-10) x-Montrose (1-1, 6-1, 12-5) Forest City (1-1, 0-7, 2-14) Elk Lake (0-2, 4-3, 7-8) Mountain View (0-2, 2-5, 5-12) Susquehanna (0-2, 1-6, 3-12) In Division 3, first
half winner Montrose already finds themselves a game back after a 45-41 loss
to Lackawanna Trail. Steve Miller netted 13 in the Lions
win while Cameron Dean had 16 for
the Meteors. Trail also got a 71-41
win over Mountain View as Miller
scored 25 and pulled down 15 boards. Matt Lochen contributed 17 in the
win. Montrose did bounce back to top
Elk Lake 66-48 as Tom Lewis scored
20 and Cameron Dean added 19. The Meteors trailed 16-8 after the first
period. Elk Lake got a combined 23
points from Tanner Reyan and Rob Heft. Lakeland and Blue Ridge are also atop the
standings. The Chiefs got 25 points
from Kyle Kiehart to defeat
Mountain View 60-51 (Mike Wakalowksi
had 15 for the Eagles). Lakeland then
added a 57-28 win over Forest City as Kiehart
scored 21 while Eric Grabowski
added 22. Blue Ridge had a big second
half to beat Elk Lake 61-54 behind 22 points from Sawyer Dearborn (Heft and
Reyan combined for 25 for the
Warriors). The Raiders then got 26
from Jesse Pruitt and a huge
effort from Alex Cardoza (29 points,
10 rebounds, 14 assists) in an 83-72 win over a rejuvenated Susquehanna squad
(Andrzej Tomczyk 24, Cole Mallery 21 for the Sabers). Elsewhere, Forest City got 20 from Dylan Walsh and 14 from Matt Nevins to nip Susquehanna 58-56
(Mallery had 31 points and 15
rebounds for the Sabers). This week,
Blue Ridge hosts Montrose while Lackawanna Trail visits Lakeland on
Tuesday. Friday, Lakeland entertains
Blue Ridge. LLHOOPS BOYS
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Jesse O’Connell (6-5 senior forward) helped
guide Honesdale to a share of
first place in Lackawanna League Division 1 second half play. He scored 20 points (including 4 treys) as
the Hornets rallied to defeat Abington Heights 51-50. The senior playmaker then scored 21 (with 3
treys) and grabbed 10 rebounds to defeat rival Wallenpaupack 57-48. Ronny Tomasetti (6-4 junior forward) is
leading Mid Valley to a very
successful season, despite some team injuries. He scored 19 points in a 46-35 win over Old
Forge. The junior then netted 8 points
as the Spartans defeated Valley View 62-46.
Tomasetti also netted 21 points in a non-league 61-46 win over Elk
Lake. GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS
BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL
GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS
BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL
DISTRICT 2 GIRLS TOP
10 (games
through 1/29) 1. Dunmore (15-2) 2A 2. Scranton Prep (13-4)
3A 3. Abington Heights
(14-4) 4A 4. Pittston Area (14-2)
3A 5. Nanticoke (14-2) 3A 6. Montrose (14-2) 2A 7. Wyoming Valley West (11-5)
4A 8. Honesdale (12-4) 3A 10. Holy Redeemer (8-7)
3A OTHERS TO WATCH Crestwood
(9-6), Dallas (8-5), Holy Cross (9-8), Lakeland (9-7), Lake-Lehman (11-5),
Mid Valley (9-8), North Pocono (9-8), Northwest Area (10-6), Old Forge
(11-5), Riverside (12-5), Valley View (8-8), Wallenpaupack (10-6),
Williamsport (9-8). UPCOMING DISTRICT 2
TOP GIRLS GAMES WEDNESDAY, 2/1 State
College at Williamsport THURSDAY, 2/2 (Phil??) Holy
Redeemer at Tunkhannock Scranton Prep
at Honesdale Valley
View at Old Forge Pittston
at Dallas North
Pocono at Abington Heights Dunmore at
Mid Valley Berwick at
Crestwood Wilkes-Barre
Meyers at Northwest Area Forest
City at Lackawanna Trail SATURDAY, 2/4 Williamsport
at North Schuylkill MONDAY, 2/6 Old Forge
at Dunmore Wyoming
Valley West at Crestwood Honesdale
at North Pocono Abington
Heights at Wallenpaupack Dallas at
Holy Redeemer Berwick at
Tunkhannock Mid Valley
at Riverside Montrose
at Forest City Wilkes-Barre
Meyers at Lake-Lehman West
Scranton at Scranton Prep DISTRICT 2 GIRLS
PLAYOFF DATES 2/15 (Wednesday): Deadline to opt out of tournament 2/24 (Friday): Girls 2A, Girls 4A Quarter-finals 2/25 (Saturday): Girls A, Girls 3A Quarter-finals 2/28 (Tuesday): Girls 2A, Girls 4A Semi-finals 2/29 (Wednesday): Girls A, Girls 3A Semi-finals 3/2 (Friday): Girls 2A Final/Consolation, Girls 4A Final 3/3 (Saturday): Girls A Final, Girls 3A
Final/Consolation 3/6 (Tuesday): PIAA Girls A, Girls 4A Play-In Game 3/9 (Friday): PIAA Girls 2A, Girls 4A First
Round 3/10 (Saturday): PIAA Girls A, Girls 3A First
Round DISTRICT 2 GIRLS
DIVISION ANALYSIS (games through 1/30) WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE x = won first half DIVISION 1 Wyoming Valley West (2-0, 4-2,
12-5) Hazleton Area (2-0, 2-4, 6-11) Crestwood (1-1, 4-2, 10-6) x-Pittston (0-2, 5-1, 14-3) Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (0-2,
0-6, 1-13) In
Division 1, Hazleton Area continues their amazing season turnaround from
division spoiler to potential contender.
Last week, the Lady Cougars hung on for a 49-48 win over rival
Crestwood as Josie Bachman and Annie Bono combined to score 24
points. The Lady Comets made a big
final period run from 14 down that fell just short behind Kayla Gegaris
with 17 points (5 treys). Monday
night, Hazleton kept their winning streak going as they got by Tunkhannock
33-29 in a crossover game. Also atop
the standings, Wyoming Valley West jumped out to an 18-7 lead after the first
quarter and converted 22 of 28 free throws to defeat Dallas 49-46 in a
crossover game. Tara Zdancewicz netted 17 (including her 1,000 point) while Kate Smicherko and Cassie Smicherko each had 10. The Lady Mounts got 12 each from Tanner Englehart and Sam Missal while Ashley Dunbar added 10.
The Lady Spartans also got a 56-12 win over Coughlin Monday night as Kate Smicherko scored 19. In a non-league game, WVW topped Abington
Heights 70-62 in OT as Smicherko
netted 16 (Tiffany O’Donnell and Lauren Hoyt combined to score 37 for
the Lady Comets). First half winner
Pittston dropped to 0-2. They dropped a 61-54 crossover loss to Tunkhannock
despite getting 24 from Mia Hopkins
and 17 from Grace O’Neil. Monday night, the Lady Patriots lost to
Crestwood 62-37. The Lady Comets got
19 from Sydney Myers and PA got 17
from Hopkins. In a non-league matchup last week, Pittston
defeated Scranton 60-45 as Grace
O’Neil scored 26 (including 5 treys).
Kaila Foster netted 23 for
the Lady Knights and Kylie McHugh
added12. Coming up this week, on
Thursday, Pittston visits Dallas in a great matchup. Next Monday, Crestwood hosts Wyoming Valley
West. DIVISION 2 x-Holy Redeemer (2-0, 5-1, 9-7) Tunkhannock (1-1, 3-3, 12-5) Dallas (1-1, 4-2, 9-5) Berwick (1-1, 2-4, 7-10) Wyoming Area (0-2, 1-5, 5-12) In Division 2, Holy Redeemer had a pair
of very manageable games. First, they
got a combined 18 points from Julia
Wignot and Sara Altemose to
get by Coughlin 46-22 (Dannah Hayward
had 13 for the Lady Crusaders). The
Lady Royals defeated Wyoming Area Monday night 73-22 as Alexis Lewis scored 21 (Serra
Degnan had 17 for the Lady Warriors).
Sandwiched in between their two league wins, Holy Redeemer took on
Lehigh Valley Conference powerhouse Allentown Central Catholic. The Lady Vikings got 25 from Kerry Kinek and 18 from Kocsis and used a 25-7 run in the
third period to post a 63-44 victory (Lewis
had 12 for HR). Tunkhannock, Berwick,
and Dallas are a game back.
Tunkhannock faced a pair of crossovers games. The Lady Tigers rallied from 7 down after
three quarters to defeat Pittston 61-54.
Lisa Kintner scored 17, Kassie Williams 13, and Amelia Ayers 13. Pittston got 24 from Mia Hopkins and 17 from Grace
O’Neil. Monday night, Tunkhannock
dropped a 33-29 loss at surging Hazleton Area. Dallas dropped a close crossover loss to
WVW, 49-46 but the Lady Mounts managed to pull out a 41-35 win over Berwick
Monday night. The Lady Dawgs who led
by 11 after three quarters (30-19) picked up a 45-35 win over Wyoming Area as
Caty Davenport netted 15 and Kelly Sheptock added 12 (WA led at
the break in that one and got a combined 20 points from Serra Degnan and Sara
Radwilka). This week, on Thursday,
Holy Redeemer visits Tunkhannock while Berwick and Dallas are in crossover
games against Crestwood and Pittston.
Next Monday Holy Redeemer hosts Dallas while Tunkhannock entertains
Berwick. DIVISION 3 Lake-Lehman (2-0, 6-1, 12-5) Wilkes-Barre Meyers (1-0, 4-3,
8-8) x-Nanticoke (1-1, 7-0, 15-2) Northwest (1-1, 3-4, 10-7) Wyoming Seminary (1-1, 3-4,
6-10) Wilkes-Barre GAR (1-1, 2-5,
4-12) MMI Prep (0-1, 0-7, 3-13) Hanover Area (0-2, 3-4, 5-11) In Division 3, Lake-Lehman played
outstanding team defense in a 50-37 win over first half winner Nanticoke as Nikki Sutliff scored 17 and freshman Cayle Spencer scored 16. The Trojanettes who got 19 points and 11
rebounds from Katie Wolfe led 14-9
after the first stanza. The Lady
Knights then rolled over GAR Monday night as Sutliff netted 24 and Emily
Sutton added 17. In non-league
action, L-L defeated Susquehanna 66-24 as Spencer scored 15.
Nanticoke Area rebounded Monday night with a 70-35 win over Northwest
as Alex Brassington scored
19. In an exhibition matchup, Wolfe netted 26 as the Trojanettes
defeated Berwick 39-27. In other games,
GAR got an offensive boost back as sophomores Quieterriua and Quienniea
Gross transferred back to GAR (from WVW).
The Lady Grenadiers topped Hanover 51-38 as Quienniea Gross and Julianne
Leco combined to score 25. Danielle Tuzinski had 17 for the Lady
Hawks). Meyers also notched a win over
Hanover (42-25) as Amy Kowalczyk
scored 15. Alivia Womelsdorf scored 15 as Northwest Area defeated Wyoming
Seminary 37-26. The Lady Blue Knights
bounced back for a 49-30 win over MMI Prep Monday night. And in a non-league game, Maria Carrato scored 17 as the Lady
Preppers of MMI defeated Moravian Academy 60-41 (Rachael Redles had 23 for MA).
On Thursday, Meyers visits Northwest Area. Next Monday, Lake-Lehman hosts Meyers in a
key matchup. LACKAWANNA LEAGUE x = won first half DIVISION 1 Scranton Prep (3-0, 6-1, 14-4) x-Abington Heights (2-1, 6-1,
15-4) Honesdale (2-1, 5-2, 13-4) Wallenpaupack (2-1, 3-4, 11-6) North Pocono (2-1, 3-4, 9-9) West Scranton (1-2, 2-5, 7-11) Scranton (0-3, 3-4, 4-13) Delaware Valley (0-3, 0-7,
4-14) Division 1 is shaping up to be a terrific
battle. After three previous
unsuccessful meetings, Scranton Prep finally got a win over Abington Heights
39-29 as Tricia Byrne netted 17
and Maura Byrne added 11. Tiffany
O’Donnell scored 15 for the Lady Comets.
The game was part of the Coaches
vs. Cancer weekend fundraising event and the annual Pink Night
was another phenomenal success raising $5,400. Prep also got a 61-26 win over Delaware
Valley as Tricia Byrne scored 16
and Olivia Burke added 12. Monday night, the Classics got 16 from Byrne as they defeated Scranton,
46-23. One game back, there are a
quartet of teams. Abington Heights got
a hard fought 49-38 win over Honesdale as Breanna Toro scored 14 and grabbed 13 caroms while O’Donnell added 13. Kate
Miller hit 4 treys (18 points) for the Lady Hornets. Monday night, the Lady Comets got 14 from Toro as they got by Delaware Valley
54-29. Last week in non-league play AH
dropped an overtime loss to Wyoming Valley West 70-62. Honesdale rebounded from their loss to AH
with a pair of wins. Katie Miller scored 15 and the Lady
Hornets used an 11-4 advantage in the third period to get a 45-43 win over
rival Wallenpaupack. Honesdale only
converted 10 of 23 free throws. Alexix Roman scored 16 and grabbed 13
rebounds for the Lady Buckhorns.
Monday night Honesdale got 16 from Mary Martin in a 52-31 win over West Scranton. Looking at Paupack, they jumped out to a
26-10 halftime lead and defeated West Scranton 43-33 as Roman scored 18 (with 11 boards) while Ruth Casadevall added 11 points (Jane Joyce had 10 for the Lady Invaders). The Lady Buckhorns then got a 38-33 win
over North Pocono Monday night. The
loss by the Lady Trojans was their first of the second half. They beat Scranton 36-25 as Jill Bartleson scored 7 and Kaila Foster had 10 for the Lady
Knights. NP then used a 20-11 gap in
the middle periods to defeat Delaware Valley 37-28 as Amanda Reach scored 9. In
the battle of Scranton, West got 25 from Jane
Joyce and 12 each from Katie Hart
and Nina Hodanich to defeat
Scranton 59-43 (the Lady Knights got a combined 25 points from Mackenzie Andrews and Kaila Foster). On Thursday night, Honesdale hosts Scranton
Prep in a big showdown while Abington Heights entertains North Pocono. DIVISION 2 x-Dunmore (3-0, 6-1, 16-2) Old Forge (2-1, 5-2, 12-5) Riverside (2-1, 6-1, 12-6) Valley View (2-1, 5-2, 9-8) Mid Valley (1-2, 3-4, 10-8) Holy Cross (1-2, 2-5, 9-9) Western Wayne (1-2, 1-6, 7-10) Carbondale (0-3, 0-7, 1-16) In Division 2, Dunmore has jumped out to
a 3-0 start with several impressive wins last week. They started out by taking a 35-9 halftime
lead and rolling over Carbondale 60-23 as Kim Dempsey scored 19. The
Lady Bucks then got a 51-29 win over rival Holy Cross as Kayleigh Semion scored 19 and Molly Burke added 10. Holy
Cross, who only converted 9 of 19 free throws, got 8 points from Katie Purcell. Monday night, Dunmore got a measure of
revenge for their only first half loss by defeating Riverside 43-27 as Burke netted 12. The Lady Vikes are a game back along with
Old Forge and Valley View. Riverside
took a 7-point lead at the break and hung on for a 44-41 win over top rival
Old Forge. Sam Donahue and Rebecca
Mekilo teamed up to scored 22 while Lauren
Casey led the Lady Blue Devils with 19.
Mekilo added 14 while Kellie Nash scored 16 as Riverside
also got a 51-28 win over Western Wayne (Abby
Carmody had 14 for WW). Old Forge,
despite only hitting 19 of 40 free throws, outscored Mid Valley 18-7 in the
final quarter to get a 56-44 win over the Spartanettes (who led 17-9 after
the first period). Rhyan Barnic netted 17 for the Lady
Devils while Danielle Terranella
scored 19 for Mid Valley. Old Forge
also got a 37-20 win over Western Wayne Monday night. Valley View had a tough night shooting and
holding onto the ball against Holy Cross but only trailed 36-34 late. The Lady Crusaders held the Lady Cougars
scoreless over the final four minutes to post a 42-34 victory as Emily Mineo scored 15. Abbey
Bartkowski had 12 for Valley View as they got back on the winning track
with a 33-25 win over Mid Valley - Caroline
Mancuso scored 15 (Terranella
had 15 for MV). Monday night Valley
View also got a 51-29 win over Carbondale.
Mid Valley did get their first win of the second half with a 64-49 win
over Holy Cross Monday night (Terranella
18). The Spartanettes also got a
non-league win over Hanover 55-41 as
Terranella scored 27 (Danielle
Tuzinski had 19 for the Lady Hawks).
Elsewhere, Rebecca Carmody
scored 16 as Western Wayne got by Carbondale 52-35 (Molly Carachilo had 18 for the Chargerettes). In other non-league action, Abbey and Rebecca Carmody combined to score 26 as Western Wayne got a solid
45-40 win over Lakeland (Allison Kraky
and Alissa Steier each had 12 for
the Lady Chiefs). On Thursday, Dunmore
visits Mid Valley while Old Forge hosts Valley View. Next Monday, there are two great matchups
as Old Forge visits Dunmore and Riverside entertains Mid Valley. DIVISION 3 x-Montrose (3-0, 7-0, 15-2) Lakeland (3-0, 5-2, 10-7) Forest City (2-1, 6-1, 8-8) Lackawanna Trail (1-2, 4-3,
7-11) Elk Lake (1-2, 2-5, 5-12) Mountain View (1-2, 2-5, 3-14) Susquehanna (1-2, 0-7, 2-16) Blue Ridge (0-3, 2-5, 3-14) In Division 3, Montrose and Lakeland
lead the way with Forest City one game back.
Dallas Ely continues to
shine for the Lady Meteors. She scored
34 (with 5 treys) in their 63-39 win over Lackawanna Trail (the Lady Lions
got 16 from Clarissa Eggleston and
11 from Natasha Pacholic). Ely
then added 23 while Sara Krupinski
got 12 as Montrose pulled away from a 9-9 tie after one period and get a
56-28 win over Elk Lake. Monday night,
Ely scored 21 in a 64-19 win over
Blue Ridge. Lakeland defeated Mountain
View 62-32 as Allison Kraky netted
21. Kraky then scored 16 as the Lady Chiefs
rallied from a 23-14 halftime deficit to get by Forest City 48-38 (Cassandra Bendyk had 18 for the Lady
Foresters). Monday night, Kraky and Breann Clauss-Walton each contributed 13 points in a 61-43
victory over Lackawanna Trail. Forest
City got a pair of wins wrapped around their loss to Lakeland. Bendyk
scored 20 as they beat Susquehanna 65-21 (Mashawna Hargett had 13 for the Lady Sabers). Monday night, Carly Erdmann netted 17 in a 50-31 win over Elk Lake. In other games, Megan Bush scored 17 as Elk Lake edged Blue Ridge 34-28 (Kristen Brown had 13 for the Lady
Raiders). Lackawanna Trail got by Mt.
View 44-39 as Pacholec scored 11
and grabbed 10 boards for the Lady Lions.
The two teams hit a dismal 21 of 48 free throws attempts. Susquehanna got their first league win of
the season in dramatic form. Trailing
30-15 at intermission, the Lady Sabers outscored Blue Ridge 17-0 in the third
stanza to post a 48-45 win as Mashawna
Hargett netted 18 (Ashley Warren
had 13 for Blue Ridge). Monday night, Megan Kress hit for 16 points as Mt.
View topped Susquehanna 63-28. In
non-league play, Natasha Pacholec
scored 17 as Trail defeated Wyoming Seminary 43-40 (Haley Karg had 17 for the Lady Knights). In a key Thursday matchup, Lackawanna Trail
hosts Forest City. Next Monday,
Montrose visits Forest city is a big showdown. LLHOOPS GIRLS PLAYERS
OF THE WEEK Nikki Sutliff (senior guard) helped give Lake-Lehman one of their biggest wins
of the season. She scored 17 (with 3
treys) to defeat WVC Division 3 first half winner Nanticoke 50-37. Sutliff then netted 24 (including 9 of 10
free throws) to roll over a much improved Wilkes-Barre GAR squad, 59-32. The senior guard also contributed 9 points
in a non-league win over Susquehanna. Danielle Terranella (5-7 senior guard) completed a
week in which she averaged 20 ppg for Mid
Valley. Though her team came up
short, she scored 16 in a 33-25 loss to Valley View and 19 in a 56-44 loss to
Old Forge. Monday night, the senior
guard netted 18 in a 64-49 win over Holy Cross. And she scored 27 as the Spartanettes
claimed a 55-41 non-league win over Hanover Area last week. That’s it for this edition of
the NEP Beat. See you next time! Question or Comments, email
us at LLHoops.NEP-Beat@comcast.net Jon K. |
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