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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 2/15/2010 DISTRICT 2 DIVISION RACE UPDATE WYOMING
VALLEY CONFERENCE BOYS DASHBOARD x
– first half champ y
– second half champ DIVISION 1 x-Hazleton
Area (6-0) Crestwood
(6-0) Hazleton Area at Crestwood (Tuesday, 2/16) DIVISION 2 xy-Holy
Redeemer (all-season champion) DIVISION 3 x-Wilkes-Barre
Meyers (6-0) Wilkes-Barre
GAR (5-1) Meyers at Lake-Lehman (Tuesday, 2/16) Hanover Area at
GAR (Tuesday, 2/16) DIVISION 4 x-Wyoming
Seminary (5-1) Northwest
Area (3-2) Northwest Area at Nanticoke (Tuesday,
2/16) St. Michaels at
Wyoming Seminary (Tuesday, 2/16) MMI Prep at
Northwest Area (Thursday, 2/18) LACKAWANNA
LEAGUE BOYS DASHBOARD x
– first half champ y
– second half champ DIVISION 1 West
Scranton (6-0) Abington
Heights (5-1) x-Scranton
(5-1) West Scranton at Scranton (Tuesday, 2/16) Abington Heights
at North Pocono (Tuesday, 2/16) DIVISION 2 Holy
Cross (6-0) x-Dunmore
(5-1) Valley View at Holy Cross (Tuesday, 2/16) Carbondale at
Dunmore (Tuesday, 2/16) DIVISION 3 x-Montrose
(5-1) Lackawanna
Trail (5-1) Elk
Lake (4-2) Mountain
View (4-2) Mountain View at Lackawanna Trail (Tuesday,
2/16) Elk Lake at
Montrose (Tuesday, 2/16) WYOMING VALLEY
CONFERENCE GIRLS DASHBOARD x
– first half champ y - second half champ DIVISION 1 Hazleton
Area (6-0) x-Wyoming
Valley West (5-1) Crestwood at Hazleton Area (Monday, 2/15) Wyoming Valley
West at Pittston (Monday, 2/15) DIVISION 2 xy-Holy
Redeemer (all-season champion) DIVISION 3 x-Lake-Lehman
(6-0) Nanticoke
(5-1) Lake-Lehman at Meyers (Monday, 2/15) Nanticoke at
Northwest Area (Monday, 2/15) DIVISION 4 y-Wyoming
Seminary (5-1) x-Northwest
Area (2-3) LACKAWANNA LEAGUE
GIRLS DASHBOARD x – first half champ y
– second half champ DIVISION 1 x-Abington
Heights (6-0) West
Scranton (5-1) Scranton at West Scranton (Monday, 2/15) North Pocono at
Abington Heights (Tuesday, 2/16) DIVISION 2 xy-Dunmore
(all-season champion) DIVISION 3 x-Montrose
(6-0) Forest
City (5-1) Elk
Lake (5-1) Montrose at Elk Lake (Monday, 2/15) Forest City at
Blue Ridge (Monday, 2/15) Weekly
column will be posted Tuesday.
Additional game wraps and special playoff updates posted throughout
the week. UPDATED 2/12/2010 Schedule changes on key upcoming games
are highlighted below in yellow. “THANK YOU, SENIORS” The
last week of the regular season is typically set aside for special pre-game
ceremonies to thank all the senior members of the basketball programs for
their hard work and dedication. The Northeast Beat would also like to
extend a standing ovation to all of these students and athletes. It’s not just the ball players who deserve
recognition, the cheerleaders, game managers, concession stand workers, and
zany cheering sections all make this happen.
Great job – and best of luck in the upcoming playoffs. UPDATED 2/9/2010 Welcome
back to the Northeast Beat. It’s
hard to believe that the regular season will be wrapping up next
Tuesday. Taking a quick glance around
the boys division standings, in the Wyoming
Valley Conference, Hazleton and Crestwood are both at 4-0 in Division 1 and could be headed toward
another epic showdown next Tuesday on the Comets home floor. Holy Redeemer has a 2-game lead in Division 2 and can lock up the
overall season championship this week.
Wilkes-Barre Meyers got a rare season sweep over city rival GAR and is
positioned to take Division 3 with
a game lead over the Grenadiers. And
Wyoming Seminary is getting terrific play form their guards and leads Division 4 by two full games. In the Lackawanna
League, Abington Heights is tied with West Scranton in Division 1. The Comets will host the Invaders Friday
night in what should be another great, sellout game atmosphere. If West can win that game, they still have
to face their arch rival Scranton next Tuesday. In Division
2, Holy Cross played as close to a flawless game as the NEP Beat has been
all year in rolling over Dunmore last Friday.
The Crusaders certainly have to be wary of Carbondale and Old Forge
this week. In Division 3, a 3-way tie has Montrose, Lackawanna Trail, and Elk
Lake all knotted at 3-1. Although
every game is big now, the most pivotal ones include Trail at Elk Lake Friday
and Montrose hosting Elk Lake next Tuesday.
Checking
out Williamsport’s travels, the
Millionaires got a career night from guard Rafiq Taylor who netted 21 points in a 61-53 win over Danville
(10-5) last week. They outscored the
Ironmen 11-2 over the final minutes to gain the victory. However, the momentum was short-lived as
Central Mountain (12-8) got their first ever win over the Cherry and White,
46-45. Port did battle back from 10
points down in third, but the Wildcats nailed a trey with six ticks left for
the lead. Williamsport was unable to
get a final shot off. Codie Engle scored 19 points in the
loss. The Millionaires have a busy
week, hosting Altoona Thursday, visiting Albany Academy Saturday afternoon,
and then traveling to long-time rival State College next Monday. Over
on the girls’ side, Hazleton gave a resounding “not so fast” to everyone that
had them handing their longtime Wyoming
Valley Conference Division 1 title over to Valley West. The Cougars survived a 4th
period rally by the Lady Spartans and Brianna Dudeck once again pulled
victory from the hands of possible defeat to slip by WVW, 45-41. Could we be in-store another matchup of
these two teams? In Division 2, Holy Redeemer leads
Berwick by a game and could wrap up the all-season title this Thursday. Division
3 has another terrific battle between a trio of very solid teams –
Meyers, Nanticoke, and Lake-Lehman.
Nanticoke hosts Meyers on Thursday and Lake-Lehman finishes up next
Monday at the Lady Mohawks court in Wilkes-Barre. In Division
4, Wyoming Seminary wrapped up the overall championship. In the Lackawanna
League, Abington Heights and West Scranton, both at 5-0, are all set to
battle each other Thursday night in Scranton for the Division 1 lead. Dunmore,
one of the remarkable models of hoops consistency, has a 2-game lead in Division 2. In Division
3, Montrose and Forest City are tied at the top with 5-0 records and will
play each other Thursday in Montrose. The
Williamsport girls played State
College (13-4) very tough for the first half, but 16 second half turnovers
created a gap that was too big to climb out of – the result was a 58-40 loss
to the Lady Lions at the Magic Dome. Despite
the loss, the Lady Millionaires (11-7) will be very competitive in the
District 2/4 AAAA playoffs. Rachel Fatherly scored 21 points and
pulled down 12 rebounds against SC.
This week, the Cherry and White has a pair of road games, at North
Schuylkill Saturday and at Selinsgrove Monday. See
you in the bleachers. THIS WEEK’S
DISTRICT 2 BOYS TOP 10 (games through February 8) 1.
Abington
Heights (18-1) AAA 2.
Holy
Redeemer (18-2) AAA 3.
Hazleton
Area (15-4) AAAA 4.
Scranton
(15-4) AAAA 5.
Holy
Cross (14-4) AA 6.
Crestwood
(16-3) AAA 7.
Dunmore
(15-4) AA 8.
West
Scranton (14-5) AAA 9.
Scranton
Prep (12-7) AAA 10.
Wilkes-Barre Meyers (14-5) AA OTHERS TO WATCH Carbondale
(13-6), Elk Lake (11-8), Hanover (11-8), Lackawanna Trail (13-6), Montrose (18-3),
Mountain View (9-10), Northwest (9-10), Old Forge (11-8), Pittston (10-8),
Riverside (10-9), Tunkhannock (9-10), Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (15-5),
Wilkes-Barre GAR (13-6), Wyoming Seminary (13-5) UPCOMING DISTRICT
2 TOP BOYS GAMES FRIDAY,
2/12 Wyoming
Valley West at Tunkhannock (WVC Div. 1) Pittston
at Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (WVC Div. 1/2 crossover) Dallas
Area at Crestwood (WVC Div. 1/2
crossover) Nanticoke
Area at Wilkes-Barre Meyers (WVC Div. 3) West
Scranton at Abington Heights (LL Div. 1) Carbondale
at Riverside (LL Div. 2) Lackawanna
Trail at Elk Lake (LL Div. 3) Western
Wayne at Mountain View (LL Div. 3) SATURDAY,
2/13 Wallenpaupack at Abington Heights (LL Div. 1) from 2/9 Holy Cross at Old Forge (LL Div. 2) from 2/12 Western Wayne at Lackawanna Trail (LL Div. 3) from 2/9 Williamsport
at Albany Academy Blue Ridge
at Notre Dame East Stroudsburg (non-league) TUESDAY,
2/16 Hazleton
Area at Crestwood (WVC Div. 1) Pittston
Area at Wyoming Valley West (WVC Div. 1) Tunkhannock
at Holy Redeemer (WVC Div. 1/2 crossover) Hanover
Area at Wilkes-Barre GAR (WVC Div. 3) Williamsport
at State College West
Scranton at Scranton (LL Div. 1) Abington
Heights at North Pocono (LL Div. 1) Carbondale
at Dunmore (LL Div. 2) Riverside
at Old Forge (LL Div. 2) Elk Lake
at Montrose (LL Div. 3) Mountain
View at Lackawanna Trail (LL Div. 3) DISTRICT
2 BOYS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE Friday, February 12 Deadline to opt out of tourney Monday, February 22 Pre-Tournament District 2 Meeting Tuesday, February 23 Boys AAA Play-in (if necessary) Wednesday, February 24 Boys AA Play-in (if necessary) Thursday, February 25 Boys AAA First Round Friday, February 26 Boys AA First Round Monday, March 1 Boys A, AAA Quarter-Finals Tuesday, March 2 Boys AA, AAAA Quarter-Finals Wednesday, March 3 Boys A, AAA Semi-Finals Thursday, March 4 Boys AA, AAAA Semi-Finals Friday, March 5 Boys A, AAA Finals, AAA
Consolation Saturday, March 6 Boys AA, AAAA Finals, AA
Consolation DISTRICT
2 BOYS TOP SEEDS AAAA 1. Scranton (15-4) 2. Hazleton Area (15-4) 3. Delaware Valley (6-12) 4. Wyoming Valley West
(6-13) AAA 1. Abington Heights
(10-1) 2. Holy Redeemer (9-1) 3. Crestwood (8-2) 4. West Scranton (8-3) AA 1. Wilkes-Barre Meyers
(10-0) 2. Dunmore (10-1) 3. Holy Cross (10-1) 4. Wyoming Seminary (9-1) A 1. Old Forge (6-5) 2. MMI Prep (4-6) 3. Forest City (2-9) 4. Susquehanna (1-10) LLHOOPS.COM DIST.
2 BOYS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Drew Groblewski (6-3 senior) is a key
reason that Lake-Lehman has been
very competitive this season. Though
the Black Knights have gained just a handful of wins this year, his
dedication to turn their basketball fortunes around may yield big results
over the next few seasons. Drew scored
16 points in a close loss to Hanover Area.
The senior then netted 14 points against Northwest Area, again a
matchup in which they came up just a bit short. Pat Purcell (6-1 senior center)
is a big reason that Holy Cross is
once again on top of the Lackawanna League Division 2 standings. Pat netted 10 points in a hard-fought 44-39
victory over Riverside. Then, on
Friday night before a sellout crowd, the senior scored 22 points in a near
flawless performance by the Crusaders, topping Dunmore by a 69-39 score. DISTRICT 2 BOYS
RECAP AND ANALYSIS WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE Team (second half record, first
half, overall) x–won
first half title DIVISION 1 x-Hazleton Area (4-0, 5-1, 15-4) Crestwood
(4-0, 4-2, 16-3) Tunkhannock
(2-2, 2-4, 9-10) Pittston
(1-3, 4-2, 10-8) Wyoming
Valley West (1-3, 2-4, 6-13) Hazleton
Area and Crestwood remain knotted at the top of Division 1 and could be headed toward another sellout
confrontation in Mountaintop next Tuesday.
Last week, Hazleton jumped out to a 36-16 advantage over Dallas, but
the Mountaineers rallied with a 15-0 stretch to make the game
interesting. Paris Cleveland (16 points) had his typical solid performance,
but it was the play of DJ Myers
who scored 12 points off the bench and helped ignite a 17-2 Cougar run that
secured the 61-39 victory. Adam Davis added 10, while Hunter Englehart led the Mounts with
11. The Cougars then headed to
Plymouth for a matchup with dangerous Wyoming Valley West. The Spartans got tremendous efforts from Eugene Lewis (29 points) and Jim Smicherko (18), but it was the
breakout scoring from Hazleton’s Adam
Davis (24 points) and a 20-12 second quarter spurt that was the
difference. Mike Joseph’s squad also
stepped out of league play last Wednesday for a showdown with District 11
AAAA contender Pocono Mountain West.
The Cougars got 18 from Cleveland
that night and had a 36-34 lead after three periods. But, the Panthers, paced by the scoring of Keon Scott (13 points), clawed their
way to a 52-47 win. The game
definitely had a postseason vibration which is important heading toward
district playoffs. Crestwood also
added a pair of solid road wins last week, improving their season mark to a
lofty 16-3. The Comets appeared to
have a comfortable lead (37-24) over Pittston on a night when the Patriots
were minus 3 players, including starter Dwight
Houseman. Despite their double
digit deficit, Pittston played terrific defense, forced several
uncharacteristic Crestwood turnovers, and cut the gap to a single point with
11 ticks left. A pair of key free
throws by Jon Wojnar (14 points)
widened the lead to 3 points. The
Patriots then had a chance to force overtime, but missed a trey at the
buzzer. Mike Abramcheck scored 14 for the Comets, while Pat Callahan netted 14 for the
Pats. On Friday night, Crestwood
jumped out to a 23-15 lead after the first quarter and came away with a
hard-fought 64-51 win at Tunkhannock. Eric Jesikiewicz scored 26 for
Crestwood and John Lashko added
15. For the Tigers, Mike Callum and Mike Papi combined to register 31 points. The Tigers did pick up a 64-34 win over
Berwick as Rich Condeelis scored 14 for Tunkhannock. Elsewhere, Wyoming Valley West and Pittston
both dropped crossover games to Holy Redeemer. Eugene
Lewis had another fantastic game, netting 26 points in a 76-67 loss to
the Royals. And Pittston got balanced
scoring from Mike McGarry (18), Pat Callahan (17), and Kendric Wiggins (16) as their rally
fell short in a 66-55 loss to Holy Redeemer.
This week, Pittston hosts Tunkhannock Tuesday night while Hazleton
entertains Wilkes-Barre Coughlin in a big crossover game. Crestwood hosts a pair of crossover games
this week – against Wyoming Area Tuesday and Dallas on Friday. Also on Friday, WVW travels to play
Tunkhannock. The marquee showdown of
the half could take place next Tuesday as Crestwood hosts Hazleton Area. DIVISION 2 x-Holy Redeemer (4-0, 5-1, 18-2) Wilkes-Barre
Coughlin (2-2, 5-1, 15-5) Dallas
(2-2, 2-4, 8-10) Berwick
(0-4, 0-6, 2-17) Wyoming
Area (0-4, 1-5, 1-18) The
way Holy Redeemer is playing, the Royals are looking poised to grab Division 2 honors, having a 2-game
lead over Wilkes-Barre Coughlin and Dallas.
They continue to get phenomenal scoring from 6-11 junior Peter Alexis. He scored 28 points in a 76-67 crossover
win over Wyoming Valley West. Mike Zurek added 14 and Zach Ell scored 13. The only negative in that win was that both
teams combined to only convert 20 of 44 free throws. Alexis
then netted 25 and Austin Carr
added 14 as the Royals jumped out to a seemingly safe 42-27 advantage after
three stanzas at Pittston Area on Thursday.
Some big three-pointers by the Patriots closed the gap to 7 points
with less than four minutes remaining, but Holy Redeemer was able to secure
the 66-55 victory. Pittston scored an
amazing 28 final period points after logging just 27 in the first three. Wilkes-Barre Coughlin added two wins. First, they pulled away from a 10-10 tie
after one quarter to Wyoming Area for a 50-33 win as Joe Caffrey and Brett
Warren combined to score 24 points.
The same duo scored 26 points in a 48-34 win over Berwick. Dallas got 13 from Chris Dailey and 12 from Shane
Dunn to defeat Wyoming Area. 50-35.
Ryan Carey netted 10 for
the Warriors (he added 13 more in a non-league loss to Wyoming Seminary,
42-31). This week, Holy Redeemer can
wrap up the all-season title if they can top Berwick Tuesday and Wyoming Area
on Friday. Despite the apparent lack
of drama in Division 2, there are some interesting games that could impact
the Division 1 race. On Tuesday,
Coughlin visits Hazleton Area before hosting Pittston in a great preview of
what could be a tough AAA playoff race.
Friday night, Dallas heads to play at Crestwood. And next Tuesday, Holy Redeemer hosts
Tunkhannock in what should be another excellent playoff tune-up. DIVISION 3 x-Wilkes-Barre Meyers (4-0, 6-0,
14-5) Wilkes-Barre
GAR (3-1, 5-1, 13-6) Hanover
(2-2, 4-2, 11-8) Nanticoke
(2-2, 2-4, 5-14) Lake-Lehman
(1-3, 1-5, 4-15) Wilkes-Barre
Meyers remained undefeated in Division
3 second half play. They got 13
points each from Nahjee Brown and Eddie Walters in a tough 46-34
crossover win over Northwest. The
Mohawks only led by a single point (33-32) after three periods in that
one. Then, on Friday night, they
secured a rare season sweep over their bitter rival, Wilkes-Barre GAR, 48-40
as they again rallied from an identical 33-32 deficit after three quarters. Trailing 35-34 in the 4th,
Meyers ran off a 10-0 run to secure the emotional win as Naquan Spicer netted 12.
GAR is now a game back, gaining a 70-29 crossover win over St.
Michaels last week as Darrell Crawford
scored 18 and Christian Skrepenak
added 12. Elsewhere, Hanover Area
picked up a pair on wins last week. The
Hawks got balanced team scoring (O’Donnell
12, Colorusso 11, Jendrzejewski 11, and Balas 10) in defeating Lake-Lehman
51-44 (Drew Groblewski had 16 for
the Black Knights). Hanover also added
a big overtime win over Nanticoke 40-37 as they rallied from a 26-14 deficit
after three quarters (Nate
Jendrzejewski netted 10). Jarad Kmietowicz scored 13 for the
Trojans in the loss. Nanticoke also
got a crossover win last week. They
trailed MMI Prep at halftime (20-19) but defeated the Preppers, 44-33 as Cael Evans scored 18. Elsewhere, also in crossover play,
Lake-Lehman got 5 treys from Rob Evans
(15 points) and 14 from Groblewski in
a 62-54 loss to Northwest. This week
there are several key games on tap.
Tuesday, GAR visits Wyoming Seminary in a great crossover game and
Meyers hosts St Michaels. Friday, the
Mohawks entertain Nanticoke in a key game while GAR hosts MMI. Next Tuesday, Meyers travels to Lake-Lehman
and Hanover plays at GAR.
DIVISION 4 x-Wyoming Seminary (4-0, 5-1,
13-5) Northwest
(2-2, 3-3, 9-10) MMI Prep
(1-3, 3-3, 6-13) West Side
Tech (1-3, 1-5, 3-11) St.
Michaels (0-4, 0-6, 1-11) Wyoming
Seminary leads Division 4 by two
full games over Northwest Area. The
Blue Knights got a 54-35 win over West Side Tech as Will Moore scored 12. They
then got a great game from Mike Voitik
(19 points, 5 treys) in a 66-34 win over MMI Prep. Northwest dropped a 46-34 crossover loss to
Meyers as Steve Merth and Tom Noss combined to score 17
points. The Rangers then got 13 from Merth and 14 from Shawn Hillard in a 62-54 crossover
win over Lake-Lehman. Elsewhere, West
Side Tech got 19 from Isaiah Giray
and 16 from Cody Eshleman to
defeat St. Michaels (Corey Prince
had 26). In non-league action, Wyoming
Seminary topped Wyoming Area 42-31 as Emmanuel
Lewis netted 15 and Kai Smith added
10. This week, Wyoming Seminary hosts
GAR in a good crossover game while Northwest entertains MMI Prep. On Friday, Seminary plays Lake-Lehman in
what could be an interesting crossover game while Northwest plays West Side
Tech. Next Tuesday, Northwest finishes
with a big game at Nanticoke Area. LACKAWANNA LEAGUE Team (second half record, first
half, overall) x–won
first half title DIVISION 1 Abington
Heights (4-0, 6-1, 18-1) West
Scranton (4-0, 4-3, 14-5) x-Scranton (3-1, 7-0, 15-4) Scranton
Prep (2-2, 5-2, 12-7) Delaware
Valley (2-2, 1-6, 6-12) North
Pocono (1-3, 3-4, 8-11) Honesdale
(0-4, 1-6, 6-13) Wallenpaupack
(0-4, 1-6, 4-15) Abington
Heights is tied at the top of Division
1 with West Scranton. Scranton
only trails by a game. Abington
Heights got balanced scoring from Ross
Danzig (13), Ryan Vassil (11),
and Nate Basalyga (12 points plus
14 rebounds) in a 63-21 defeat over Honesdale. On Friday, the Comets bounced back from a
8-2 deficit after the first quarter to top Scranton Prep 49-30 as Danzig netted 20 (Leo Walsh had 10 for the
Cavaliers). West Scranton kept pace
also getting good balance from Tom
Horan (19), Matt Langan (13),
and Malcolm Sweeting (13) to get
by Delaware Valley 62-47. The Warriors
got 18 points from Hakeem Armstrong
and 13 from Brandon Angradi. The Invaders also added a 62-45 win over
North Pocono as Horan netted 25
(with 15 caroms) while Tyler Hughes
contributed 13 points. Frank DePietro scored 14 for the Trojans. Scranton is back strong after their loss to
Abington Heights with a pair of impressive blowout wins. First, they got 22 points from Terry Turner, 12 from Malik Draper, and 11 from Joe McCarthy in a 71-41 win over
Scranton Prep (Pat Kilduff had 12
for Prep). Then, on Friday, Turner had a monster night scoring a
school record 35 points (plus 21 rebounds) in a 92-66 win over
Honesdale. Nick Joyal had 21 for the Hornets. Elsewhere, Scranton Prep played great
defense and jumped out to a 36-19 lead on North Pocono. The Cavs got a solid night from Roland Trainor underneath (13 points)
and also from freshman Karlon Quiller
(10 points) in the 64-44 victory. Jack Williams scored 13 for NP. Finally, Delaware Valley picked up their
second win of the half by pulling away from Wallenpaupack in the third period
to defeat the Buckhorns 65-57. Brendon Sheldon scored 21 and Brandon Angradi added 17 for the
Warriors. Isaiah Slutter netted 25 for Paupack. The homestretch in Division 1 should be
very interesting. On paper, the
pivotal game is Friday night in Clarks Summit as Abington Heights hosts West
Scranton in a showdown of 4-0 teams.
To get there, the Comets must get by Paupack at home Tuesday and the
Invaders must survive an always tough trip to Honesdale. Next Tuesday, Scranton hosts West Scranton
in what is always a loud, emotional matchup.
The same night, Abington Heights travels to play North Pocono. DIVISION 2 Holy Cross
(4-0, 6-1, 14-4) x-Dunmore (3-1, 7-0, 15-4) Carbondale
(3-1, 3-4, 13-6) Old Forge
(3-1, 3-4, 11-8) Riverside
(2-2, 5-2, 10-9) Valley
View (1-3, 3-4, 4-14) Mid Valley
(0-4, 0-7, 4-15) Lakeland
(0-4, 1-6, 2-16) In
Division 3, Holy Cross played as
close to a flawless game as possible in halting Dunmore’s 12-game winning
streak and taking over sole possession of the second half race. It was one of those nights when all the
pieces came together for the Crusaders – the 69-39 victory made all the more
satisfying after consecutive losses to the Bucks earlier this year. Holy Cross jumped out to an incredible 25-9
lead after the first period, stunning the always lively and creative Dunmore
cheering section. Holy Cross was not
about to be denied as they kept up a tenacious defense forcing many Buck
turnovers while their own high percentage shots kept falling. On the game Pat Purcell netted 22, Brett
Podhyski 19, Eric O’Hora 12,
and Louis Cipriano 10. The Crusaders hit 5 of their 7 treys while
blanking Dunmore on their 3-point attempts (0 of 13). Earlier in the week, Holy Cross added a win
over Riverside (44-39) though the Vikings only trailed by a single point
after three periods. Pat Purcell and Josh Kosin each scored 10.
Tom Armillary netted 15 for
Riverside. Also last week, Dunmore
topped Valley 70-51 as Jake Rowland scored
28 and Pat Ross added 18. Tied with Dunmore, Carbondale and Old Forge
are also a game behind Holy Cross.
Carbondale got 27 points from Michael
Jordan in a 69-42 win over Lakeland.
Old Forge took a quick lead on Mid Valley and topped the Spartans
39-27 as Tony Goodall scored
15. Then, last Friday Old Forge pulled
away from Carbondale in the 3rd quarter with a 15-2 run and
defeated the (then) undefeated Chargers 42-26. Tony
Goodall and Malkolm Blackshear
combined to score 23 points.
Elsewhere, Riverside bolted out to a 19-5 lead on Mid Valley on got 27
combined points from Tom Armillay
and Michael King in a 51-39
win. And Matt Prusinski netted 16 and Cory
Callejas 15 in Valley View’s 69-61 victory over Lakeland (Kyle Kiehart had 26 for the
Chiefs). Heading into the final three
league games, Holy Cross would appear to have all the momentum, but anything
can happen. On Tuesday, Carbondale
visits Holy Cross while Dunmore travels to Valley View. Friday brings Holy Cross to Old Forge where
a capacity crowd should be on hand for that one. Lakeland will host Dunmore the same night. Next Tuesday, Dunmore entertains Carbondale
and the backyard brawl renews itself as Riverside invades the Devils Den in
Old Forge. DIVISION 3 x-Montrose (3-1, 6-1, 18-3) Lackawanna
Trail (3-1, 6-1, 13-6) Elk Lake
(3-1, 6-1, 11-8) Mountain
View (3-1, 4-3, 9-10) Western
Wayne (2-1, 2-5, 6-12) Blue Ridge
(1-3, 2-5, 6-12) Forest
City (1-3, 1-6, 4-15) Susquehanna
(0-4, 1-6, 3-15) In
Division 3, there is quadruple
madness as a 4-way tie exists between Montrose, Elk Lake, Mt. View, and
Lackawanna Trail. The good news is
that the current leaders will pair off next Tuesday so hopefully things will get
settled before another 3-way tie situation develops (as occurred at the end
of first half play). Montrose got 13
points from Rob Volk and 10 from
three others in topping Blue Ridge 55-42 (Jared Conklin had 14 for the Raiders). The Meteors also added a 53-44 win over
Western Wayne as Volk scored
18. Western Wayne notched 9 team treys
and Sean Sheridan led the way with
14 points. Lackawanna Trail jumped out to a 28-12 halftime lead and got 15
from Steve Miller and 12 from Sean Fricke in defeating Forest City
57-43 (Dave Cavalieri had 14 for
the Foresters). The Lions also added a
66-46 win over Blue Ridge as Jake
Bedford netted 23 and Miller
had 13. Mountain View got a win over
Susquehanna 55-37 as Luke Jenkins
scored 21 (Brandon Stone had 19
for the Sabers). The Eagles also
rolled over Elk Lake 53-34 as Jenkins scored
13 (and grabbed 10 rebounds) along with Peter
Hartman (13). Earlier in the week
the Warriors got an exciting win over Western Wayne as Mark Bush scored a key free throw late to secure a 50-47
win. Bush also scored 11 to go along with Steve Rezykowski and Joe
Woolcock who each netted 16. Nic Baldo had 14 for Western
Wayne. Elsewhere, Joe Caruso scored 31 for Forest City in their 56-49 win over
Susquehanna (Stone had 23 for the
Sabers). On Tuesday, most of the
co-leaders will be slightly favored.
Friday features Elk Lake hosting Lackawanna Trail. Next Tuesday, there is a pair of great
matchups as Montrose entertains Elk Lake and Mountain View visits Lackawanna
Trail. GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL GIRLS BASKETBALL THIS WEEK’S DISTRICT
2 GIRLS TOP 10 (games through February 8) 1.
Abington
Heights (18-2) AAA 2.
Holy
Redeemer (15-4) AAA 3.
Hazleton
Area (15-5) AAAA 4.
Wyoming
Valley West (17-3) AAAA 5.
Dunmore
(16-4) AA 6.
West
Scranton (17-3) AAA 7.
Williamsport
(11-7) AAAA 8.
Montrose
(16-4) AA 9.
Pittston
(12-7) AAA 10.
Lake-Lehman (16-4) AA OTHERS TO WATCH Berwick
(13-7), Crestwood (11-8), Dallas (9-9), Forest City (14-7), Holy Cross
(14-6), Mid Valley (12-7), Mountain View (10-10), Nanticoke (13-8), Old Forge
(13-6), Riverside (13-7), Scranton (11-9), Scranton Prep (9-10), Western
Wayne (11-10), Wilkes-Barre Meyers (10-11) UPCOMING DISTRICT 2
TOP GIRLS GAMES FRIDAY,
2/12 Berwick at Hazleton (WVC Div. 1/2 crossover) from 2/11 Crestwood at Dallas (WVC Div. 1/2 crossover) from 2/11 Wallenpaupack at Scranton Prep (LL Div. 1) from 2/11 Mountain View at Western Wayne (LL Div. 3) from 2/11 Wilkes-Barre Meyers at Nanticoke (WVC Div. 3) from 2/11 Wy. Seminary at Lake-Lehman (WVC Div. 3/4
crossover) from 2/11 SATURDAY,
2/13 Forest City at Montrose (LL Div. 3) from 2/11 Williamsport
at North Schuylkill MONDAY,
2/15 Crestwood
at Hazleton Area (WVC Div. 1) Wyoming
Valley West at Pittston Area (WVC Div. 1) Holy
Redeemer at Tunkhannock (WVC Div. 1/2 crossover) Lake-Lehman
at Wilkes-Barre Meyers (WVC Div. 3) Scranton
at West Scranton (LL Div. 1) Honesdale
at Wallenpaupack (LL Div. 1) Dunmore at
Carbondale (LL Div. 2) Old Forge
at Riverside (LL Div. 2) Holy Cross
at Valley View (LL Div. 2) Forest
City at Blue Ridge (LL Div. 3) Montrose
at Elk Lake (LL Div. 3) Williamsport
at Selinsgrove TUESDAY,
2/16 North Pocono at Abington Heights (LL Div. 1) from 2/15 DISTRICT 2
GIRLS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE Friday, February 12 Deadline to opt out of tourney Monday, February 22 Pre-Tournament District 2 Meeting Tuesday, February 23 Girls AA Play-in (if necessary) Thursday, February 25 Girls AA First Round Friday, February 26 Girls AAA First Round Monday, March 1 Girls AA, AAAA Quarter-Finals Tuesday, March 2 Girls AAA Quarter-Finals, A
Semi-Finals Wednesday, March 3 Girls AA, AAAA Semi-Finals Thursday, March 4 Girls AAA Semi-Finals Friday, March 5 Girls AA, AAAA Finals, AAA
Consolation Saturday, March 6 Girls A, AAA Finals, AA
Consolation DISTRICT 2
GIRLS TOP SEEDS AAAA 1. Wyoming Valley West
(17-3) 2. Hazleton Area (15-5) 3. Pittston Area (12-7) 4. Williamsport (11-7) AAA 1. Abington Heights
(12-0) 2. West Scranton (11-1) 3. Holy Redeemer (10-1) 4. Nanticoke (8-2) AAA 1. Dunmore (12-0) 2. Montrose (11-1) 3. Lake-Lehman (9-1) 4. Wyoming Seminary (8-2) A 1. Forest City (10-2) 2. Old Forge (6-6) LLHOOPS DIST. 2 GIRLS
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Megan Nastelli (5-8 senior guard) is
having a fine season for the Berwick Lady
Bulldogs. Megan scored 14 points in a 37-29
crossover win over Tunkhannock. The
senior then netted 16 in a win over Wilkes-Barre Coughlin. Kayla Bailey (senior guard) has
proven to be one steady player in the Scranton
lineup. She netted 19 points in a
59-52 win at Wallenpaupack. The senior
guard then contributed 23 points in another long road trip, this time
defeating Honesdale 76-61. DISTRICT 2 GIRLS
RECAP AND ANALYSIS WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE Team
(second half record, first half, overall) x–won
first half title DIVISION 1 Hazleton
Area (5-0, 5-1, 16-5) x-Wyoming Valley West (4-1, 5-1,
17-3) Pittston
(3-2, 3-3, 12-7) Crestwood
(3-2, 1-5, 11-8) Tunkhannock
(1-4, 1-5, 8-10) In
Division 1, Hazleton Area leads
Wyoming Valley West by one game. Those
two teams got together last Thursday for a much anticipated showdown in the
Mountain City which could have delivered an all-season title to the Lady
Spartans if they had prevailed. But,
Hazleton Area was not about to give up their title without a fight,
especially on their home court. In
this matchup, as she had done on several occasions earlier this year, Brianna Dudeck found a way to put her
team ahead and then close out a 45-41 win from the foul line in the closing
seconds. The game was tied at 34 after
three periods, but the Lady Cougars went on a 7-1 run to take a 41-35 lead
with about 5:40 remaining. However, a
pair of treys by Nina Liguori (15
points) knotted the game at 41.
Following a pair of Hazleton free throws and subsequent turnovers by
each team, Valley West had a chance to take the lead, but a 3-point attempt
was off target. The Lady Cougars held
onto the ball and just as it appeared that Nicole Lisnock might be trapped, she found Dudeck open underneath for a layup. On the night Michele Vowler paced Hazleton with 10 points (Jamie Swaboski led WVW with 11). Monday night, Hazleton got 11 from Lisnock in a 58-21 crossover win over
Wilkes-Barre Coughlin. Also Monday,
Valley West defeated Dallas 49-37 as Nina
Liguori scored 20 and Sami Himlin
added 16. Elsewhere in the division,
Pittston Area and Crestwood continue to have fine seasons. The Lady Patriots toppled Tunkhannock
Monday night 59-42 as Lauren Smicherko
scored 24 and Mia Hopkins
netted 14 (Jenna Downs had 18 for
the Lady Tigers). Last week, Pittston
played Holy Redeemer tough in a crossover game (leading 16-13 after the first
quarter), but dropped a 60-51 loss to the Lady Royals (Smicherko and Hopkins
combined for 29 points). Crestwood got
by Tunkhannock 45-37 as Carissa
Gegaris scored 22 (with 4 treys) and then defeated Wyoming Area Monday
night (54-33) as Gegaris netted 18
and Chelsea Cornelius added
17. To close out league play, both
Hazleton and WVW have competitive games remaining. On Thursday, the Lady Cougars host Berwick who
always seems to play Hazleton close.
The same night, Valley West entertains Tunkhannock. Next Monday, Hazleton hosts a very solid
Crestwood squad while WVW visits Pittston Area. Baring any upsets, look out for a possible
Hazleton Area vs. Wyoming Valley West, Part 4 all season Division 1
championship game next week.
DIVISION 2 x-Holy Redeemer (4-1, 6-0, 15-4) Berwick
(3-2, 4-2, 13-7) Dallas
(1-4, 4-2, 9-9) Wilkes-Barre
Coughlin (1-4, 1-5, 5-15) Wyoming
Area (0-5, 0-6, 7-14) Holy
Redeemer leads Division 2 by a
game over Berwick. The Lady Royals
defeated Pittston last week by a score of 60-51 as they pulled away from a
16-13 deficit after the first period.
As always, they got balanced team scoring from Olivia Francisco (15), Nicole
Maximowicz (14), Laura Casey
(13) and Christine Peterlin
(12). On Monday, Holy Redeemer rolled
over Berwick 49-31 as Casey netted
11 while Peterlin and Francisco each scored 10. Last week, Berwick got another fine game
from Megan Nastelli (16 points)
and Becky Stitt (15) to defeat
Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (Kacee Rava
had 17 for the Lady Crusaders). This
week, Holy Redeemer hosts Wyoming Area on Thursday before traveling to play a
crossover game at Tunkhannock Monday.
Berwick visits Hazleton Area Thursday before closing out their league
season at home against Wyoming Area on Monday. DIVISION 3 x-Lake-Lehman (5-0, 4-1, 16-4) Nanticoke
(4-1, 4-1, 13-8) Wilkes-Barre
Meyers (3-1, 5-1, 10-11) Hanover
(2-3, 3-3, 7-13) Wilkes-Barre
GAR (0-4, 1-5, 2-17) As
happened in the first half, there is a terrific race developing between
Lake-Lehman, Wilkes-Barre Meyers, and Nanticoke for second half honors. Monday night, Lake-Lehman took over first
place with a 44-38 win over Nanticoke after trailing by a point (29-28)
heading into the final period. The
Lady Black Knights were led by Nikki
Sutliff with 13 points (Jen
Harnischfeger paced the Trojanettes with 18). Lake-Lehman also added a 65-32 crossover
win over Northwest Area last week as Selena
Adamshick scored 28 and Gaby
Olshemski netted 15 (all on treys).
Nanticoke got win over Hanover Area last week, 73-46, as Sami Gow (16), Teresa Kalinay (15), and Katie
Wolfe (12) led the way. The Lady
Hawks got 16 points from Amy Viti
and 13 from Danielle Tuzinski. Wilkes-Barre
Meyers topped city rival GAR 64-32 as Amy
Kowalcyzk scored 18, Ashlee Ward
13 and Maddie Lavery 12. Coming up, there are several terrific
matchups which could either sort out or cause another 3-way division
tie. On Thursday Nanticoke hosts Meyers
while Lake-Lehman entertains Division 4 second half champion Wyoming
Seminary. Next Monday, Lake-Lehman
travels to play Meyers and Nanticoke visits Northwest Area. DIVISION 4 Wyoming
Seminary (5-0, 3-2, 9-12) x-Northwest (1-3, 3-2, 8-11) MMI Prep (0-4,
1-4, 2-18) Wyoming
Seminary wrapped up the Division 2 second half title with a 57-40 win over
MMI Prep last week as Lauren Skudalski
netted 14 points. Northwest dropped a
crossover game to Lake-Lehman, 65-32, as Sam
Matschat scored 11 for the Lady Rangers.
On Monday, they picked up their first win of the half by defeating
MMI. Next week, Northwest Area will
take on Wyoming Seminary for the all-season Division 4 championship. LACKAWANNA LEAGUE Team (second half record, first half,
overall) x–clinched
first half title DIVISION 1 x-Abington Heights (5-0, 7-0,
18-2) West
Scranton (5-0, 6-1, 17-3) Scranton
Prep (3-2, 4-3, 9-10) Scranton
(3-2, 4-3, 11-9) Wallenpaupack
(2-3, 1-6, 6-14) Delaware
Valley (2-3, 0-7, 7-12) Honesdale
(0-5, 2-5, 8-12) North
Pocono (0-5, 4-3, 5-13) Abington
Heights and West Scranton are tied atop the Division 1 standings and are all set for a huge showdown Thursday
night in West Side’s cozy gym. Last
week, Abington Heights played an extremely sloppy second half after leading
Scranton Prep 30-14. The Classics
fought their way back with to knot the game at 38 with under a minute
remaining. The Lady Comets were able
to pull out a 43-39 victory as Mariah
Deibert scored 16 (Ellen
FitzPatrick had 11 for Prep). On
Monday, AH got 15 from Deibert and
13 from Jamie Montella to defeat
Wallenpauapck 55-25. West Scranton
also picked a pair of wins. They
outscored North Pocono 23-13 in the middle periods to post a 42-34 win over
the Lady Trojans as Sabrina Coleman
scored 15 and Nora Joyce added 11
(Jill Perih had 10 for NP). On the downside, the teams were a combined
14 of 30 free throws in that one. On
Monday, Coleman and Joyce combined for 30 points in a
51-29 victory over Honesdale.
Elsewhere, Scranton appears to have dropped out of contention
following their 35-29 loss to Scranton Prep Monday night. The Classics rallied from a 19-16 deficit
after thee stanzas as Ellen
FitzPatrick and Lindsay Schroth
each scored 8 points. Last week,
Scranton jumped out to a big 43-25 halftime lead at Honesdale and went on to
a 76-61 win over the Lady Hornets. For
the Lady Knights, Kayla Bailey
scored 23 and Sara Corbett added
21 (Marisa Gallik had 18 for
Honesdale). Elsewhere, Kim Commisso and Kayla Kruse each scored 17 points to guide Delaware Valley to
their second win of the half, posting a 46-42 win over slumping North
Pocono. This week, the marquee game is
the one between Abington Heights and West Scranton. Regardless of the outcome, each team has a
challenging game to finish the regular season next Monday. West Scranton hosts city rival Scranton and
Abington entertains North Pocono. DIVISION 2 x-Dunmore (5-0, 7-0, 16-4) Holy Cross
(3-2, 4-3, 14-6) Old Forge
(3-2, 3-4, 13-6) Mid Valley
(3-2, 4-3, 12-7) Valley
View (3-2, 3-4, 9-11) Riverside
(2-3, 6-1, 13-7) Carbondale
(1-4, 1-6, 6-13) Lakeland
(0-5, 0-7, 1-19) Dunmore
continues to cruise along in Division
2 and will look to wrap up the all-season championship at home against
Lakeland Thursday night. The Lady
Bucks got 10 points each from Ashley
Murray and Cayla Boland and
outscored Holy Cross 35-9 in the middle periods of a 46-27 win over the Lady
Crusaders. Julie Kosin had 13 points for Holy Cross. Then, on Monday, Dunmore had a huge second quarter
(29-8 advantage) to defeat Mid Valley 69-43.
Murray scored 23 while Corinna Palko added 20 (Alli Walsh had 14 for the
Spartanettes). Below Dunmore, four
teams are deadlocked with 3-2 records.
Of that group, Old Forge has been playing especially well of
late. They defeated Carbondale 56-40
as Kim Kaville scored 19 and Chrissy Belko added 16 (Brittany Mang had 16 for the
Chargerettes). The Lady Blue Devils
also got a 56-29 win over Lakeland as Kaville
and Belko combined to score 25 (Ruth Butts had 21 for the Lady
Chiefs). Valley View also picked up a
pair of wins. The Lady Cougars got a
combined 29 points from Rebecca Keegan
and Elena Stambone in a 56-34 win
over Lakeland. They pulled away from
Riverside in the 4th period Monday night 60-48 as Caroline Mancuso netted 18 and Stambone added 15 (Morgann Haduck had 21 for the Lady
Vikes). In other league action, Mid
Valley outscored Riverside 15-2 in the third quarter to defeat the Lady
Vikings 31-24 as Alyssa Miraglia
scored 10 and Mariah Runco had 11
(plus some key treys). Holy Cross had
a big halftime lead over Carbondale and got 17 from Julie Kosin in gaining a 51-46 win (Brittany Mang had 28 for the Chargerettes). This week Dunmore hosts Lakeland Thursday
before closing out at Carbondale on Monday.
Despite the fact that Dunmore may clinch early, there are some other
terrific matchups on the schedule. On
Thursday, Valley View visits Mid Valley and Holy Cross hosts Old Forge. Next Monday, Holy Cross travels to Valley
View while one of the best rivalries renews as Riverside entertains Old
Forge. DIVISION 3 x-Montrose (5-0, 6-1, 16-4) Forest
City (5-0, 5-2, 14-7) Elk Lake
(4-1, 2-5, 8-11) Western
Wayne (2-3, 6-1, 11-10) Mountain
View (2-3, 5-2, 10-10) Blue Ridge
(1-4, 3-4, 7-12) Lackawanna
Trail (1-4, 1-6, 4-14) Susquehanna
(0-5, 0-7, 0-17) In
Division 3, Montrose and Forest
City are tied with 5-0 marks, but that will change on Thursday when the Lady
Meteors host Forest City. Elk Lake
trails by a game, but gets a chance to impact the race next Monday when they
entertain Montrose. Last week,
Montrose got 25 points from Dallas Ely
and 15 from Katelyn Spellman in a
51-32 win over Western Wayne (Courtney
Kromko had 15 for WW). Then, on
Monday, the Lady Meteors topped Susquehanna 49-13 as Ely netted 19. Forest City
also defeated the Lady Sabers 57-26 as Amanda Collins scored 13 and Katie Yale added 12. The Lady Foresters also got a 46-27 win
over Mountain View as Collins
scored 17. Elk Lake also picked up a
pair of wins. They got 16 from Karley Caines in a 45-17 win over Mt.
View and then defeated Blue Ridge in overtime, 54-51 as Caines netted 16 (Kaitchen
Dearborn had 19 for the Lady Blue Raiders). Other key games include a must-win for Elk
Lake at Lackawanna Trail Thursday and Forest City visiting Blue Ridge on
Monday. 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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