OPENING NIGHT
All but defending champion Lake-Lehman, which has the bye, get the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 season started with games Wednesday night.
The opening games are: Wyoming Area at MMI Prep, Nanticoke at Wyoming Seminary and Hanover Area at Holy Redeemer.
SCHEDULE AND FORMAT
Lake-Lehman starts divisional play after the holidays when the remainder of the division’s teams play 11 of their 12 games.
The full division schedule can be found at: Girls basketball schedules – Wyoming Valley Division 2 – NEPA Sports Nation.
2021-22 STANDINGS
Lake-Lehman 11-1, Holy Redeemer 10-2, Nanticoke 8-4, Wyoming Area 7-5, Wyoming Seminary 4-8, Hanover Area 2-10, MMI Prep 0-2.
After winning the division, Lake-Lehman also won the WVC Tournament title by beating Wilkes-Barre Area, 42-34, in the semifinals and Pittston Area, 45-19, in the championship game.
Holy Redeemer lost to Pittston Area, 40-29, in the other semifinals.
RANKINGS
Lake-Lehman is second, Holy Redeemer is fourth and Wyoming Seminary isixth among Small School girls teams in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Basketball Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
ON THE BENCH
Three of the division’s seven teams have new head coaches since the start of last season.
Mark Casper moves up from assistant to take over for Chad Lojewski at Wyoming Area. For more about Casper, check out: Wyoming Area appoints Casper girls coach – NEPA Basketball.
C.J. Kersey took over at Wyoming Seminary during the 2021-22 season, guided the team through an in-season improvement, and increased the numbers in the program during the offseason. For more about Kersey, the former boys team coach at the school, check out: Kersey taking over Wyoming Sem girls team – NEPA Basketball.
Marie Skrepenak was an assistant under two different coaches at Hanover Area last season. Now, she has taken over as head coach.
CLASSIFICATIONS
Hanover Area, Nanticoke and Wyoming Area are Class 4A teams.
Lake-Lehman, Holy Redeemer and Wyoming Seminary are Class 3A teams.
MMI Prep is a Class A team.
Lake-Lehman and Holy Redeemer each dropped down after playing in Class 4A the last two seasons.
RETURNING STARS
Holy Redeemer has two of the three returning first-team, all-stars from the WVC Division 2 all-star team selected by NEPABasketball.com, which is now part of NEPASportsNation.com.
Mia Ashton and Jillian DelBalso are both back, along with Wyoming Area’s Morgan Janeski.
Lake-Lehman has two of the three returning second-team, all-stars – Hailey Kline and Ella Wilson.
Nanticoke’s Claire Aufiero is also back from the second team.
GETTING STARTED
All of the division members have already lost at least twice in non-league play in the first 2½ weeks of the season.
The non-league records through Dec. 20 are: Lake-Lehman 3-2, Wyoming Seminary 3-2, Wyoming Area 4-3, Holy Redeemer 3-3, Nanticoke 1-7, MMI Prep 0-3, Hanover Area 0-7.
ANALYZING THE RACE
NEPASportsNation.com editor Tom Robinson breaks down the race as follows:
The race is highly likely to fall in line similarly to a year ago as far as order of teams. The gaps have closed, however, so there could be more cases of a team losing to an opponent behind it in the final standings, unlike last season when Nanticoke beating Lake-Lehman and losing to Wyoming Area were the only examples of the team that finished higher not winning a head-to-head meeting.
Holy Redeemer should have narrowed the gap on Lake-Lehman, while Wyoming Area has likely closed in on Holy Redeemer and passed Nanticoke. Wyoming Seminary seems to have gained ground on Wyoming Area and Nanticoke. After two winless seasons and another in which it did not participate because of COVID, MMI Prep could be within range of Hanover Area or one of its non-league opponents for a possible win.
Projected order of finish: 1, Lake-Lehman; 2, Holy Redeemer; 3, Wyoming Area; 4, Nanticoke; 5, Wyoming Seminary; 6, Hanover Area; 7, MMI Prep.
LOOKING AHEAD
In recent seasons, the Holy Redeemer/Lake-Lehman matchups frequently determine the division champion.
Lake-Lehman’s opener Jan. 3 is at home against Holy Redeemer. The rematch at Holy Redeemer.
COMING SOON
Overviews of each team in the division are on the way. Check back at: Basketball – NEPA Sports Nation in the days ahead.
