OPENING DAY
The Lackawanna League Division 1 season gets underway with Valley View hosting Wallenpaupack in a crossover game late Monday afternoon.
Scranton Prep plays West Scranton at Scranton High and Scranton travels to Abington Heights in Division 1 games Monday night.
SCHEDULE AND FORMAT
Division 1 teams play a 13-game Lackawanna League schedule – 8 games from a home-and-home series with each of the 4 divisional opponents, plus a crossover game against each of the Division 2 teams.
The full division schedule, corrected since we first posted it, can be found at: Girls basketball schedules – Lackawanna League Division 1 – NEPA Sports Nation.
2021-22 STANDINGS
Scranton Prep 13-0, Abington Heights 10-3, Scranton 8-5, Valley View 4-9, West Scranton 1-12.
RANKED TEAMS
Scranton Prep is ranked first and Abington Heights is fourth among Big School girls teams in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Basketball Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
Scranton has also been ranked for most of the season.
TOURNEY CHAMPS
Three of the five teams in the division prepared for the start of the league season by winning tournament titles last week.
Scranton Prep won the Lynett Memorial Tournament title, Abington Heights won the Taylor Lions Tournament and Valley View on the Lou Camoni Memorial Tournament title.
Those teams won their six tournament games comfortably, by an average margin of 30.5 points.
CLASSIFICATIONS
Abington Heights, Scranton and West Scranton are Class 5A teams.
Scranton Prep and Valley View compete in Class 4A.
Scranton is down this season after previously competing in Class 6A.
RETURNING STARS
Finley Bittenbender from Scranton was a first-team division all-star choice last season by NEPABasketball.com, which is now part of NEPASportsNation.com.
Rita Collins from Scranton Prep, Maggie Coleman from Abington Heights, Giada Costa from Valley View and Kennedy Bittenbender from Scranton all return after being second-team all-stars last season.
GETTING STARTED
Scranton Prep is one of three District 2 girls basketball teams to complete December with perfect records.
Current non-league records for division members: Scranton Prep 6-0, Scranton 6-2, Valley View 6-3, Abington Heights 5-3, West Scranton 0-8.
ANALYZING THE RACE
NEPASportsNation.com editor Tom Robinson breaks down the race as follows:
Scranton Prep should not be as dominant as it has been throughout a 67-game league winning streak that has produced five straight division titles.
The Classics, however, remain a clear favorite to continue the title streak and a threat to continue the winning streak through another season.
Below the Classics, the next three teams are tightly packed, so the biggest threat to Scranton Prep’s two streaks could come from one team threatening the winning streak, but a different team remaining closest in the standings.
Projected order of finish: 1, Scranton Prep; 2, Abington Heights; 3, Scranton; 4, Valley View; 5, West Scranton.
LOOKING AHEAD
Abington Heights can provide a good measuring stick for the entire race in the first week of the season
After opening with Scranton, the Lady Comets travel to Scranton Prep Jan. 5 and Valley View Jan. 9.
COMING SOON
Overviews of each team in the division are on the way. Check back at: Basketball – NEPA Sports Nation in the days ahead.
