NEPA Sports Nation

6 teams use late surges to join

The first three-quarters of the season held largely to form, with limited wins by lower-ranked teams and minimal week-to-week changes in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Basketball Power Rankings of District 2 teams.

The last two weeks have changed that with a series of losses by highly regarded teams. Those losses and a batch of teams getting hot late in the season have led to six new teams entering the Super Six this week.

Dallas took over the No. 1 Big School boys spot even though it lost a game during the week; Holy Cross returned to No. 2 in Small School boys; and the Hazleton Area, North Pocono and Blue Ridge boys all joined the Super Six along with the Wallenpaupack, Dallas and Elk Lake girls.

Half of the division titles have been decided. With the Wyoming Valley Conference regular season complete and the Lackawanna League heading into its final week, the new rankings were released Sunday night.

Holy Redeemer joins Dallas the No. 1 boys teams.

Scranton Prep, in Big Schools, and Lake-Lehman, in Small Schools, remained as the No. 1 girls teams.

The 24 teams that made up the four sets of the Super Six entered last week with a combined .754 winning percentage, but went just 28-23 (.549).

WVC Division 1 champion Dallas climbed two spots to No. 1 even though it lost its most recent game.

After clinching the division championship, Dallas lost its finale at Hazleton Area, the new No. 4 team.

Abington Heights lost for the second straight week and Valley View also lost, dropping the Lackawanna Division 1 co-leaders one spot each into second and third. Abington Heights had been No. 1 every week of the season.

Hazleton Area has been in and out of the rankings. The Cougars beat Wyoming Valley West in triple overtime, then topped Dallas, 55-51, for their fourth straight win to come back in as the fourth team.

North Pocono captured the Lackawanna Division 2 title with two wins, including one over Valley View in the closing seconds, to join the rankings in fifth.

Nanticoke slipped from fifth to sixth after losing to Holy Redeemer, 48-33, with a chance to tie for first place in WVC Division 2.

Pittston Area lost twice and Scranton Prep split its two games to fall out of the rankings.

Holy Redeemer completed the only unbeaten league season among boys teams in District 2, going 12-0 in WVC Division 2. The Royals held on to Small School No. 1 after finishing the regular season with the district’s best overall boys record at 20-2.

Holy Cross took the Lackawanna Division 3 lead away from Mid Valley and traded places with the Spartans by moving from third to second in the rankings.

Division rivals Old Forge and Riverside continue to follow them in fourth and fifth.

Forest City lost three straight to drop from the rankings.

Blue Ridge defeated Forest City, 63-57, to take the Lackawanna Division 4 lead – and the Small School No. 6 spot – away from the Foresters.

The Scranton Prep girls, who have won the Lackawanna Division 1 title, are the only team to remain No. 1 all season. They lead Big School girls over No. 2 Pittston Area, the WVC Division 1 champ which has finished with District 2’s best regular-season record at 21-1.

Wallenpaupack, with eight wins in the last nine games, including a 45-28 romp over former No. 3 Abington Heights Thursday, not only joined the rankings, but jumped all the way to third.

Abington Heights won its other game and dropped one spot to fourth.

Dallas, which has won six of its last seven, used its second win over WVC Tournament-bound Hazleton Area to move into the rankings in fifth.

Hazleton Area split its two games and slipped from fifth to sixth.

Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West each lost twice to fall out of the rankings. Wilkes-Barre Area has lost four straight since being 16-2 and is 5-6 since making it halfway through the regular season unbeaten.

The Small School girls rankings were the most stable.

Lake-Lehman held first while Dunmore, Holy Redeemer and Montrose remained in second through fourth.

Lake-Lehman won the WVC Division 2 title in a playoff with Holy Redeemer.

Dunmore clinched at least a tie for first place in Lackawanna Division 3 and Montrose did the same in Lackawanna Division 4.

Third-ranked Holy Redeemer finished tied for first, but lost Friday’s playoff to Lake-Lehman.

Western Wayne gained one position to fifth.

Elk Lake extended its winning streak to eight by upsetting Montrose. The Lady Warriors moved into sixth.

Riverside lost twice and went from fifth to out of the rankings.

The full rankings, with records and previous rankings:

RIVERFRONT SPORTS SUPER SIX BASKETBALL POWER RANKINGS

BIG SCHOOL BOYS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Dallas19-3  3
  2Abington Heights18-3  1
  3Valley View17-3  2
  4Hazleton Area14-8 NR
  5North Pocono12-9 NR
  6Nanticoke15-7  5

SMALL SCHOOL BOYS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Holy Redeemer20-2  1
  2Holy Cross15-5  3
  3Mid Valley16-4  2
  4Old Forge14-5  4
  5Riverside13-7  5
  6Blue Ridge17-3 NR

BIG SCHOOL GIRLS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Scranton Prep18-2  1
  2Pittston Area21-1  2
  3Wallenpaupack15-6 NR
  4Abington Heights14-7  3
  5Dallas12-10 NR
  6Hazleton Area16-6  4

SMALL SCHOOL GIRLS

RankTeamW-LLast Rank
  1Lake-Lehman19-4  1
  2Dunmore17-3  2
  3Holy Redeemer14-9  3
  4Montrose16-4  4
  5Western Wayne  8-12  6
  6Elk Lake12-8 NR

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