It’s January, and guess what? Winter means cold and snow. And that means, postponments in the boys basketball schedule. Weather forecasters insisted a snow storm was coming Tuesday and schools across NEPA acted accordingly and closed schools. Students and teachers reveled in another day off, until of course they woke up to just flurries and it starts to hit home that these days are made up in June. That being said, it is always better to be safe than sorry with these tricky weather patterns.

Also, it seems, we are headed toward some pretty icy conditions and frigid temperatures. That could also make maintaining a school and extra-curricular activity schedule very difficult. That being said, athletic directors are being optimistic and most are simply pushing Tuesday’s games to Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

 

HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW

 

 

TUESDAY’S POSTPONMENTS
BOYS BASKETBALL	NEW DATE
Old Forge at Holy Cross	WEDNESDAY
Dunmore at Carbondale Area	WEDNESDAY
Riverside at Mid Valley	WEDNESDAY
Mountain View at Lackawanna Trail	WEDNESDAY
Montrose at Susquehanna	WEDNESDAY
Delaware Valley at Abington Heights	WEDNESDAY
Western Wayne at Scranton Prep	WEDNESDAY
North Pocono at Scranton	WEDNESDAY
Honesdale at West Scranton	WEDNESDAY
Wallenpaupack at Valley View	WEDNESDAY
Elk Lake at Lakeland	THURSDAY
Forest City at Blue Ridge	SATURDAY, 5:30 PM

 

 

 

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INSIDE DIVISION II

 

 

Today, we want to begin in Division II. Why? Well, after last week’s Blog Post, one team in Division II certainly responded to the challenge and fought the stigma the statistics were showing.

 

 

CAT SCRATCH FEVER

 

Remember, we pointed out that Division II had struggled against teams from Division I in the crossover games?

Here were the numbers last week:

 

RECORDS VS. DIVISION I (January 24, 2019)

• Wallenpaupack (1-1)
• Delaware Valley (1-1)
• Western Wayne (0-2)
• Honesdale (0-3)
• North Pocono (0-3)

 

RECORDS VS. DIVISION I (January 29, 2019)

• Wallenpaupack (1-2)
  

  Wildcats

• Delaware Valley (1-2)
• Western Wayne (2-2)
• Honesdale (0-3)
• North Pocono (0-4)

 

 

 

Western Wayne picked up wins over West Scranton, 59-53, and then, won an overtime thriller over Scranton, 68-63. In that win over Scranton, senior Dahlton Frisbie and junior Zach Rovinsky went off scoring a combined 61 points. That effort came off a combined 35 points in the win over West Scranton. A total of 96 of their team’s 127 points in two wins by the Wildcats that have them in the thick of the District 2 Class 4A playoff chase.

 

 

Dahlton Frisbie	Zach Rovinsky
WESTERN WAYNE	WESTERN WAYNE
31 points vs. Scranton	30 points vs. Scranton
16.6 ppg.	20.5 ppg.

 

 

 

SCORING MACHINE

 

 

Then, there is Wallenpaupack junior Elijah Rosenthal. He had one heck of a weekend. Despite a heartbreaking loss to Scranton Prep in doube overtime, Rosenthal scored 43 points with seven 3-pointers. He followed that up with 20 points in a win over East Stroudsburg South and he has taken over the Lackawanna League lead in points per game at a 20.9 clip.

 

But his efforts since a loss to Honesdale have been off the charts.

 

 

ELIJAH ROSENTHAL

Wallenpaupack

Opponent	Points	3-pointers
East Stroudsburg South	20	3
Scranton Prep	43	7
Scranton	26	6
North Pocono	19	4
TOTALS	108	20

 

 

STANDINGS

 

Then, there is Honesdale. The Hornets have won four of their last five games, and have beaten all four division foes with four rematches remaining. However, three of those games are on the road, at Western Wayne, at North Pocono and at Delaware Valley. Their rivalry game against Wallenpaupack will be at home on Feb. 5.

 

 

• 

  Honesdale junior Joey Scarfalloto.

  Wallenpaupack (4-3, 11-5)

• Honesdale (4-3, 9-7)

• Western Wayne (2-6, 9-8)

• Delaware Valley (2-6, 8-9)

• North Pocono (2-6, 5-12)

 

 

 

 

 

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INSIDE DIVISION I

 

 

I know this is shocking, but Abington Heights and Scranton Prep are playing at a very high level. The two teams that have dominated the Lackawanna League stepped out and picked up impressive road wins over the weekend.

Abington Heights defeated Hazleton Area, 64-32, in a matchup of team’s leading their respective District 2 playoff standings.

 

This season, Abington Heights has played a difficult nonleague schedule:

 

• 

  Abington Heights’ Jack Nealon.
  Jason Farmer / Staff Photographer

  Beat Pocono Mountain West, 66-42

• Beat Williamsport, 65-59
• Lost to Pottsville (15-3, No. 6 in state in Class 5A), 57-46
• Beat Wyoming Seminary (15-1, No. 6 in state in Class 3A), 52-52
• Lost to Emmaus (15-3, Team to watch in state Class 6A), 56-48
• Beat Coatsville (16-1, No. 5 in state Class 6A), 67-63
• Beat Berks Catholic (14-3, No. 4 in state in Class 4A), 2-0 (forfeit)
• Beat Hazleton Area, 64-32

 

 

 

 

 

Scranton Prep has also found success in its nonleague schedule:

 

• Beat Meyers, 68-31
• Beat Hazleton Area, 69-55
• Beat Father Judge, 36-34
• Beat Wyoming Valley West, 87-46
• Beat Williamsport, 51-47
• Lost to Pennridge (15-2, Team to Watch in state in Class 6A), 61-36
• Beat Pottsville (15-3, No. 6 in state in Class 5A), 56-47

 

 

 

 

 

 

OH BY THE WAY. …. HE’S BACK!

 

 

 

LEO O’BOYLE

 

Missed several games because of an injury, but since his return, he’s been a force in four straight wins for the Cavaliers.

 

 

GAMES	RESULT	POINTS
Valley View	Win, 59-57	5
Wallenpaupack	Win, 87-81, 2 OTs	23
Pottsville	Win, 56-47	10
Delaware Valley	Win, 75-51	18

 

 

STANDINGS

There are still some good matchups in the division and it will be interesting to see if any team can derail Abington Heights and Scranton Prep on their way to the rematch scheduled on Feb. 14.

 

 

• Abington Heights (8-0, 15-2)

• Scranton Prep (7-1, 15-2)

• Valley View (5-3, 11-6)

• Scranton (3-4, 7-9)

• West Scranton (1-6, 5-10)

 

 

 

 

 

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INSIDE DIVISION III

 

 

OK, Mid Valley has had a special season to date. First, the Spartans started the season without star Colin Hazelton, who has since returned, and is now dealing with the loss of Jordany Cardenas, who will miss the rest of the season with an injury.

Still, Mid Valley is leading the division. The Spartans have proven to be able to win games in the 30s and those up-tempo games in the 60s.

Last week, Mid Valley made it two out of three against Lakeland and then followed it up with a signature win over Scranton in a nonleague game, then beat Lackawanna Trail. And, the Spartans have yet to lose on the road this season and that record will be put to the test moving forward as they still have a battle at Holy Cross.

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a Crusade

 

 

Holy Cross, will not go away either. The Crusaders, who were the preseason favorite, have bounced back with convincing wins over Dunmore and Susquehanna since their loss to Mid Valley. They won those two games by an average of 18.5 points per game.

Head coach Al Callejas has continually guided this program to the postseason. Including his years at Holy Cross, he ranks among the best in the area with career wins among active coaches.

 

COACHES	CAREER WINS
Ken Bianchi, Abington Heights	789
Jack Lyons, West Scranton	486
Al Callejas, Holy Cross	477
Al Semenza, Western Wayne	439

 

 

STANDINGS

 

It may be a two-team race for the division title. Right now, it’s hard to say if anybody can upset either Mid Valley or Holy Cross. And with the season being played straight rather than in halves, the two best teams over the long haul will likely be rewarded.

Lakeland, Carbondale Area, Dunmore and Riverside are all three games back of Mid Valley with five division games remaining.

 

• 

  Holy Cross’ Kieran Burrier.
  Jason Farmer / Staff Photographer

  Mid Valley (6-1, 14-2)

• Holy Cross (5-1, 11-5)

• Lakeland (3-4, 10-6)

• Carbondale Area (3-4, 8-8)

• Dunmore (3-4, 7-9)

• Riverside (3-4, 7-9)

• Old Forge (1-6, 6-10)

 

 

 

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INSIDE DIVISION IV

 

 

Things got a bit congested after last weekend’s games. Mountain View had seized some momentum, but Montrose pulled off a major upset Saturday night and brought Susquehanna and Lackawanna Trail back into the division title chase.

 

KEY GAMES

 

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW

• Tuesday: at Lackawanna Trail

 

 

SUSQUEHANNA 

• Tuesday: vs. Montrose
• Friday: at Elk Lake

 

 

LACKAWANNA TRAIL

• Tuesday: vs. Mountain View
• Friday: at Forest City

 

 

 

STANDINGS

 

• 

  Susquehanna’s Bryce Baldwin.
  Christopher Dolan / Staff Photographer

  Mountain View (6-1, 7-8)

• Susquehanna (5-1, 10-6)

• Lackawanna Trail (5-2, 7-9)

• Elk Lake (3-4, 7-9)

• Blue Ridge (2-5, 4-12)

• Montrose (2-5, 5-10)

• Forest City (1-6, 1-14)

 

 

 

 

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