Boys Basketball District 2 Bracketology

With 2 weeks remaining, we are currently in the stretch run in Boys Basketball. Here are the current District Standings.

4A

1 Abington Heights 17-1 (Division Leader)

2 Hazleton Area 14-3 (Division Leader)

3 Scranton 12-6

4 Williamsport 9-7

5 Delaware Valley 8-10

6 WVW 3-14

7 Wallenpaupack 3-15

Rundown: Hazleton Area leads WVC Division 1 with a showdown at home against Crestwood. Abington Heights is tied for 1st place in LL Division 1 with Scranton Prep.

3A

1 Scranton Prep 8-1 (Division Leader)

2 Nanticoke 7-1 (Division Leader Tied)

3 GAR 7-1 (Division Leader Tied)

4 North Pocono (Division Leader)

5 Crestwood 8-1

6 Berwick 5-4

7 West Scranton 5-4

8 Dallas 4-5

9 Honesdale 4-5

10 Coughlin 4-5

11 Lake-Lehman 3-5

12 Wyoming Area 3-5

13 Pittston Area 2-7

14 Tunkhannock 2-7

15 Valley View 1-8

16 Western Wayne 0-9

Rundown: There could be a possibility of 3 Division Champions in 3A or there could be 1 Division Champion depending on how Division races turn out. Scranton Prep is tied with Abington Heights for the LL Division 1 lead. North Pocono leads Division 2 by a game over Delaware Valley. Crestwood is a game behind Hazleton for the WVC Division 1 lead. Nanticoke and GAR is tied the WVC Division 2 lead and they play each other on Feb 6th at GAR for the Division lead.

2A

1 Meyers 8-0 (Division Leader)

2 Elk Lake 8-0 (Division Leader)

3 Mid Valley 7-1 (Division Leader)

4 Montrose 8-1

5 Holy Cross 6-2

6 Dunmore 6-3

7 Wyoming Seminary 5-3

8 Holy Redeemer 4-4

9 Carbondale 4-4

10 Blue Ridge 4-4

11 Hanover Area 2-6

12 Mt View 2-7

13 Riverside 2-7

14 Lakeland 1-8

15 Northwest 0-8

Rundown: Meyers and Elk Lake are both leading their division and are both undefeated. Meyers looks like they will win WVC Division 3. Elk Lake is playing for a second half title.

A

1 Forest City 5-4

2 Old Forge 4-5

3 Lackawanna Trail 3-6

4 MMI 1-7

5 Susquehanna 0-8

Rundown: Forest City is the Top seed currently and Old Forge is only behind by a game.

Girls Basketball District 2 Bracketology

We have two weeks remaining in the regular season and then the tournament begins, here is how all 4 classifications are like currently

4A

1 Hazleton Area 14-2 (Division Leader)

2 Wallenpaupack 13-5 (Division Leader)

3 Pittston Area 12-5

4 WVW 11-6

5 Williamsport 10-7

6 Scranton 9-9

7 Delaware Valley 2-16

Rundown: Hazleton Area is 1 game up on Pittston Area for the WVC Division 1 Title and they play each other on Feb 5th at Hazleton. Wallenpaupack is up 4 games in LL Division 2, with one more win, Wallenpaupack will take the Division 2 title.

3A

1 Nanticoke 8-0 (Division Leader)

2 Abington Heights 8-1 (Division Leader)

3 West Scranton 7-2

4 Wyoming Area 6-2

5 Scranton Prep 6-3

6 Crestwood 6-3

7 Hanover Area 5-3

8 Dallas 5-4

9 Lake-Lehman 4-4

10 North Pocono 4-5

11 Berwick 4-5

12 Western Wayne 3-6

13 Honesdale 2-7

14 Tunkhannock 1-8

15 Valley View 1-8

16 Coughlin 0-9

Rundown: Nanticoke is leading the WVC Division 2 by 2 games over Wyoming Area. Abington Heights leads LL Division 1 by a game over West Scranton and they play each other on Feb 10th at the end of the regular season but don't leave out Scranton Prep who is only 2 games out with Abington Heights on Monday.

2A

1 Dunmore 9-0 (Division Leader)

2 Holy Redeemer 7-1 (Division Leader)

3 Elk Lake 7-1

4 Holy Cross 7-1

5 Riverside 6-3

6 Blue Ridge 4-4

7 Lakeland 4-5

8 Montrose 4-5

9 Northwest 3-5

10 Carbondale 3-5

11 Meyers 3-5

12 Wyoming Seminary 2-6

13 GAR 2-6

14 Mid Valley 1-7

15 Mt View 1-8

Rundown: Dunmore leads 2A with a 9-0 record with a big game at Holy Cross on Feb 8th. Holy Redeemer leads WVC Division 3 comfortably.

A

1 Forest City 8-1 (Division Leader)

2 Susquehanna 3-5

3 Lackawanna Trail 3-6

4 MMI 0-8

5 Old Forge 0-9

Rundown: Forest City, regardless if they win LL Division 4 because of their 8-1 record currently will be the Top seed in District 2 A

Pittston Area at Crestwood (Boys)

Crestwood hosted Pittston Area tonight. In the first quarter, Lance Blass went perfect on FG attempts and scored 6 points to give the Comets a 15-7 lead after one. In the second quarter, Jordan Black of Pittston Area scored the first four points, the second being a dunk to cut the deficit to 15-11 but Crestwood would go on a 10-0 run and would go on to lead 33-21 at halftime. Crestwood would be tied in points and lead 54-42 after 3 quarters of play. Crestwood would hang on to get the victory 69-53. Crestwood had 4 players in double figures, Lance Blass led all scorers with 17, Robbie Hopkins had 16 points, Jason Klusewitz scored 10 and Josh Malkemes scored all 10 of his points in the second half. For Pittston Area, Dylan Osticco had 14 points and Jordan Black had 10.

Thoughts of the game: First of all, great game by Lance Blass. I was perfect for most of the first half, believed he started 6 for 6 from the floor. Robbie Hopkins also had a great game, scoring 16 points including several 3 pointers. I was pretty impressed by Dylan Osticco who scored 14 points and also impressed by Jordan Black's dunk in the second quarter.

Pittston Area at Crestwood (Girls)

The Lady Patriots came into Mountain Top Thursday night to take on the Lady Comets looking for a season sweep. Jamie Chisdock scored 10 points in the first quarter but Crestwood and Pittston Area would be tied at 14 at the end of the first quarter. Crestwood would outscore Pittston Area in the second quarter 14-9 and lead 28-23 at halftime. Crestwood would go on a run with help from Emily Shiplett making back-to-back threes. The Comets would lead as much as 15 in the third quarter and would lead by 12 at the end of the third. Pittston Area would make it interesting early in the fourth quarter as the Patriots went on a a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 6. Maddie Ritsick would foul out with 3:33 left with Crestwood leading by 8 points, but the Comets would pull and take the victory 60-48. Maddie Ritsick led all scorers with 16 points, while Sara Hopkins had 13 for Crestwood. Jamie Chisdock scored a team-high 15 points for the Patriots. Kirsten Durling and Marley O'Brien had 10 points each for Pittston Area

Thoughts on the game: Great win for the Comets. They've knocked off both Dallas and Pittston Area this season and they played great for the most part in this game. The Patriots had a great game from Jamie Chisdock who scored 15 points. Sara Hopkins also played a great game for Crestwood, scoring 13 points.

Coughlin at Crestwood (Boys)

Coughlin traveled up Mountain Top on Tuesday to take on Crestwood. Coughlin would lead 7-6 midway through the first quarter, but Crestwood would lead 14-13 with a Brandon Schmidt buzz-beating layup after a quarter. Coughlin would try and keep up with Crestwood in the second quarter but a 6-0 run to end the half and Crestwood would lead 24-15. The third quarter would end up being the downfall for the Crusaders as they were out scored 16-2 and trailed 40-19. Crestwood was out scored 17-9 in the fourth but held on to beat Coughlin 49-36. Robbie Hopkins led Crestwood with 12 points, while Josh Malkemes scored 8. For the Crusaders, Melvin Robinson had a game-high 14 points, while Devin Rajza scored 13.

Thoughts on the game: Jose Rivera failed to score a single basket in the game, while Melvin Robinson scored 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter. Crestwood played great in the second and third quarter, they only allowed 2 points in the second and third quarters of the game. In the fourth is where Coughlin scored most of their points but most of them came when Crestwood's reserves were in.

Tunkhannock at Crestwood (Boys)

Tunkhannock coming off a victory over Berwick came up to Mountain Top to take on the Crestwood Comets. The game started off well with the Tigers leading 4-0, but Crestwood would outscore Tunkhannock 12-5 to end the first quarter. Crestwood would score 23 second quarter points, including a Tim McCue 3 that beat the buzz to lead 35-18 at half. Crestwood would only outscore Tunkhannock 15-14 in the third quarter, however at that point, Crestwood were rotating several players in and out of the game. Crestwood lead 50-32 after 3 and would take the victory 71-46. Robbie Hopkins lead the Crestwood scoring with 14 points. The Comets had 11 players hit the scoresheet tonight. For the Tigers,  Tony Maloney had 16, while Tyler Faux and Evan Turner scored 11 each.

Thoughts on the game: Thought Tunkhannock could give Crestwood a game after the first quarter but Crestwood just came out in the second and dominated from there scoring 23 in the second. Tunkhannock has several good young players on their roster, including Freshman Tyler Faux and Sophomore Evan Turner.

Valley West at Crestwood (Boys)

Crestwood coming off an overtime victory over Berwick on the road was home on Tuesday, taking on the Spartans of Wyoming Valley West. Crestwood started off hot scoring 8 consecutive points 2 minutes into the game and took a 22-13 lead after a quarter. Jason Klusewitz scored 17 of his team-high 22 points to give Crestwood a 37-25 at the half. Crestwood's biggest lead came in the third quarter with the Comets leading by 21. Valley West went on an 11-0 run to end the third to cut the deficit to 10. Valley West tried making a run in the fourth quarter but would come up short as Crestwood took it 68-58. Josh Malkemes scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, Mendell Foreman had 14. For the Spartans, Tyler Yankosky had a game-high 23 points and Sean Judge had 12 points.

Thoughts: Crestwood was in control for most of the game, Jason Klusewitz came up big in the first half scoring 17 and then Josh Malkemes came up big in the second half scoring 14 in the 2nd half. I like Valley West's team especially Sean Judge who had some amazing 3s in the game and Tyler Yankosky played great, scoring 23 and drawing several fouls.

GAR at Nanticoke (Boys)

 Nanticoke and GAR both came into this game undefeated in league play as they played Friday night in Nanticoke. The first quarter ended with Nanticoke leading GAR by 1, 9-8. Nanticoke would continue to lead at halftime 17-15 with the help of Scott Stout's 6 points and Brent Pionkowski's 7. GAR would cut the lead to 3 at 23-20 but back to back 3s for Nanticoke would increase the lead to 9 after 3, 29-20. Nanticoke would hold on to win 51-30. Brent Piontkowski lead all scorers with 23 points for Nanticoke. Scott Stout added 17 for the Trojans. For GAR, Dajon Rush had 12, followed by Justin Crosby-Smith with 9.

Thoughts: the first thing I will mention about tonight is the atmosphere of the game, student section was into it all game and it was close to full capacity at Nanticoke Area High School. There was recognition of the 1961 Nanticoke Rams team who won the Class A State Title. To the game, Nanticoke played very well, they had no threes in the first half, went inside for the most part, but in the second, hit a majority of their threes and it turned a two point game at halftime into an 11-point victory.

Dallas at Crestwood (Girls)

 The Dallas Lady Mountaineers came into Mountain Top to take on the Crestwood Lady Comets. The Mountaineers came in with a 3-0 record in WVC Division 1 with a big win over Hazleton Area last Monday and came in 9-1 overall. Crestwood came in with a 1-2 record in Division 1 with losses to Pittston Area and Hazleton Area and 4-7 overall.

 Dallas would start off leading 14-12 after a back and forth 1st quarter. Crestwood would eventually tie up the game at 20, but Dallas would outscore the Comets 6-5 to take a 26-25 halftime lead. Crestwood would outscore Dallas 12-6 in the third quarter to take a 38-31 lead. Crestwood would end up pulling away to upset No 4 ranked Dallas and give them their 2nd loss of the season and first loss in Conference play. Maddie Ritsick scored 15 of her game-high 25 points in the second half. Abbie Macko added 9 points for the Lady Comets. Nikki Wren and Maddie Kelley scored 12 points each for the Lady Mountaineers. With Dallas's loss, Pittston Area gains sole possession of first place in WVC Division 1.

Thoughts on the games: Believe Dallas and Crestwood played well in the first half with Dallas leading by 1 at the break. Crestwood came out and played a great second half, outscoring Dallas 26-12.

Holy Redeemer at Nanticoke (Boys)

Holy Redeemer travel to Nanticoke for their both teams' division opener. Nanticoke started off on a 10-0 run and had a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Royals made a run in the second quarter outscoring the Trojans 14-11 but the Trojans would lead at halftime 24-19. Nanticoke started the 2nd half on an 8-0 and lead after the third quarter 37-24 and the Trojans would end up winning 50-35. The Trojans lead scorer was Brent Piontkowski with 12, followed by Scott Stout's 10 and Ben Sersen with 9. The Royals leading scorer was James Kosik with 12 and John Carr with 11.

Thoughts: Holy Redeemer could not get momentum early and Nanticoke started off rolling 10-0. Redeemer did get some spark in the second but was negated when Nanticoke went on an 8-0 run and the Royals scored 5 points in the third quarter. Nanticoke was able to control the boards and were able to shoot the ball well.