District 2 Boys (Weekly Recaps)

Written by: Jon K on December 19, 2018

WELCOME BACK TO THE NEAST BEAT  !!!

Not only is it the most wonderful time of the year, it may be one of the busiest times of the year, at least for Wyoming Valley Conference teams.  This year most schools will play a pair of conference games prior to the holiday break.  Girls’ action tips off Wednesday night while the Boys’ games get underway Thursday evening.  There are several terrific matchups on the schedule.  LLHoops will be tweeting a bit more on these tilts later in the week.  And don’t forget that a few Lackawanna League Boys’ squads will be competing in Saturday’s Muhlenberg Hoops Showcase. 

Taking a look at some of the Boys’ highlights across District 2, Nanticoke Area remained perfect (5-0) as they came away with wins over Riverside, Holy Cross, and West Scranton.  In their 58-35 win over the Vikings, Nate Kreitzer (21 points) and Jake Krupinski (17 points) combined for 6 triples (Michael Rickert hit 15 for Riverside).  In their come-from-behind victory over the Crusaders, Trahjan and Jake Krupinski teamed up for 28 as the Trojans prevailed 51-41.  Holy Cross, who led at the break 21-15, got 33 combined points from Kieran Burrier, Leahy O’Connor, and Tyler Mozeleski.  Finally, GNA rolled over the Invaders, 62-34, as Kreitzer (17 points with 4 treys), T. Krupiski (17), and Colby Butczynski (12) led the way.  Lewin Fernandez scored 10 for West.  Another red-hot team that started 5-0 before seeing their first setback is Wyoming Seminary.  The Blue Knights are a very talented and balanced team.  They came away with wins over Susquehanna Community (69-39) and Dallas (65-32) before dropping a tough home loss to Abington Heights (52-50) Tuesday night.  Dimitri Gnall and Nicholas Ganter combined for 23 in the win over the Sabers.  Against the Mountaineers, Gnall led the way with 22 while Todd Phillips and Jeremy Callahan teamed up to hit 24.  Another team off to a great start is Pittston Area.  The Patriots picked up a pair of wins over North Pocono and West Scranton.  Mike George (20 points with 3 triples) and Brennan Higgins (19) paved the way in their 64-49 win over NP.  The Trojans, who only trailed by a point at intermission, got 15 points Zach Walsh and 13 from Robert VanBrunt.  Higgins and George again came up huge, while Logan Booth added 16, in their 59-52 overtime win over West.  The Invaders, who led 19-6 early, got 20 points from Cayden Merrifield and 10 from Payton Davis.  Another team that suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday night was Tunkhannock.  The Tigers started out 4-0, getting wins over Montrose, Mountain View and Lackawanna Trail.  Tyler Faux hit 23 points (5 triples) in a 62-32 victory over the Meteors (who got a dozen from Tyler Rebello).  Faux and Jack Chilson each netted 13 in their 40-36 win over Mt. View (who got 20 points with 6 treys from Mikey Schermerhorn).  Tunk then got an incredible game from Faux (42 points with 9 triples) as they defeated LT, 76-53.  The Lions got 15 points from Richard Helbing in the loss.  Holy Redeemer jumped out to an early lead and hung on for a 63-53 win over Valley View at Saturday’s Conference Challenge.  The Royals placed three in doubles (Nick Prociak 19, Mason Mendygral 15, and Collin Cook with 15).  The Cougars got 20 combined from Bobby Craig and Marc Kudrich.  Crestwood split a pair of games, getting a 65-53 win over Danville before dropping a 48-43 loss to Williamsport.  Ryan Petrosky came up big for the Comets scoring a total of 37 points in the two games.  Camden Boris hit 17 and Mike Palmiero added 14 in the win over the Ironmen while Sean Murphy netted 16 in the loss to the Millionaires (who got 23 from Nassir Jones).  Hanover Area picked up wins over Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (66-47), North Pocono (60-51), and Berwick (62-40).  Asad Whitehead (19) and Khairi Carson (20) led the Hawks over the Crusaders (who got 32 combined points from Aaron Bennett and Anthony Egidio).  Whitehead then hit 18 while Evan Materna and Justin Kopko each added 14 in the win over North Pocono.  In the loss, the Trojans placed four in doubles (Walsh and VanBrunt with 14; Ryan Ruddy and DeMarco Maglio with 10).  Whitehead and Carson then teamed up for 29 in the win over Berwick.  Speaking of the Bulldogs, while the are still searching for the first win, they are getting good contributions from Zach Evans and Eric Montes.  Northwest Area rolled over Weatherly 61-34 as Sam Saxe (16) and Walker Yaple (14) led the Rangers.  Then, on Tuesday night, Saxe notched his career 1,000th point as NW got an emotional win over Scranton.  Elsewhere, MMI Prep dropped a 65-57 loss to Marian Catholic as the Preppers got 20 from Marcus Kassick, 17 (with 5 triples) from Matt Marchetti and 12 from Mason Marchetti.

Taking a look at some of the top performances among Lackawanna League teams, Abington Heights got a pair of impressive come-from-behind road wins wrapped around their first loss of the season at The Mecca.  The Comets got terrific efforts from George Tinsley (28 points), Trey Koehler (18), and Jack Nealon (15 with 3 triples) as they got by Williamsport, 65-59.  The hot-shooting Millionaires got 17 from Ethan Williams, 15 from Nassir Jones, and 14 from Isaac Ritter.  On Saturday afternoon, AH trailed at Pottsville most of the afternoon as they dropped a 57-46 loss to the Tide who dominated the first and fourth periods, 34-16.  Jack Nealon, Koehler, and Tinsley combined for 37 points in the defeat.  Pottsville got 21 points (with 5 treys) from Kevin Schenk and 14 points (with 3 triples) from Trevor Sherkas.  Then, on Tuesday night, AH staged an impressive rally to defeat previously unbeaten Wyoming Seminary 52-50.  Scranton Prep came away with three big wins.  Greyson Schermerhorn led the way with 18 (including 5 triples) while Leo O’Boyle and Brian Boland combined for 27 in a 69-55 victory over Hazleton Area (who was playing without two starters).  The Cougars got 16 each from Kyle Franek and Scotty Campbell.  Prep then traveled for a weekend hoops showcase where they notched a 36-34 win over Father Judge as Nick Genco converted a game-winning layup.  Schermerhorn and Mario Rotell each hit 10 points for the Cavs.  Finally, Prep placed four in doubles (Schermerhorn 15, Rotell 12, Boland 11, and Rhys Merritt 11) in an 87-46 win over Wyoming Valley West (who got 24 combined from Roland Hamad and Joey Lombardo).  Wallenpaupack continues to play well and remains undefeated as the Buckhorns got by Elk Lake (69-30) and Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (64-51).  Elijah Rosenthal has been sensational netting a 2-game total of 53 points (with 7 triples).  Derrick Vosburg added 18 points in the win over the Warriors while Izaiah Santiago scored 13 in the win over the Crusaders (who got a combined 25 points from Aaron Bennett and Anthony Egidio).  Scranton came away with wins over Wilkes-Barre GAR and Wyoming Valley West before their loss to Northwest Area Tuesday night.  Marcus Bauman hit 25 and RJ Overton added 19 as the Knights defeated GAR, 76-65.  In the loss, the Grenadiers got 28 points (with 4 treys) from Will Johnson and 15 points from Tyler Young.  Bauman then led Scranton with 17 while Derome White and John Rose teamed up for 25 points in their 62-50 win over WVW (the Spartans got 36 combined from Tyler Gillespie, Joey Lombardo, and Roland Hamad).  Holy Cross registered a 63-44 win over Valley View before dropping losses to Nanticoke Area and Dallas (Tuesday night).  The Crusaders got 18 points from Leahy O’Connor, 16 from Caleb Callejas, and 10 from Tyler Mozeleski in the win over the Cougars (who got 17 points from Marc Kudrich).  Among other Division 3 squads, Old Forge, Mid Valley, and Lakeland went a combined 7-0 last week.  Old Forge got 21 points from Dante Lucarelli in a 54-42 win over Mountain View (the Eagles got 18 from Mikey Schermerhorn).    The Devils then got a 63-49 victory over South Williamsport as Lucarelli (15), Michael DiGregorio (23), and Robell Dease (15) led the way.  Lucarelli then netted 20 (with 4 triples) while Anthony Rios and Michael DiGregorio combined for 27 points in a 51-46 win over Blue Ridge (Kaleb Folk hit 16 for the Raiders).  Mid Valley topped Wilkes-Barre Meyers 45-29 as Vinny Talluto scored 18.  The Spartans then came away with a pulsating 56-54 win over North Pocono as Shane Rosencrans hit the game-winner with 5 ticks left.  MV got 19 from Mike Miller in the win while the Trojans placed three in doubles in the loss (Zach Walsh 15, Ryan Ruddy 12, Robert VanBrunt 12).  Lakeland captured the Cal King Tourney championship with wins over Lackawanna Trail and Western Wayne.  Nick Berholf hit 16 in their opening round 67-44 win (Nico Berrios hit 16 for LT).  Western Wayne advanced in the other semi-final, 44-29 over Lake-Lehman as Zach Rovinsky netted 21.  In the title game, Jake Curnow hit 22 points for the Chiefs while the Wildcats got 21 from Rovinsky and 14 from Dahlton Frisbie.  Lake-Lehman got 14 points from CJ Cerone as they topped Lackawanna Trail, 49-45, in the consolation (Josh Rzucidlo scored 16 for the Lions). 

In other results, Blake Gearhart netted 20 points (including the game-winner) as the Warriors got their first win, 53-52 over Warwick (NY).  Dunmore dropped a pair of games to even their mark at 2-2.  Chris Cespedes (15 points) and Will Howell (14 points) paced Honesdale as the Hornets topped the Bucks, 51-36.  Valley View then placed three in doubles (Jorden Duplessis 14, Kudrich 12, and Janaasah Boone 11) as they got by Dunmore, 60-53.  The Bucks got 16 (with 4 treys) from Frank Ruggerio and 12 from Daniel Walsh.  Honesdale fell behind 21-7 after the first period and dropped a 61-50 loss to East Stroudsburg South, 61-50, despite getting 25 points from Joey Scarfalloto.  The Hornets then bounced back for a 68-45 win over Riverside.  Scarfalloto and Howell combined for 37 points for Honesdale (Michael Rickert hit 24 for the Vikings).  Lackawanna Trail rallied for a 64-51 win over Wyoming Area as Josh Rzucidlo and Richard Helbing combined for 30.  Dan Wiedl paced WA with 15.  Mikey Schermerhorn had another impressive game scoring 29 (with 4 treys) but Mountain View lost to Notre Dame East Stroudsburg, 73-60.  Montrose defeated Towanda as the Meteors were led by Tyler Rebello with 17.  And Elk Lake survived some icy-cold free throw shooting to get by Wyalusing Valley 50-45 as Nate Preston scored 11.                                                             

UPCOMING DISTRICT 2 BOYS GAMES

WEDNESDAY, 12/19

Riverside at North Pocono

Wallenpaupack at Dunmore

Lackawanna Trail at Old Forge

Stroudsburg at Honesdale

Lakeland at Montrose

THURSDAY, 12/20

Wilkes-Barre GAR at Hazleton Area (WVC-1/2 crossover)

Tunkhannock at Dallas (WVC-1/2)

Nanticoke Area at Wilkes-Barre Coughlin (WVC-1/2)

Wyoming Area at Crestwood (WVC-1/2)

Berwick at Pittston Area (WVC-1/2)

Wilkes-Barre Meyers at Wyoming Valley West (WVC-1/2)

Wyoming Seminary at Northwest Area (WVC-3)

Holy Redeemer at MMI Prep (WVC-3)

Hanover Area at Lake-Lehman (WVC-3)

Williamsport at Scranton Prep

Carbondale at Valley View

Sullivan County at Blue Ridge

FRIDAY, 12/21

West Scranton at Mid Valley

Lakeland at Honesdale

Carbondale at Susquehanna Community

Montrose at Riverside

Central Columbia at Berwick

Blue Ridge at Maine-Endwell (NY)

SATURDAY, 12/22

Pittston Area at Nanticoke Area (WVC-1/2 crossover)

Crestwood at Wilkes-Barre Meyers (WVC-1/2)

Hazleton Area at Tunkhannock (WVC-1/2)

Dallas at Wilkes-Barre GAR (WVC-1/2)

Wilkes-Barre Coughlin at Berwick (WVC-1/2)

Wyoming Valley West at Wyoming Area (WVC-1/2)

Muhlenberg Showcase

• Scranton vs. Executive Education Academy Charter

• Abington Heights vs. Emmaus

• Scranton Prep vs. Pennridge

Holy Redeemer at Holy Cross

Old Forge at Valley View

Delaware Valley at East Stroudsburg North

Dunmore at Mount Carmel Area

Notre Dame East Stroudsburg at Western Wayne

Elk Lake at Northeast Bradford

Williamsport at Pocono Mountain West

SUNDAY, 12/23

Carbondale at Forest City

See you in the bleachers !

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