EDITOR’S NOTE: As a step in getting ready for the 2021-22 winter sports season, NEPASportsNation.com is taking a look back at the 2021 season in District 2.
Team champions
Scranton, Crestwood and Riverside all won both regular-season divisional titles and district championships last season.
Scranton won the Lackawanna League Division 1 and District 2 Class 6A titles. Crestwood won Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and Class 5A. Riverside won Lackawanna Division 3 and Class 3A.
Scranton Prep, in Class 4A, and Old Forge, in 2A, won the other District 2 titles.
Wyoming Seminary won WVC Division 2.
North Pocono, in Division 2, and Elk Lake, in Division 4, were the other Lackawanna champions.
Standings
Lackawanna League Division 1: Scranton 11-2, Abington Heights 11-2, Scranton Prep 8-5, Valley View 8-5, West Scranton 3-10.
Lackawanna League Division 2: North Pocono 10-3, Delaware Valley 8-5, Wallenpaupack 4-9, Honesdale 2-11, Western Wayne 0-13.
Lackawanna League Division 3: Riverside 9-1, Holy Cross 9-2, Dunmore 6-3, Mid Valley 5-3, Old Forge 4-8, Lakeland 3-7, Carbondale 0-12.
Lackawanna League Division 4: Elk Lake 11-0, Blue Ridge 7-3, Susquehanna 7-3, Mountain View 4-7, Forest City 3-8, Montrose 3-8, Lackawanna Trail 3-9.
Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1: Crestwood 12-0, Hazleton Area 9-3, Wilkes-Barre Area 7-5, Tunkhannock 5-7, Wyoming Valley West 5-7, Pittston Area 4-8, Berwick 0-12.
Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2: Wyoming Seminary 10-2, Holy Redeemer 9-3, Lake-Lehman 8-4, Dallas 6-4, Nanticoke 4-8, Wyoming Area 2-8, Hanover Area 1-11.
State impact
Old Forge, the only District 2 boys team to win a game in the champions-only Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament, advanced all the way to the semifinals in Class 2A.
Riverside’s Brandon Reed was named third-team, all-state in Class 3A by Pennsylvania sports writers.
COVID Impact
There were alterations to the beginning, middle and end of the season.
The 2020-21 season simply became the 2021 season with no competition until January.
Non-league games were reduced and even league play could not always be completed, particularly in the highly competitive Lackawanna League Division 3 where six games were not played.
Contenders Abington Heights, Holy Cross and Dunmore all dropped out of the District 2 tournament at different times because of COVID-related issues. Abington Heights had already reached the Class 5A final, which was canceled with the title awarded to Crestwood.
The state tournament was reduced to district champions only and played on home courts up until the finals.
Noteworthy
Scranton won its Lackawanna League Division 1 title in a playoff with Abington Heights. … Old Forge’s state run started after it needed a buzzer-beater to get to overtime when it claimed the District 2 title and state berth despite a losing record to that point. … The drama did not end there for the Blue Devils, whose second state win was a double-overtime, 69-64 victory at Lancaster Mennonite.
