By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
SCRANTON – The Abington Heights boys and Dunmore girls don’t just win basketball games and titles in the winter.
Teams from those two programs captured the titles Tuesday night when the Elite Divisions of the High School Boys and Girls portions of the Summer Basketball League presented by Lenahan & Dempsey concluded at Riverfront Sports.
Ryan Nealon keyed a first-half surge that put CS Comets (Abington Heights) in control on the way to a 69-38 romp over Back Mountain (Dallas) in the boys final.
LB’s (Dunmore) rallied behind the post play of rising freshman Jaclyn Brown to defeat Lady Knights (Scranton), 46-31, in the girls final.
Nealon, a first-team Lackawanna League Division 1 all-star last season as a sophomore, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to erase a 9-5 Dallas lead and put Abington Heights ahead to stay. He added another 3-pointer to cap the 19-2 run to a 24-11 lead with 7:10 left in the half.
Both boys finalists played back-to-back games, meeting right after their semifinal.
Abington Heights built a big early lead on the way to a 64-48 victory over Valley AC (Valley View). Dallas overcame an eight-point, second-half deficit to defeat Ignatian Nation (Scranton Prep), 67-51.
The final avenged the only Abington Heights loss in 10 summer games.
Dunmore won all eight of its summer games, the closest three of which, including a one-pointer, were against Scranton.
Scranton held Dunmore without a field goal for the first 6:08 to take a 10-1 lead and was still ahead, 22-21, at halftime.
Brown had 13 points, 6 offensive rebounds and a steal in a span of 7:30 during the second half to key a 23-5 run to a 44-29 lead. Her drive put Dunmore ahead to stay, 25-24, and started a stretch in which she scored 11 straight Dunmore points.
