UPDATED 12/11/07

 

If one word describes the prevailing theme across District 2 basketball this year, that word would be parity.  There are very few division races that will not be a battle right to the finish line.  And in the end that makes for exciting basketball.  League play gets underway next week.  Team and division race previews will be posted next Tuesday.  Also, the District 2 Top 10 rankings will be unveiled next week.  This past week the Northeast Beat was on location at Abington Heights for their game against Holy Redeemer.  Mark Belinski coached teams always seem to have a thought-provoking message written on their warm-up t-shirts and this year is no different.  The focus is on Reputation and outlines the three names a player will acquire.  This first is that which is inherited, the second is the name parents choose to give, and the third is the name that the player makes for himself.  Those words of wisdom could cause us all to pause and reflect on our own reputations in the world.  There are plenty of top matchups this week, so take a break from the holiday chaos and get out to a local game to enjoy the atmosphere of high school basketball.  The good thing about local hoops is that if one light goes out, the rest remain lit (unless of course you happen to be at last Saturday’s Hazleton vs. Williamsport girls game). 

 

The obvious benefit from playing a challenging non-league portion of the schedule is that it gives squads immediate feedback and ample opportunity to make changes before the league season gets underway.  And with conference play fast approaching, coaches got a few more chances last week to take a mulligan without any lasting negative consequences.  Let’s meander through the district exhibition highlights from last week with a focus on some of the top teams.  Finally, a good luck wish to the Dunmore Bucks who will be representing District 2 in the Class AA football state championships this Saturday at Hershey.

 

 

 

WVC AREA BOYS ACTION AND IN-THE-CLUTCH CAGER PERFORMANCES

Starting in the Wyoming Valley Conference, one team that has done a fine job to get themselves up off the floor, following an 0-2 start, is Wyoming Valley West.  The Spartans have a nice balance of experience and intensity, which helped them to win three games last week.  First, they bolted out to an 11-2 lead over Abington Heights and held on for a 43-40 win.  Jack Crossin scored 18 and Justin Pacovsky had 13.  That same duo combined for 27 points when WVW rallied from a 16 point deficit to edge highly-regarded Holy Redeemer (from WVC Division 2) 59-55 in overtime.  In the loss, the Royals got 19 each from their big men, Owen Wignot and Pete Alexis.  Finally, the Spartans defeated Scranton Monday night by a score of 56-48.  Other WVC Division 1 challengers, Hazleton Area and Crestwood, bounced back following disappointing losses last week.  Hazleton Area had taken a 66-64 lead over Pocono Mountain East in the closing seconds, but committed a foul on a final trey attempt at the buzzer.  With no time left on the clock, PM-East nailed back-to-back-to back foul shots to shock the Cougars 67-66.  Hazleton continued their road tour with a stop at Council Rock North (coached by Derek Wright, brother of Villanova coach Jay Wright) on Saturday.  Mike Joseph is certainly hoping that his team’s kicked-up defense, better rebounding, and fewer turnovers are an indication of future Cougar success.  In any event, he has got to love the solid effort and decision-making from his senior center JJ Gundry who scored 24 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and converted six free throws in the final period.  The Cougars have another stiff tough road test at Wilkes-Barre GAR Wednesday night.  Crestwood, maybe the most balanced team in the entire division, got past Meyers 57-32 and powerful GAR (48-42).  But, but in their showdown against Holy Redeemer, they lost their senior 6-5 center Kyle Bogumil at the 6:30 mark of the first period (right ankle injury) and dropped a 54-41 loss to the Royals.  Adam Fazzini (18 points) tried to take up the slack, but could not contain the sometimes streaky Holy Redeemer offense.  Mark Belinski coached teams usually feature a couple winning trademarks, that of a strong inside game and precision ball handling.  Though, they have shown flashes of those at times, they have delivered them with any consistency so far.  However, with a talented lineup that features terrific guard play (Greg Sam, 16 points), budding inside dominance (6-9 Pete Alexis, 12 points), and an electrifying playmaker (Owen Wignot, 16 points), it’s not tough to see where this team is headed in our debut rankings next week.  They made a Saturday afternoon trip to Clarks Summit to play Abington Heights.  After being deadlocked at halftime (21-21), the Royals went on a 12-0 run to go up 33-23 midway through the third period.  After being held in check through much of the first half, Wignot drove the baseline with authority and made a tremendous slam dunk.  The Comets had an uncharacteristic number of turnovers in the game.

 

In the WVC Division 2, many expect that Holy Redeemer will be severely challenged by Wilkes-Barre GAR.  The Grenadiers defeated Montrose 63-53 (Tyseane Whitt 20 points), Lake-Lehman 67-39 (Whitt 12), Northwest 67-32 (Whitt 22, Ryan Womack 21), and Susquehanna 74-46.  In that game, Tyseane Whitt scored his 1,000 career point.  Congratulations Tyseane!  The Dallas Mountaineers are another balanced division team.  They took a commanding 16-0 lead over Tunkhannock and won easily, 62-29 (Pat Murray scored 20 points for the Mounts).  Dallas also got a solid win over Pittston 55-51 as Henry Messinger scored 17, while Pat Murray and Myer Messinger each had 15.  Matt Zera scored 20 for the Patriots.  Elsewhere, Wyoming Area got 24 from Bernard Edmonds and defeated Tunkhannock (59-54).  The Warriors also edged Lake-Lehman in the Marseco tourney consolation, 52-48 in overtime.  Another team that cannot be taken too lightly is Nanticoke.  The Trojans hit 10 treys (Sam Bieski 19) in a 63-37 win over Lake-Lehman.  They also slipped by Pittston, 69-67 as Bieski scored 22 (Zera had 21 for Pittston). 

 

In the WVC Division 3, Wyoming Seminary continues to play very well.  They placed 4 players in double figures in their 51-34 win over Dallas.  Then they took a 21-4 lead at halftime and defeated Tunkhannock 40-29 (Matt Alvardo 18).  In other action, Billy Winter (Northwest) scored 22 points in a 64-42 win over Benton.  Also, Pottsville edged Hanover in overtime 53-51.  No doubt that the biggest news in the division came from one of the smallest schools, Freeland MMI Prep.  Their sensational junior Tyler Breznitsky scored 23 points in a close loss to nearby Weatherly (47-43), but hit for 30 in an exciting 76-69 win over Panther Valley.  The win over PV was special because Tyler Breznitsky scored his 1,000 point, only the third time a player hit 1,000 points for MMI (Dr. Keith Brazzo and all-time Prepper scored Jim Lundy with 1,644 points).  Lundy, you may recall was on that memorable 1973 state championship team. 

 

 

 

LL AREA BOYS ACTION AND IN-THE-CLUTCH CAGER PERFORMANCES

Moving up to the Lackawanna League, Scranton Prep opened their new basketball facility (Xavier Center) with a 70-34 win over Meyers (Chris Dende scored 23 points).  Delaware Valley got 28 points from Jacinto Russo, but dropped a 64-53 loss to Stroudsburg (who hit 23 of 30 free throw attempts).  Abington Heights held off hot shooting Dunmore (hit 8 treys) 44-36 as Spencer Liddic hit 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.  Scranton defeated Riverside 47-38, but then got trounced by Pocono Mountain East, 69-43. 

 

In Division 2, Old Forge notched wins over Northwest (48-35), West Scranton (45-42), and delivered some revenge against Reading Central Catholic (who ended their playoff season last year) 45-36 as Mark Alexander scored 16 points.  The Blue Devils first loss of the year came to Mountain View as Pat Lambert hit for 15 for the Eagles in their 50-44 victory.  Holy Cross continues to develop their lineup, defeating Pittston 64-40 (Mark Bevaqua 21) and Notre Dame ES 56-38 (Nico Fricchione 19).  Though some expect the Crusaders to be an immediate state powerhouse, this season should be more of a division challenger.  Elsewhere, both Valley View and Dunmore figure to be in the division race.  The Bucks got by city schools Scranton, 54-42 and West Scranton, 49-47.  The Cougars got 12 apiece from Scott Fenton, Kyle Calachino, and Dave Abdalla in their 43-36 win over West Scranton and held Chris Dende to 18 in their low-scoring 38-31 win over Scranton Prep. 

 

In Division 3, Forest City captured the Finan tourney championship over West Scranton (37-36) as the Invaders missed a trey attempt (partially blocked) at the buzzer.  Jesse Walsh scored a total of 39 points in their two tourney victories.  The Foresters also added a win over Lakeland (Walsh 18) 50-46.  Lackawanna Trail has been getting great efforts from Casey Cathrall and Christian Sunseri in their win over Western Wayne (Cathrall 18 points, 12 rebounds) and home tourney wins over Mid Valley (Cathrall 17, Sunseri 16) and Blue Ridge (Sunseri 18).  Elk Lake defeated Wyalusing 66-49 (Jeff Madrak 20 points) and Athens 58-52 (Madrak 31).  Elsewhere, Lincoln Gabriel (24 points) paced Carbondale in their 50-48 win over Wallenpauapck and Kirk Fallon scored 31 points as Susquehanna edged Honesdale, 56-53.      

 

 

WILLIAMSPORT BOUNCES BACK WITH BACK-TO-BACK VICTORIES

The Millionaires, who bring back just one starter and little overall height, evened their record at 2-2 with a pair of wins last week.  They got 17 points from forward Dontahe Jordan, 16 from newcomer junior forward Isiah Twine, and 12 from reserve Darryl Worthy to roll over Shamokin, 69-53.  Williamsport also added a 64-50 win over Horseheads (NY) as they placed four players in double figures (Twine 13, Jordan 21, Jadiah Lynch 14, and Sean Ruane 14).  The Millionaires are back in action Wednesday night at Wyoming Valley West before entertaining State College Saturday evening.      

                         

          

 

THIS WEEK’S DISTRICT 2 TOP BOYS GAMES

 

TUESDAY, 12/11

Dallas at Forest City

Mountain View at Abington Heights

Lackawanna Trail at Dunmore

Holy Redeemer at Notre Dame East Stroudsburg

Montrose at Tunkhannock

North Pocono at Valley View

 

WEDNESDAY, 12/12

Hazleton Area at Wilkes-Barre GAR

Crestwood at Pocono Mountain East

Williamsport at Wyoming Valley West

 

THURSDAY, 12/13

Wyoming Seminary at Lackawanna Trail

Abington Heights at Valley View

Holy Cross at Forest City

 

FRIDAY, 12/14

Scranton Prep at Holy Redeemer

Old Forge at Notre Dame East Stroudsburg

 

SATURDAY, 12/15

Berwick at Dallas

Crestwood at Mahanoy Area

Holy Cross at Delaware Valley

West Scranton at Forest City

Valley View at Lackawanna Trail

Scranton at Mountain View

State College at Williamsport 

 

MONDAY, 12/17

Holy Redeemer at Hazleton Area

Nanticoke at Wyoming Seminary

Forest City at Mountain View (LL Division 3)

 

TUESDAY, 12/18

Wyoming Seminary at Wilkes-Barre GAR

Delaware Valley at Abington Heights (LL Division 1)

Scranton Prep at West Scranton (LL Division 1)

Holy Cross at Dunmore (LL Division 2)

Lackawanna Trail at Elk Lake (LL Division 3)

 

 

 

LLHOOPS NORTHEAST BEAT BOYS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Sean Bieski (6-0, junior, guard) from Nanticoke helped the Trojans to a pair of victories last week.  Sean scored 19 points in their win over Lake-Lehman and then hit for 22 points in their 69-67 upset win over Pittston.

 

Jesse Walsh (6-7, junior, center) from Forest City led his team to the Finan Tourney championship by scoring 27 points and grabbing 18 rebounds against Honesdale and scoring 12 points in a title win over West Scranton.  Jesse then added 18 points in a 50-46 win over Lakeland.     

 

 

 

DISTRICT 2 BOYS BASKETBALL RECORDS

 

WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE

 

DIVISION 1 (exhibition record)

Crestwood (4-1)

Wyoming Valley West (3-2)

Hazleton (2-2)

Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (2-2)

Berwick (2-3)

Tunkhannock (1-3)

Pittston (1-5)

 

 

DIVISION 2

Wilkes-Barre GAR (5-1)

Holy Redeemer (4-1)

Dallas (3-1)

Wyoming Area (2-1)

Nanticoke (2-1)

Wilkes-Barre Meyers (1-3)

Hanover (0-4)

 

 

DIVISION 3

Wyoming Seminary (4-0)

MMI Prep (3-2)

Northwest (1-3)

West Side Tech (0-2)

Lake-Lehman (0-4)

St. Michaels (0-0)

 

 

 

LACKAWANNA LEAGUE

 

DIVISION 1 (exhibition record)

North Pocono (2-0)

Wallenpaupack (2-2)

Abington Heights (2-2)

Scranton Prep (1-1)

Honesdale (2-3)

Scranton (2-4)

Delaware Valley (1-2)

West Scranton (1-5)

 

 

DIVISION 2

Old Forge (5-1)

Valley View (3-1)

Holy Cross (3-1)

Dunmore (2-2)

Riverside (2-3)

Western Wayne (1-2)

Lakeland (0-2)

Mid Valley (0-5)

 

 

DIVISION 3

Elk Lake (3-0)

Forest City (3-0)

Lackawanna Trail (3-1)

Susquehanna (2-1)

Mountain View (1-1)

Blue Ridge (1-2)

Carbondale (1-3)

Montrose (1-3)

 

 

 

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL     GIRLS BASKETBALL     GIRLS BASKETBALL

 

 

WVC AREA GIRLS ACTION AND IN-THE-CLUTCH CAGER PERFORMANCES

Wyoming Valley West gave state-ranked single-A Pottsville Nativity (and their all-state center Angela Altemose) everything they could handle in a 57-53 loss to the Golden Girl in their Tip-Off championship game.  The Lady Spartans had a huge second quarter behind their top sophomore center Sami Himlin (25 points) outscoring Nativity 16-3 to go up by 10 at halftime (28-18).  Pottsville, however, regrouped and stormed back to grab a 44-31 lead.  WVW got another big game from Himlin (16 points) and Nicky Maffei (16 points) to roll over Williamsport 87-41.  Hazleton Area, up 30-15 at halftime, got outscored by Pocono Mountain East, and dropped a 41-38 loss.  The Lady Cougars finally got back in the win column in a big way, defeating Williamsport 64-18 as Alyssa Flanagan returned to their lineup.  A strange footnote to that game resulted in the site being changed at the last minute, from Hazleton HS gym to an elementary facility across town.  A power outage at the school and the fact that Williamsport was already in route caused the bizarre venue change.  Other top WVC Division 1 teams continued to tune up.  Berwick got 21 from Cynthia Halowich and 16 from Lillian Carlin to defeat North Schuylkill.  The Lady Dawgs dropped a close game to East Stroudsburg South as Carly Gallagher scored 27 for the winners.  Pittston defeated Hanover 59-43 as Regina Linskey scored 24 for the Lady Patriots.  In teams from Division 2, Holy Redeemer played a traditional powerhouse State College even most of the way before losing 42-36.  The game was tied at halftime (19-19) and SC had a 32-31 lead after three periods.  Each team featured two highly regarded players.  The Little Lions have Emily Suhey (a 6-1, center, true Division 1 prospect) and the Lady Royals have former top WVC top 2005 freshmen Alyssa Sabolesky.  Dallas continues to impress with a 61-39 win over Tunkhannock (Erin Delaney 21, Dannielle Krawetz 17 for the Lady Mounts) and 52-40 over Pittston (Linskey 21).  But, let’s not discount a now healthy Nanticoke team so fast. The Trojanettes did drop a 63-48 loss to North Schuylkill, but rebounded to defeat Wyoming Valley West 50-43 behind 23 points from Leigh Ann Rentko.  Elsewhere, highly-athletic Wilkes-Barre GAR got 37 points from senior guard Paige Venson (24 in the final  period alone) to nip Crestwood 60-57.  Selana Adamshick scored 20 points as Lake-Lehman defeated Honesdale (57-48) and Allie Scalzo netted 22 as Wyoming Area got by Tunkhannock 57-46.  In Division 3, Brittany Piatt hit 30 points as Northwest rolled over Mid Valley 62-32.      

 

 

LL AREA GIRLS ACTION AND IN-THE-CLUTCH CAGER PERFORMANCES

Division 1 frontrunners continue to play well.  Abington Heights got 24 points from Becky Burke and defeated Montrose, 56-18.  Scranton got three big wins, 50-35 over Hazleton (outscored Hazleton 27-13 in the middle periods), 56-26 over Valley View, and 61-19 over Riverside.  Scranton Prep got balanced scoring from Celia Rader (19 points) and Sarah Walsh (17 points) in their 62-42 win over Montrose. Rader added 18 in the Classics 58-38 win over Cardinal Dougherty.  North Pocono got a pair of wins, 69-32 over Susquehanna and 65-42 over Western Wayne as Katie Cahill scored a combined 41 points in the two victories.  Possibly the biggest upset of the week was produced by West Scranton as the Lady Invaders defeated GAR 43-41 despite the Lady Grenadiers getting 30 points from Paige Venson.  In Division 2, Dunmore got three wins.  First they outscored North Pocono 23-5 in the second half and defeated NP 49-25.  Then, the Lady Bucks rolled over Wallenpauapack 59-22 as Lauren Carra scored 18 points, including her career 1,000 point.  Congratulations Lauren!  Then, Dunmore got an impressive win over Holy Redeemer, 43-35.  Old Forge also remains red-hot with wins over Northwest 44-26, Forest City 47-39, and West Scranton 52-32.  The Lady Devils remained undefeated and are getting great contributions from Kim Kavelle, Aleka Semenza, and Sarah Fife.  Valley View got wins over Honesdale (43-31) and West Scranton (47-39.  But, so did Riverside (wins over Wyoming Seminary and West Scranton) and Holy Cross (over Forest City and Elk Lake).  Lauren Rogan scored 20 points in the Crusaders win over Elk Lake.  In Division 3, Carbondale got 19 from Roseanne Clister and got by Lakeland, 52-41.  Mountain View got 18 from both Kelsey Whitaker and Sara Evans to defeat Mid Valley, 63-50.                       

 

 

 

THIS WEEK’S DISTRICT 2 TOP GIRLS GAMES

 

TUESDAY, 12/11

Abington Heights at Dallas

Holy Redeemer at Scranton

Crestwood at Nanticoke

 

WEDNESDAY, 12/12

Holy Redeemer at Abington Heights

Wyoming Valley West at Scranton Prep

Pocono Mountain East at Valley View

West Scranton at Pocono Mountain West

 

THURSDAY, 12/13

Nanticoke at Berwick

Old Forge at Carbondale

Wilkes-Barre Coughlin at Dallas

Wyoming Area at Pittston

 

FRIDAY, 12/14

Scranton Prep at Hazleton Area

Williamsport at Altoona

 

SATURDAY, 12/15

Scranton at Dunmore

East Stroudsburg North at North Pocono

Pittston at Wilkes-Barre GAR

Valley View at Carbondale

Christ the King (NY) at Abington Heights (date may be changed to 1/5)

 

MONDAY, 12/17

Nanticoke at Pittston

 

TUESDAY, 12/18

Dallas at Hazleton Area

West Scranton at Scranton Prep (LL Division 1)

Dunmore at Holy Cross (LL Division 2)

 

 

 

LLHOOPS NORTHEAST BEAT GIRLS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Paige Venson (6-1 senior guard) from Wilkes-Barre GAR scored 37 points (24 in the fourth period) to defeat Crestwood.  Paige also hit 30 points in a 43-41 loss to West Scranton.

 

Katie Cahill (5-4 senior guard) for North Pocono scored 23 points (4 treys) in a big win over Susquehanna.  Katie also hit 18 points in the Lady Trojans win over Western Wayne. 

 

 

 

DISTRICT 2 GIRLS BASKETBALL RECORDS

 

WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE

 

DIVISION 1 (exhibition record)

Wyoming Valley West (2-3)

Hazleton (2-3)

Pittston (2-2)

Tunkhannock (2-4)

Berwick (2-2)

Crestwood (0-4)

Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (3-1)

 

 

DIVISION 2

Lake-Lehman (4-1)

Wilkes-Barre GAR (3-1)

Holy Redeemer (1-2)

Wyoming Area (3-2)

Dallas (4-1)

Nanticoke (1-3)

 

 

DIVISION 3

Wyoming Seminary (1-3)

Northwest (3-3)

MMI Prep (1-4)

West Side Tech (0-4)

Wilkes-Barre Meyers (1-3)

Hanover (0-4)

 

 

 

LACKAWANNA LEAGUE

 

DIVISION 1 (exhibition record)

Abington Heights (3-0)

North Pocono (4-1)

West Scranton (2-3)

Honesdale (2-3)

Scranton (5-1)

Scranton Prep (3-1)

Wallenpaupack (1-3)

Delaware Valley (1-2)

 

 

DIVISION 2

Dunmore (5-0)

Old Forge (5-0)

Valley View (4-0)

Riverside (2-2)

Mid Valley (1-4)

Holy Cross (2-2)

Lakeland (1-4)

Western Wayne (1-3)

 

 

DIVISION 3

Carbondale (3-0)

Lackawanna Trail (2-2)

Susquehanna (1-2)

Forest City (0-2)

Blue Ridge (1-2)

Montrose (0-3)

Mountain View (2-2)

Elk Lake (0-3)

 

 

 

 

That’s it for this week!

 

See you in the bleachers.

 

Jon K.