District 2 Boys Division Recaps

Written by: Jon K on January 12, 2018

DISTRICT 2 BOYS DIVISION ANALYSIS

(games through 1/11)

WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE

DIVISION 1

Hazleton Area (4-0, 8-0) 6A

Dallas (4-0, 9-1) 5A

Crestwood (2-2, 5-4) 5A

Pittston Area (1-3, 2-8) 5A

Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (0-3, 2-7) 5A

Wyoming Valley West (0-3, 2-7) 5A

A bit of separation is already beginning to develop in Division 1. As teams complete their first rotation through intra-division play, Hazleton Area and Dallas are both sitting atop the pack with 4-0 marks. That tie will get broken Friday night as the Cougars travel to the Back Mountain to battle the Mountaineers. Hazleton Area has won their four division games in dominant fashion, a 41 ppg margin of victory. They defeated Wilkes-Barre Coughlin 87-44 as Da’Mir Faison led the way with 21 (Joey Grula hit 15 and Jeff Planutis added 14). Aaron Bennett hit 20 points with 4 triples for the Crusaders. Hazleton then topped Wyoming Valley West 94-64 as Faison connected on 4 treys (25 points), Josh Samec 19, Planutis 16, and Grula 14. The Spartans got 29 points from Draig Ruff and 19 from Mason Mendygral. Against rival Crestwood, the Cougars jumped out to a commanding 26-7 lead and coasted to a 72-33 Sunday night win as they placed four in doubles (Planutis 15, Samec 11, Faison 11, and Grula 10). Camden Boris hit 11 for the Comets. And, in an 89-37 win over Pittston Area, HA placed five in doubles (Samec 12, Planutis 11, Grula 11, Faison 11, and Jecxander Moronta 10). Dallas kept pace as the Mounts got by the same four teams. Alex Charlton netted 28 and Brody Strickland added 11 in their 85-39 victory over WVW (Ruff had a dozen for the Spartans). Charlton then hit 20 and Joey Parsons 19 as Dallas connected on 13 of 15 free throws in a 57-40 win over Crestwood (Sean Murphy and Camden Boris had 11 each for the Comets). Parsons and Charlton then combined for 29 as they jumped out to a 20-4 lead and defeated Pittston Area 57-39. Brennan Higgins had 21 points with 3 triples for the Pats in the loss. Against Coughlin, another quick start (41-11 halftime lead) and 25 points combined from Charlton and Parsons resulted in a 72-31 victory over Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (Tony Egidio had 9 for the Crusaders). Crestwood picked up a pair of wins after dropping losses to the division leaders. Sean Murphy (11 points) and (injured) Kevin Klusewitz (10 points) rallied the Comets in the second half for a 49-31 win over Pittston Area (Matt McGlynn had 14 points with 4 treys for the Pats). Crestwood also picked a close 54-50 win over Valley West as they got 13 each from Ryan Petrosky and Mike Palmiero plus 11 from Boris (Ruff netted 25 for WVW). And Pittston Area secured their first division win with a 53-47 victory over Coughlin as Higgins (16) McGlynn (13), and Brian Miller (10) all reached doubles. The Crusaders, who led after three periods 37-35, got 22 points from Tony Egidio and 14 from Dominigue Flippen. Next Tuesday, teams begin crossover games with Division 2 squads, highlighted by Hazleton Area visiting Wilkes-Barre GAR, Dallas traveling to Tunkhannock, and Crestwood playing at Wyoming Area.

DIVISION 2

Wyoming Area (4-1, 8-1) 4A

Nanticoke Area (4-1, 8-2) 4A

Tunkhannock (3-1, 6-3) 4A

Wilkes-Barre Meyers (3-1, 3-5) 4A

Berwick (2-2, 5-4) 4A

Wilkes-Barre GAR (2-2, 4-5) 4A

Plenty of excitement across Division 2 as most teams have fared very well in crossover games so far. Wyoming Area picked up wins over Northwest Area, Lake-Lehman, MMI Prep, and Hanover Area Thursday night. In their 73-38 win over the Rangers, Sam Greenfield hit 29 and Kyre Zielinski added 10. Greenfield then connected on 16 while Matt Wright led the way with 18 as the Warriors topped Lake-Lehman 62-43 (Ibrahim Dabsheh had 12 points on 4 triples for the Black Knights). In their 47-36 win over MMI, Greenfield hit 20 and Justin Alder added 13 (Matt Marchetti hit 23 and George Palermo 11 for the Preppers). Thursday night WA got by Hanover area 49-36. Nanticoke Area started conference play with an overtime 53-51 overtime win over Wyoming Seminary as Nate Kreitzer led the way with 25 (Colby Butczynski added 11 for the Trojans). In the loss, Dimitri Gnall and Nicholas Ganter combined for 28 for the Blue Knights. GNA then got 20 each from Butczynski and Trahjan Krupinski plus 13 from Kreitzer in an emotional 52-39 win over top rival Hanover Area (Tyler Thomas and Carlos Fernandez each had 12 for the Hawks). Then, in a 45-38 win over Northwest, Kreitzer (17 points with 4 triples) and Krupinski (11) led the way over the Rangers who got 26 combined from Sam Saxe and Walker Yaple. Thursday night the Trojans toppled Lake-Lehman 62-46. Berwick, Tunkhannock, GAR, and Meyers all picked up a pair of division wins so far with the Mohawks and Tigers also getting another win Thursday night. Berwick nipped Hanover Area 49-48 as the Dawgs got 15 from Alec Markle and 13 each from Kenny Marshman and Damon Beckhorn (Mike Piscotty had 20 for the Hawks). Berwick then got 18 from Markle and 24 combined from Marshman and Beckhorn in a 61-33 victory over Lake-Lehman (Max Paczewski netted 16 for the Black Knights). Tunkhannock got 14 points from Sean Harder in a 37-35 defeat over MMI Prep (Preppers got 20 points and 5 triples from Matt Marchetti and 12 from Marcus Kassick). The Tigers then pulled off one of the bigger upset wins so far as they rallied from a 40-35 deficit to score the final 11 points at home and defeat Holy Redeemer 46-40 as Tyler Faux netted 21 (with 4 triples). The Royals got 25 combined from Nick Prociak and Collin Cook. Thursday night, Tunk defeated Northwest 56-45. Wilkes-Barre GAR topped MMI Prep 82-44 as Will Johnson led the way with 19 while Anthony Hawk and Khairi Carson each added 16. Marchetti connected on 3 triples (19 points) for the Preppers. Hawk and Johnson then teamed up for 27 points as GAR got by Northwest Area 50-38 (Jaxson Yaple with 16 and Sam Saxe 11 for the Rangers who led 24-23 at halftime). Wilkes-Barre Meyers got 18 points (with 3 treys) from Cole Walker in a 47-37 win over Lake-Lehman (Max Paczewski with 16 points and 4 triples for the Knights). The Mohawks then got 19 points from Jawane Buckner in a 45-34 win over Northwest (Saxe with 11 for the Rangers). Thursday night, Meyers got by MMI Prep 54-41. Crossover games against Division 3 teams will wrap up on Saturday highlighted by Wyoming Area hosting Holy Redeemer, GAR entertaining Hanover Area, and Meyers taking on Wyoming Seminary. Tuesday starts crossovers against Division 1 teams.

DIVISION 3

Wyoming Seminary (4-1, 9-2) 3A

Holy Redeemer (3-1, 7-2) 3A

Hanover Area (1-3, 6-4) 4A

MMI Prep (0-4, 4-6) 1A

Lake-Lehman (0-4, 1-9) 4A

Northwest Area (0-5, 3-6) 2A

Wyoming Seminary and Holy Redeemer have responded from a crossover loss each to become the teams to beat in Division 3. The Blue Knights got impressive wins over Berwick, Wyoming Area, Tunkhannock, and Wilkes-Barre GAR Thursday night. Dimitri Gnall netted 22 and Todd Phillips hit 12 as Sem escaped with a 50-48 win over Berwick. The Dawgs, who rallied from a 23-10 halftime deficit, got 15 from Alec Markle, 10 from Damon Beckhorn, and 10 from Kenny Marshman. The Blue Knights then got a 44-34 victory over Wyoming Area as they controlled with first and fourth periods (26-9) as Jeremy Callahan hit 15 while Jake Koretz and Todd Phillips each added 9 (Sam Greenfield and Kyre Zielinski combined for 17 for the Warriors). Dimitri Gnall then had a breakout game scoring 30 points in a 55-40 win over Tunkhannock. Tyler Maddock and Jake Koretz each added 8 points in the win. The Tigers got a combined 26 points from Evan Turner, Nick Reposa, and Tyler Faux. Thursday night Sem nipped GAR 55-52 in a big crossover win. Holy Redeemer rebounded from their loss to Tunkhannock with wins over GAR, Nanticoke Area, and Berwick Thursday night. The Royals converted 13 of 15 team free throws and rallied from a 36-28 halftime deficit to defeat the Grenadiers 72-62. HR got 20 points from Joey Judge (with 3 treys), 19 from Collin Cook (with 3 triples), and 14 from Nick Prociak. GAR got a terrific effort from Khairi Carson (25 points with 7 triples), Will Johnson (13 points with 3 triples), and Anthony Hawk (12 points). In a tough road test at GNA, the Royals pulled away in the final period to score a big 42-27 win over Nanticoke as Prociak (12), Cook (12), and JD Turosky (10) led the way. The Trojans, who only trailed 28-25 entering the final quarter, got 11 points from Nate Kreitzer. Thursday night Holy Redeemer got by Berwick in overtime 49-48. Hanover Area was the only other division team to pick up a win, getting by Wilkes-Barre Meyers 56-46. The Hawks were paced by Tyler Thomas (18 points with 3 treys), Asad Whitehead (14 points), and Desmond Cannon (13 points with 3 triples). Meyers got 19 from Jawane Buckner and a dozen from Kendall Brewster. Crossover play for division teams concludes Friday with Holy Redeemer visiting Wyoming Area and Wyoming Seminary traveling to Wilkes-Barre Meyers.

LACKAWANNA LEAGUE

DIVISION 1

Scranton Prep (3-0, 7-3) 4A

Abington Heights (2-1, 9-2) 5A

Scranton (2-1, 7-3) 6A

Valley View (1-2, 9-3) 4A

West Scranton (0-3, 5-6) 5A

What was already going to be a terrific race in Division 1 just got a whole lot more exciting after Scranton Prep rallied to defeat top rival Abington Heights Tuesday night, 51-45. The Cavaliers, who were stellar from the charity stripe hitting 15 of 18 opportunities, got 16 points from Wes Simons, 14 from Leo O’Boyle, and a clutch 11 points from Rhys Merritt. The Comets, who appeared a bit frustrated at times in trying to work the ball inside, got 15 from Jackson Danzig (with 3 triples), 12 from George Tinsley, and 9 (on 3 treys) from Jack Nealon. Prep had also gained wins over Scranton and West Scranton. In their 55-51 win over the Knights, Simons netted 19 while O’Boyle and Greyson Schermerhorn teamed up for 24 points. Scranton, who rallied in the second half, got 26 points from Ky’Ron Harbin. In their 62-40 victory over West, Prep got 13 from O’Boyle, 11 from Mario Rotell, and 9 from Alec D’Elia. Around their loss to the Cavs, AH got wins over Delaware Valley and Valley View. The Comets, who made 19 of 33 trips to the foul line Saturday afternoon, got 26 points from Jackson Danzig (with 6 triples) and 11 each from Nealon and Tinsley. In their 56-38 win over Valley View, the Comets jumped out to a 16-3 lead as they got 17 each from Danzig and Tinsley. The Cougars got 13 from Jaden Duplessis. Scranton is right in the middle of the race at 2-1 after wins over Valley View and West Scranton. In their 76-63 win over the Cougars the Knights controlled the middle periods (47-31) as they got 15 each from Cameron Jordan, Isaiah Montgomery, and Tyjan Ash. Marc Kudrich hit 20 points for the Cougars (with 3 triples) while Dixon Black and Dylan Howanitz teamed up for 21. Scranton also nipped city rival West Side 46-45 as Harbin netted 19. The Invaders, who hit 15 of 19 free throws, got 15 from Shayne Merrifield and 13 from Josh Hart. Valley View also picked up their first division win, an overtime 62-60 crossover win over Wallenpaupack as Kudrich hit 21 and Bobby Craig added 14. On Friday Scranton visits Honesdale in a key crossover game while Abington Heights hosts West Scranton and Scranton Prep visits Valley View. Next Tuesday, AH hosts Honesdale in a crossover battle of top contenders.

DIVISION 2

Honesdale (3-0, 9-2) 4A

Delaware Valley (2-1, 7-5) 6A

Western Wayne (1-2, 5-5) 4A

North Pocono (1-2, 3-9) 5A

Wallenpaupack (0-3, 7-5) 5A

Delaware Valley trails Honesdale by one game in Division 2. The Hornets swept their three division matchups over Wallenpaupack, Western Wayne, and North Pocono. Joey Scarfalloto netted 23 and Colin Rickard added 13 as the Hornets (who hit 14 of 18 free throws) defeated the Buckhorns 51-43. Paupack got 13 from Elijah Rosenthal, 12 from Gabe Springer, and 11 (with 3 triples) from Derrick Vosburg. Scarfalloto and Rickard then combined for 21 and Anthony DeGori led with 17 as Honesdale rolled over Western Wayne 59-17. Zachary Rovinsky had 8 for the Wildcats. In their close 51-48 victory over North Pocono, DeGori netted 15 (with 4 triples) and Scarfalloto added 14. The Trojans, who only hit 9 of 21 free throws, got 16 from Joe Thiel and 13 from Anthony Kosiba. Delaware Valley got wins over North Pocono and Western Wayne around their loss to Abington Heights. Blake Gearhart hit 15 with 3 treys and Hassan Keys added 10 as the Warriors rolled over the Trojans 57-32. Gearhart and Dylan Kelly then each scored 10 as DV got a 54-30 win over Western Wayne. The Wildcats got 17 from Rovinsky and 12 from Dahlton Frisbie. Western Wayne and North Pocono each got their first division win. The Cats got 17 from Rovinsky and 15 from Frisbie in a 48-45 crossover win over West Scranton. The Invaders, who led 38-37 entering the final stanza, got 14 from Josh Hart and 11 from Shayne Merrifield. North Pocono got 14 each from Anthony Kosiba and Chris McLafferty and 13 (plus 3 triples) from Alec Ciaglia in their 52-27 victory over Wallenpaupack. The Buckhorns got 6 each from Alex Pillar, Gabe Springer, and Mac Peet. On Friday, Delaware Valley visits Wallenpaupack while Honesdale entertains Scranton. Next Tuesday, a pair of big crossover games on the slate as Honesdale travels to Abington Heights and Delaware Valley hosts Scranton.

DIVISION 3

Dunmore (2-0, 5-4) 3A (0-0 crossover)

Riverside (2-0, 4-6) 3A (0-0 crossover)

Holy Cross (1-1, 4-6) 2A (0-0 crossover)

Mid Valley (1-1, 4-6) 3A (0-0 crossover)

Old Forge (0-1, 4-6) 2A (1-0 crossover)

Lakeland (0-1, 3-6) 3A (1-0 crossover)

Carbondale (0-2, 4-6) 3A (0-0 crossover)

While Dunmore and Riverside have moved out to take the Division 3 lead, this race is just getting underway. Dunmore got by Carbondale in overtime 56-50 as the Bucks got 24 from Daniel Walsh and 21 from Richie Grippi (with 3 triples). The Chargers, who rallied from a 44-35 deficit entering the final period, got 22 from Bobby Salitsky and 8 from Bailey Rumford. Thursday night Dunmore got a 56-39 win over Old Forge. Riverside connected on several key free throws down the stretch and came away with a 61-58 Sunday matinee win over Holy Cross as Evan Carrubba netted 19, Marcos Echeverria 14, and Michael Rickert 9. Holy Cross, who did not hit any triples in the game, placed four in doubles (Patrick Galvin 17, Tom Montefour 13, Kieran Burrier 13, and Tyler Mozeleski 11). The Vikings then used a 35-23 advantage through the first and fourth periods to get by Lakeland, 61-49. Carrubba netted 19, Rickert 14 (with 4 triples), and Jason Holman 12 in the win. The Chiefs got 11 each from James Lewis and Nick Bertholf plus 9 from CJ Dippre. Holy Cross and Mid Valley are at 1-1, although the Crusaders nipped the Spartans 41-38 as Galvin and Caleb Callejas each hit 10 points. Mid Valley got a combined 17 points from JJ Glinsky and Collin Scherer. Mid Valley got a 48-32 win over Carbondale as Glinsky netted 25 (Andrew Manarchuck had 10 for the Chargers). Old Forge and Lakeland picked up crossover wins. The Blue Devils rolled over Forest City 84-43 as Pat Banks (22), Joey Verespey (16), and Michael DiGregorio (15) led the way. The Foresters got 15 from Jordan Non and 8 each from Eric Paulin and Dakota Knehr-Cook. Lakeland used a 16-4 run in the third period and got 11 from James Lewis in a 46-45 win over Susquehanna. Bryce Baldwin scored 13 for the Sabers. On Friday Riverside hosts Mid Valley in a key matchup. Next Tuesday, it’s rivalry night as Dunmore plays at crosstown rival Holy Cross and Old Forge hosts Riverside.

DIVISION 4

Elk Lake (2-0, 6-4) 2A (0-0 crossover)

Montrose (2-0, 5-5) 3A (0-0 crossover)

Lackawanna Trail (2-0, 2-8) 2A (0-0 crossover)

Susquehanna (0-1, 3-7) 1A (0-1 crossover)

Forest City (0-1, 0-8) 2A (0-1 crossover)

Mountain View (0-2, 2-7) 2A (0-0 crossover)

Blue Ridge (0-2, 0-8) 2A (0-0 crossover)

In Division 4, Elk Lake, Montrose, and Lackawanna Trail have moved out to2-0 marks with the rest of the division still looking for the first league win. Elk Lake pulled away in the second half behind the scoring of Rierdan Reyan (17 points, 4 triples), Nate Preston (19), and Hunter Bomboy (13). The Warriors topped Blue Ridge 64-46. The Raiders, who only trailed 29-28 entering the second half, got 14 points from Sam Cosmello. Elk Lake then defeated Mountain View 57-49 as the Warriors again used a big second half to secure the victory. Drew Arnold led the way with 14 while Reyan and Preston combined for 24. The Eagles, who led at the break 29-21, got 16 from Alex Showalter and 14 from Kyle Streich. Elk Lake also gained a non-league 58-39 win over Sayre as Reyan (24 points) and Bomboy (14) again paved the way. Montrose got wins over Susquehanna and Blue Ridge. Andrew Rapisardi and Brennan Gilhool each netted 13 and Jacob Peck added 12 in their 54-32 win over the Sabers. Susquehanna got a combined 25 points from Adam Rockwell (3 triples) and Bryce Baldwin. The Meteors also got a 56-32 win over Blue Ridge as Gilhool and Rapisardi each scored a dozen points. The Raiders got a combined 22 points from Sam Cosmello and Misael Arzola-Velez. Lackawanna Trail topped Mountain View, 48-36, behind the 27-point scoring of Shawn Jones. The Eagles got 12 each from Alex Showalter and Mikey Schermerhorn. The Lions then got their offense into high gear scoring 81 points in an 81-54 win over Forest City. LT got 20 from Shawn Jones, 18 from Zach Stec, and 14 from Josh Rzucidlo. The Foresters got 22 from Dakota Knehr-Cook and 10 from Tyler Clift. The teams combined to go to the charity stripe 60 times. Friday night, Elk Lake visits Montrose in a key battle. Next Tuesday, Susquehanna hosts Elk Lake.