UPDATED 11/26/07

 

WELCOME BACK TO THE NORTHEAST PA BEAT

 

Thanks for stopping by to check out the preseason edition of the beat.  It’s almost here, the 2007-2008 District 2 hoops season gets underway Friday night with numerous matchups and tournaments across the area.  It is one of the most exciting times of the year for this writer and can only be described as a combination of the movies Hoosiers and Fever Pitch (turning into winter guy).  For this column, we will take a long overdue glimpse back at the best-of-last-year, get caught up on some off-season news headlines, and take a peak forward to some of the premier opening week matchups.  In coming weeks, full previews of the Lackawanna League and Wyoming Valley Conference teams, the top players, and key division races will be posted.  Later in December, after the squads begin to develop some chemistry, the highly popular District 2 Top 10 rankings will be released.  With optimism high in every locker room, it is not fair to pre-rank any team based on over-hyped anticipation rather than on court performance.  Although talent graduates, some programs have an uncanny ability to build upon their winning traditions annually.  Maybe the best part of preseason basketball is the mystery of not knowing who will provide the next unexpected season or playoff run.  Just as the Honesdale boys or Bishop OReilly girls proved last year, there are amazing surprises each and every hoops season.  Sometimes champions are not even being a blip on the preseason guru radar.  As always the Northeast Beat covers all the boys and girls action, in addition to keeping tabs on the Williamsport Millionaires who compete through the District 2 tourney into state competition.  See you in the bleachers. 

 

 

2007-2008 SEASON TIP-OFF BOYS TOURNAMENTS

 

Berwick, Wyoming Seminary (Joseph Nespoli Tourney) 11/30, 12/1

Blue Ridge (Sayre Tourney) 11/30, 12/1

Carbondale, Honesdale (Finan Tourney) 12/3, 12/4

Delaware Valley (Pocono Mountain East Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

Hanover (Lebanon Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

Hazleton vs. North Allegheny (State College Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

Old Forge, Lake-Lehman, Pittston, Wyoming Area (Marseco Mem.) 12/1, 12/2

Wallenpaupack, Mid Valley, Western Wayne (Hawley Rotary) 11/30, 12/1

MMI (Benton Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

Susquehanna (Deposit Central Tourney) 11/30, 12/1

Williamsport (Williams Penn Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1 

 

 

UPCOMING DISTRICT 2 TOP BOYS NON-TOURNEY GAMES

 

FRIDAY, 11/30

Abington Heights at Holy Cross

Carbondale at Elk Lake (Red Wallace Classic)

Holy Redeemer at Scranton

 

SATURDAY, 12/1

Holy Cross at Mountain View

Valley View at Scranton

 

MONDAY, 12/3

Abington Heights at Wyoming Valley West

Dunmore at Scranton

 

TUESDAY, 12/4

Crestwood at Holy Redeemer

Hazleton at Pocono Mountain East

Pittston at Holy Cross

 

WEDNESDAY, 12/5

Dunmore at Abington Heights

Lake-Lehman at Wilkes-Barre GAR

Mountain View at Dallas

 

THURSDAY, 12/6

Dallas at Wyoming Seminary

Wyoming Valley West at Holy Redeemer

Shamokin at Williamsport

 

 

LLHOOPS NEP BEAT 2006-2007 SEASON AWARDS (RECAP)

District 2 Boys Team of the Year (Bishop Hoban, 30-1 overall record)

WVC Boys Player of the Year (Mike DeMarco, Hazleton Area)

WVC Boys Coach of the Year (Mike Joseph, Hazleton Area)

LL Boys Player of the Year (Rob Johnson, Mountain View)

LL Boys Coach of the Year (Ron Rowe, Honesdale)

 

District 2 Girls Team of the Year (Nanticoke, 27-3 overall)

WVC Girls Player of the Year (Aly Byorick, Nanticoke)

WVC Girls Coach of the Year (Abe Simon, Bishop OReilly)

LL Girls Player of the Year (Becky Burke, Abington Heights)

LL Girls Coach of the Year (Pat Ferguson, Scranton)

 

Boys 4A All-State Third Team (Mike DeMarco, Hazleton Area)

Boys 1A All-State Third Team (Jim DeStefano, Old Forge)

Girls 4A All-State First Team (Becky Burke, Abington Heights)

Girls 3A All-State First Team (Aly Byorick, Nanticoke)

Girls 3A All-State Third Team (Sarah Acker, Nanticoke)

Girls 2A All-State Third Team (Lauren Carra, Dunmore)

Girls 1A All-State Third Team (Marissa Chesnavich, Bishop OReilly) 

 

 

HOLY CROSS AND HOLY REDEEMER SET TO BEGIN NEW CHAPTERS

As announced last school year, a total of six high schools were part of the reorganization within the Scranton Diocese educational system.  In Luzerne County, Bishop Hafey (Hazleton), Seton Catholic (Pittston), and Bishop OReilly (Kingston) all were closed and merged into the Bishop Hoban building (Wilkes-Barre) under the new name of Holy Redeemer.  The newly nicknamed Royals will compete in the AAA classification in both boys and girls basketball.  High tension prevailed leading up to the announcement of the newly appointed basketball coaches as several qualified candidates from the closing schools interviewed for the positions.  Despite leading Bishop Hoban to a 58-2 record over two seasons, Matt Choman was edged out by equally successful Bishop OReilly head coach Mark Belinski who lead the Queensmen to state 1A titles in 2004 and 2005.  On the girls side, Rich Nemetz was named the head coach for Holy Redeemer. 

 

In Lackawanna County, Bishop Hannan and Bishop OHara merged their schools under the new name Holy Cross, although both school facilities will be utilized for now.  The newly created Crusader boys program will be led by 15-year OHara veteran coach Al Callejas while the girls squad will be headed by longtime Hannan coach Barry Fitzgerald.  Holy Cross will compete in the AA classification.  Although there were many question marks about how many hoops athletes would actually enroll into the newly formed high schools, early indications are that these programs are ready to hit the court running and will see immediate success.  No doubt that every coaching roster decision and lineup move will be highly critiqued, particularly considering the emotionally charged paths that these school closings traveled.  Hopefully, competitive spirit and non-partisan decision-making will prevail to fairly lead the way.

 

 

OTHER DISTRICT 2 COACHING MOVES

At Scranton Prep, boys coach John Kopicki (6 years, 108-58) left the program and was replaced by Prep girls coach Joe Ferguson who led the Classics to several winning seasons.  Ferguson was then replaced by Honesdale girls coach Roy Gibbs with local hoops standout Taryn Mellody moving in to assist Gibbs on the bench.  In Carbondale, Landon Gabriel replaces Joe Farrell and seeks to lead the Chargers back to the glory days as seen in the Glen Moskoski era.  At Mountain View, Pat Heaton (73-36) left the boys program to take a teaching position and to guide the Pocono Mountain East boys team.  Former freshman West Scranton coach Chris Evans moves in to take on the challenge of directing the Eagles program.  Elsewhere, Lackawanna Trail named Andrew Ketter as their boys head coach and Wyoming Area named Michael Judge girls head coach to replace Cathy Healy.

 

 

DUNMORE COACH RETURNS IN SURPISING REVERSAL

Most basketball observers expected 500 win Dunmore girls coach Ross Macciocco to be out of a coaching position following his retirement last year.  That is due to a union agreement which stipulates that qualified candidates receive consideration above non-union personnel.  When Bishop OHara girls basketball coach Jeanne DeSantis applied for the Dunmore position, the appointment seemed to be a mere formality.  However, with DeSantis expecting a child this fall, she decided to withdraw her application, paving the way for Macciocco to continue his tenure as one of the most successful coaches in the state.  This year Dunmore returns one of the strongest girls teams in the entire district led by Lauren Carra, Courtney Clark, and Taylor Pallotta.  Macciocco has stated that he would love to coach this current group through their senior season.      

 

 

PIAA 2008-2010 ENROLLMENT CHANGES IMPACT FEW SCHOOLS

The new PIAA boys and girls basketball classifications were announced earlier this month.  On the boys side, Lake-Lehman saw their enrollment drop by 3 students, but ironically ended up 5 students above the new classification cutoff and will move up from 2A to 3A in 2008.  That may also impact the Wyoming Valley Conference alignment because Lake-Lehman currently competes in the small school Division 3.  Elsewhere, Abington Heights reported an astonishing drop of 124 male students and will drop down next year to 3A for the first time in memory.  Conversely, but not as surprising, Hazleton Area continued to see enormous growth, adding 132 boys to their enrollment.  On the girls side, both Susquehanna and West Side Tech will drop from 2A down to 1A.  Pittston, whose enrollment was boosted by the closing of Seton Catholic, came in 9 students above the cutoff and moves up from 3A to 4A.  Abington Heights stays in 4A, but it was close, by a mere 4 students.  Hazleton gained 161 students on the girls side (that is a total of 293 additional students in the two-year PIAA cycle, for a combined school enrollment of 2,831).  One other footnote to mention.  The boys 4A classification next year will have only six teams (five from District 2 plus Williamsport from District 4).  Although the local committee managed to snag a second state qualifying position two year ago (thanks to D-3 giving up one of theirs), it is going to be very difficult to pull this feat again.  Hopefully, local big schools will not be faced with having to play in a combined subregional with District 11 (as occurs already in the state football playoffs).          

 

 

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER STUDENT CENTER DEDICATED AT PREP

A much-anticipated and long-awaited $12 million dollar student center was unveiled this year to complement the impressive Arts and Science Center and school Theater at Scranton Prep high school.  In all, $24 million was spent to equip Prep with all of the latest technology.  The Xavier Center features a one-tenth mile long elevated track above the gym that holds three practice courts and seating for over 1,200 fans.  Last season Prep was forced to play all their games away from their home school as the former Larkin Center was being demolished.

 

 

DISTRICT 2 TOURNAMENT NEWS

As was announced at their November District 2 committee meeting, the open-tournament format will continue for the 2007-2008 playoff season.  Although coaches hold their breath each playoff season, this format has actually proven successful and resulted in fewer upsets along the way than anticipated.  Many observers (including myself) do wish that some minimum thresholds were established, such as having to win 50% of league or overall games.  After all postseason playoff competition should be a reward for some level of achievement, not freely handed out just for lacing up the sneakers and hitting the hardwood on November 30.  Few would argue that point.  The athletic directors must do a better job to carefully review their programs and make opt-in or out decisions based on their team performance, and not view it as a vote for or against the effort and determination they possess.  The enormous challenge the committee faces is how to seed teams fairly based on differing number of league games played and wildly varying strength of non-league schedules.  But, as a governing body, the have an obligation to continually review this process and strive to make it better in every way possible. 

 

Every year it seems that momentum starts building for staging a District 2 Championship Saturday which would feature all four title matchups.  It is an event that so many local hoop junkies have wished would happen someday, but a quick glance at the Wachovia Arena schedule shows that February 22 and 23 are already booked to host Professional Bull Riding.  And you do not have to guess what my thoughts are on that discovery.                    

 

 

SCRANTON REMAINS AMONG ELITE CYO STATE PROGRAMS

This past April, the St. Paul Crusaders (Scranton) participated in their 20th trip to the state CYO boys basketball tournament held at Gannon University in Erie.  The Crusaders, coached by former Bishop Hannan assistant Ryan McGowan, played a classic blend of rebounding, defense, and pushing the ball up the floor in running their season record to 32-1 and capturing their sixth state junior high championship.  They defeated St. Leo (Lancaster) 50-36, St. Ignatius (Allentown) 48-33, and Our Lady Christian (Erie) 50-47, paced by their spectacular leader Nick Healy.  Congratulations Crusaders!     

 

 

2007-2008 SEASON TIP-OFF GIRLS TOURNAMENTS

 

Hazleton, Nanticoke, Cheltenham, Abington Heights (Cougar Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

Berwick (Pocono Mountain East Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

Blue Ridge (Lewisburg Tourney) 11/30, 12/1

Carbondale, Wallenpaupack, Honesdale, Western Wayne (Rotary) 11/30, 12/1

Wyoming Valley West, Dallas (Tip-Off Tourney) 12/1, 12/4

Dunmore, Scranton Prep, Scranton (Feldman, Marywood Univ.) 11/30, 12/1

Tunkhannock, Elk Lake, Susquehanna (Lady Hoopsters) 11/30, 12/1

Hanover (Central Columbia Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

Lake-Lehman, Lackawanna Trail, Mt. View (Tip-Off Tourney) 11/30, 12/1

MMI (Tip-Off Tourney) 11/30, 12/1

Northwest (Five Mountain Shootout) 11/30, 12/1

Old Forge, Pittston, Wyoming Area (Maresco Memorial) 12/1, 12/2

Williamsport (Hughesville Tip-Off) 11/30, 12/1

 

 

UPCOMING DISTRICT 2 TOP GIRLS NON-TOURNEY GAMES

 

FRIDAY, 11/30

Dallas at Marian Catholic

 

SATURDAY, 12/1

Crestwood at Holy Redeemer

 

MONDAY, 12/3

Montrose at Scranton Prep

North Schuylkill at Nanticoke

 

TUESDAY, 12/4

North Pocono at Dunmore

Pocono Mountain East at Hazleton

 

WEDNESDAY, 12/5

Hazleton at Scranton

State College at Holy Redeemer

 

THURSDAY, 12/6

Williamsport at Wyoming Valley West

 

 

 

That’s it for the preseason edition of the NEP Beat.  See you next time!

 

Question or Comments, email us at LLHoops.NEP-Beat@att.net

 

Jon K.