District 2 Boys Season Recap
Written by: Jon K on December 13, 2022
Welcome back to the Northeast Beat.
This week LLHoops will take a look at how well teams have navigated through the first week of the 2022-2023 season and which squads are off to a flying start. Stop back on Tuesday for Girls’ team season updates.
Boys Standings (link)
Wyoming Valley Conference Boys Teams
Not sure whether any team is off to a faster start than Holy Redeemer. The Royals captured the inaugural Wilkes-Barra Area Tip-Off Tourney with wins over host Wolfpack and Bethlehem Freedom in the title game. Zach Perta led the way with a 2-game total of 41 points. Holy Redeemer is getting terrific efforts from Jeffrey Kozerski, Jacob Hunter, and Darryl Wright. Perta, Hunter, and Wright teamed up for 42 points in a 51-39 victory over Scranton. Another team picking up where they left off last year is Dallas. The Mounts got an 85-75 win over East Stroudsburg North as they placed four into doubles (Darius Walker 24, Michael Bufalino 20, Jude Nocito 19, and Nick Williams 17). On Saturday, the Mountaineers (2-0) overcame some lackluster early moments as they rallied for a 56-52 win over Philly Boys’ Latin. Cameron Faux netted 7 triples in that win while Nocito added 14 points (with 4 treys).
Looking for a team that is going to deliver some exciting competition this season, then check out a Tunkhannock Tigers game. In their opener, Dylan Mateus and Ben Chilson combined for 29 points, but could not hold off a late surge by Scranton Prep as the Cavs grabbed a 59-56 win. After a win over Western Wayne, things got tougher for the Tigers as they went up against one of the most balanced and talented teams in the entire district. Abington Heights rolled to an 81-35 win. Then, on Saturday evening against one of the premier 3A teams from District 3, Chilson netted 30 points as Tunkhannock rallied for an impressive 65-57 win over Trinity.
Crestwood, a team with plenty of questions heading into the season, appears to be headed in exactly the right direction. After an opening night loss to Scranton, the Comets have rolled to four consecutive victories over Hanover Area, highly-regarded Shamokin, Wyoming Valley West, and Division 2 contender Nanticoke Area on Monday evening. Never underestimate Mark Atherton’s ability to put together the best possible floor combination. Drew Sechler, Chaz Wright, and Brandon Burbank have all been steady for the Comets so far. Hazleton Area, playing a very challenging non-league slate, dropped their opener at Allentown Dieruff 50-49 (as Chris Catrone netted 16 points) but rebounded for home wins over Harrisburg and Pottsville. Luke Gennaro led a balanced attack in their win over the Crimson Tide with 14 points. Monday night the Cougars dropped a 91-57 road loss to powerhouse Reading. Nanticoke Area has one of the more dominating players in the conference in Jaidyn Johnson. He scored 23 points in their opening 50-48 win over North Pocono, but was held to only 8 points in a loss to Delaware Valley. The Trojans picked up a pair of close wins over Pittston Area (42-40) and Wyoming Valley West (65-60 as Johnson and Gavin Turak combined for 43 points).
Berwick got a split in the Joseph Nespoli Tip-Off tourney, dropping a 56-46 loss to a solid North Penn-Mansfield squad and then bouncing back to defeat Bloomsburg, 50-48 in the consolation. The Dawgs also got a 67-55 win over Hanover Area as they got 29 points (with 4 triples) from Sean Murphy. Jace Degroat, Matt Lonczynski, and Billy Hanson definitely give the Bulldogs plenty of optimism this season. Despite graduating some key players, Pittston Area is getting strong efforts from Anthony Cencetti, Silvio Giardina, and Jack Long. Look for the Patriots to make some noise again this season. Monday night they dropped a 42-36 loss to highly-regarded Holy Cross. Wyoming Area is getting consistent contributions from Dane Schutter and Brady Noone. MMI Prep is led by Ryan Sones who contributed 27 points in a 51-48 loss to Mountain View and 28 points (with 5 triples) in a 65-53 tournament loss to Muncy. The Preppers have plenty of potential. Zach Konopke netted 23 points (with 4 treys) for Wyoming Valley West in their loss to Nanticoke Area.
Lackawanna League Boys Teams
Abington Heights is off to an impressive 3-0 start and is quickly delivering on all the preseason hype. The Comets rolled over Wyoming Seminary in their opener, 76-32, as Matt Show led the way with 15 points. In their 81-35 victory over Tunkhannock, AH placed 5 players into doubles (Will Marion 17, Ryan Nealon 13, Mason Fedor 11, Eugene Curtin 11, and Patrick Walsh 10). Then, in their third road trip of the season on Saturday afternoon, they held off a rally by Executive Education Academy Charter (58-55) as Marion and Nealon combined for 36 points. Home fans get their first look at the Comets Wednesday evening as they host Nanticoke Area. If there is an early season nominee for this year’s cardiac kids, Scranton Prep gets a few votes. The Cavaliers are a very opportunistic squad. In their opening night rally over Tunkhannock (59-56), James Pettinato netted 27 points (with 5 treys). He then scored 11 points while Brycen Martin led the way with 15 points as the Cavs got an impressive win at Williamsport, 55-53. Division 1 is going to be a LOT of fun this year because Valley View, West Scranton, and Scranton will all be competitive. Valley View has wins over Forest City, Dunmore, and Division 3 contender Holy Cross. The Cougars got 13 points each from AJ Kucharski and Eli Yusavage in their win over the Bucks. They then got 18 points from Yusavage in their pulsating win over Holy Cross. LV Pegula and Taheed Jewell give this team plenty of floor balance and scoring options. West Scranton got an opening win over Dunmore, 42-36, as Zach Lloyd and Tristen Lee each scored 12 points. The Invaders got 18 points from Chris Ogden in a semi-final win over Honesdale in the Jerry Finan Memorial Tourney. West dropped the title game to Carbondale, 60-39, as they got 16 points from Lee. Monday night, Ogden, Lee, and Zach Price combined for 54 points in their 66-62 win over Wilkes-Barre Area. Scranton got 18 points (with 4 triples)from Dillon Lazdowsky in their opening 53-45 win over Crestwood.
Among Division 2 teams, Delaware Valley is off to a 3-0 start and has been getting solid efforts from Isaiah Berrios, Chris U’Glay, Ronnie McManus, and Jake Brower. Wallenpaupack dropped the title game of the Hawley Tip-Off Tournament to Nazareth and then came up just short in a 64-42 overtime loss to a talented Lakeland squad as the Buckhorns got 20 points (with 4 triples) from Justin Blanding, 19 points from Jake Holbert, and 14 points from Kevin Wortmann. Holbert then netted 36 points and Blanding added 19 points as Paupack topped Wyoming Area, 55-44. North Pocono is another team that has a challenging non-league schedule. The Trojans dropped their opener to Nanticoke Area (50-48) as AJ Nemitz and Noah West combined for 29 points. They bounced back as Chris Walsh led the way with 20 points in a 59-45 win over Wilkes-Barre Area. On Friday night, NP lost to Division 3 contender Mid Valley, 37-27 as Nemitz hit a dozen points. Honesdale is still looking for their first win of the season, but the Hornets continue to get terrific performances from Karter Kromko and Nathan Hugaboom. The pair combined to net 58 points in the Jerry Finan Memorial Tournament. Hugaboom also hit 24 points (with 5 triples) in a loss to Riverside, 67-49.
Among Division 3 teams, top-to-bottom this is about as talent-filled a group of teams as fans could hope to get. Lakeland is off to a strong start with an overtime win over Wallenpaupack plus victories over Western Wayne and Lake-Lehman to capture the Cal King Tournament. In their win over Paupack, Tony Hazelton led the way with 22 points while Joey Dunstone, Josh Doyle, and Billy Hazelton combined for 33 points. Dunstone and Tony Hazleton combined to tally 68 points in the 2-game weekend tourney. Riverside started their season with wins over Wyoming Valley West, Wyoming Area, and Honesdale. Frankie Antoniacci netted 28 points in their win over WVW. He added 17 points while Connor Monahan and Connor McNally each added 15 points in the win over WA. Against the Hornets, the Vikings used a balanced attack (Antoniacci 21, McNally 18, Monahan 15, and Matthew Godlewski 16) to get the victory. Mid Valley split their games in the Wilkes-Barre Tip-Off. The Spartans got 29 points from Ricky Vinansky in a 46-44 loss to Bethlehem Freedom, but bounced back getting 21 points from Vinansky and 23 points from Danny Nemitz to grab the consolation game, 58-27 over the host Wolfpack. Nemitz then scored 24 points in their 37-27 win over North Pocono. Holy Cross, the division favorite, evened their mark with a 42-36 win over Pittston Area Monday night. In their loss to Valley View, Hayden Hosie and Logan Tierney combined to score 23 points. Carbondale defeated Elk Lake in the annual “Red” Wallace Memorial game, 64-43, as Jaymire Allen (31 points) and Darryl Bennett (17 points) led the way. The Chargers then secured their first Jerry Finan Memorial Tourney championship since 2009 with wins over Forest City and West Scranton. Allen had a 2-game total of 43 points. Tyler Donato and Preston Casey were key contributors. Old Forge also made it known that they will be a force in Division 3 as the Blue Devils topped Lackawanna Trail and Scranton. In their win over LT, Joey Macciocco (30 points), Dominick Palma (15 points), and Anthony Mucciolo (13 points) led the way. Old Forge rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat Scranton as Macciocco netted 13 points. Dunmore got their first win of the year as Nico Ruggiero scored 17 points in the Bucks’ 63-38 win over Montrose.
Among Division 4 teams, Blue Ridge started their season getting a pair of wins at the Susquehanna-Bradford County Challenge. The Red Raiders defeated Wyalusing Valley (71-47) as Connor Cranage scored 20 points. Ryan Scott, JJ Rosa, and Carson Gallagher combined for 36 points. They then got by Sayre, 86-70, as Cranage netted 26 points and Rosa added 18 points. Blue Ridge also got a 71-64 win over Vestal (NY). Mountain View opened up with a 51-48 win over MMI Prep as Jackson Gesford and Tanner Stout combined for 27 points. The Eagles then stepped into the land of no-shot-clock as they got a 59-47 win over Susquehanna Valley (NY). Stout led the way with 22 points (and 5 triples). Elk Lake rebounded from their opening loss to Carbondale as the Warriors topped Northeast Bradford (58-47). Noah Gesford (21 points), Wyatt Casselbury (18 points), and Logan Ayotte (12 points) paced the Warriors.
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